March 2022-A Christmas Carol Workshop (this means a road trip to Southampton!) By Nicolette Morgan
Jen and I headed to Southampton at the beginning of March to deliver a practical workshop for New Forest School on ‘A Christmas Carol’! The students there all have a range of complex needs, so we worked with staff and created a bespoke day for them. It was an early start and a long day but a LOT of fun. They were brilliant-students were so engaged throughout, even coming up with their own theories using key quotes from the text-which impressed their teachers!
We explored what Victorian Britain would have been like, and the themes that Dickens presented in ‘A Christmas Carol’, including social injustice, redemption and Christmas; plus delving into the language Dickens used, all whilst using our bodies and voices. How would the miserly Scrooge move and talk, compared with his cheerful nephew Fred? And how does this change throughout the novella?
The school spoilt us the whole day with a LOT of cake, popcorn and even hot chocolate! A particular highlight has got to be seeing one student at the end of the school day dash for freedom with no less than three doughnuts, shouting thank you to us!
A fun road trip home ensued with lots of singing (of course!), and we received some brilliant feedback from the school:
“Just wanted to thank you and Nicolette for such a magnificent day yesterday! You covered all the areas we were concerned about and brought the text to life. Your instinctive handling of our very challenging students was AMAZING….wonderful!”
Sometimes students can really blossom when they are given the opportunity to explore something in a different way-learning doesn’t have to just be static and in the classroom…
Interested in booking us for a school workshop or talk? Get in touch with us today to see how we can fulfill your requirements!
