Five towns and cities are entering a new partnership with the Royal Shakespeare Company aimed at raising the aspirations of young people and having a positive impact on their learning, employment opportunities and wellbeing.
The Magna Vitae trust and schools from the Greenwood Academies Trust in Skegness will work with the RSC on its associate schools programme. Other schools and theatres joining the programme are Coventry’s Belgrade Theatre, the Ormiston Bushfield Academy in Peterborough, The Core at Corby Cube in Northamptonshire and St Cuthbert's Catholic Primary School, Hartlepool.
James Brindle, executive director of Magna Vitae, said, “we’re so excited to announce our partnership with the Royal Shakespeare Company which will offer new perspectives on what young people here could only dream of achieving. It will be seismic social and educational change, with the skills associated with the creative industries aligned to this coast for the first time.
“It opens opportunities for young people in this area that are untold and hugely exciting.”
The RSC’s partnerships programme uses a theatre-based approach to learning to help children and young people unlock their full potential. Schools learn how to use the techniques that actors use in rehearsals to explore Shakespeare’s plays.
Jacqui O’Hanlon, the RSC’s director of learning and national partnerships, commented, “we work with schools and communities from Truro to Newcastle-upon-Tyne. Research shows us that young people who experience an arts-rich education tend to do better in school, get a better job and live healthier and more fulfilling lives. We’re thrilled that we can now work with more partners across the country to create opportunities for children that haven’t existed before.”