Published by Bigfoot Arts Education | Reading time: 5 minutes
If you’re a teacher or PSHE lead looking for a fresh, evidence-based way to bring the PSHE curriculum to life, you’re in the right place. At Bigfoot Arts Education, we’ve spent nearly 25 years working with primary schools across the country, and one thing we know for certain: when children are given a creative, drama-based space to explore the issues that affect their lives, something remarkable happens.
In this post, we’ll walk you through our approach to PSHE drama workshops, what they are, why they work, what the evidence says, and how they can support your school’s PSHE programme this year.
What Are PSHE Drama Workshops?
PSHE drama workshops use theatre techniques and storytelling as a vehicle for exploring the social, emotional, and health issues that matter most to your pupils. Rather than sitting and listening to information, children become active participants using role play, discussion, and creative activities to explore real situations through the safe lens of fiction.
As Dr Geoff Readman, Chair of National Drama, puts it: drama is a process that explores what it is to be human in learning contexts that are relevant to local, national and global communities. That idea is at the heart of everything we do at Bigfoot.
Our PSHE drama workshops are not one-size-fits-all performances. They are carefully researched, planned and differentiated programmes, delivered by trained and DBS-checked Educators who know how to create a safe, inclusive space in which every child can contribute.
Our PSHE Programmes: Something for Every School
We offer a wide range of PSHE drama workshops for primary schools, covering the areas that matter most to your curriculum and your community. Our current primary PSHE programmes include:
- Anti-Bullying — Interactive assemblies and workshops that encourage children to respect themselves and others at school, at home, online and in their communities. A perennial favourite for Anti-Bullying Week.
- Internet Safety — Film, drama and theatre-based sessions that help children and families explore how to create a better, safer internet. Ideal for Safer Internet Day and beyond.
- Transition — One of our longest-running programmes, helping Year 6 pupils explore and enjoy the process of moving to secondary school. Running for over 20 years.
- Knife Crime Prevention — Assemblies and workshops exploring choices and consequences, encouraging open conversation about a deeply serious issue in an age-appropriate way.
- Stand Up, Speak Out — Our newest workshop, supporting the updated curriculum guidance on tackling misogyny, sexism and controlling behaviour. Equips pupils with active bystander skills and confident language.
- Think Simple, Act Big! (Refugee Week) — A powerful assembly introducing pupils to the story of Little Amal and the real experiences of refugees, through film and storytelling.
- British Values & UNCRC — A creative introduction to British Values and the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, ideal for schools pursuing the Rights Respecting Schools Award.
- Gender Stereotypes — An inspiring programme exploring identity, uniqueness, and the importance of being proud of who you are.
You can explore all of our primary PSHE drama workshops at bigfootartseducation.co.uk/programme_category/pshce-primary.
Why Drama Works for PSHE: The Evidence
Schools often ask us: why use drama and theatre for PSHE, rather than standard classroom teaching? The answer lies in what the research tells us about how children learn and process complex, sensitive information.
The PSHE Association highlights that well-planned visits from outside providers bring ‘novelty’ and we know the brain recalls novelty. A Bigfoot visit creates a distinct, memorable learning experience that reinforces key messages in ways that stick.
Our use of ‘distancing techniques’ — fictional characters, drama scenarios and narrative, is central to this. By exploring issues through story, children can engage more objectively with difficult topics without feeling personally exposed or singled out. This is especially important given the PSHE Association’s guidance that we should approach every session with the assumption that at least one child in the room may have direct personal experience of the topic being discussed.
The result is a safe, creative forum in which children can honestly share their views, explore their values, and hear perspectives different from their own, all within a carefully managed, non-judgemental environment.
“This programme is a safe haven for creativity, where students can freely express themselves without fear of judgment and understand bullying comprehensively.”
— Harris Primary Academy Beckenham Green
How We Work With Your School
Every Bigfoot PSHE drama workshop is designed to complement and enhance your existing PSHE scheme of work, not replace it. We work closely with teachers and support staff, treating them as active participants rather than observers. A Bigfoot session gives teachers a unique creative lens through which to hear what their pupils really think and feel.
Before each visit, we communicate thoroughly with your school to understand your needs and ethos. During the session, our Educators set clear safeguarding boundaries at the outset, and always end with signposting to further support and helplines. Afterwards, we provide comprehensive resource packs and follow-up activity ideas to help consolidate learning in the classroom.
All of our Educators are fully vetted, DBS checked and trained in safeguarding. They regularly attend specialist training, including Anti Bullying Alliance CPD and NSPCC Online Safety, and our programmes are aligned with the PSHE Association’s guidance, the Education Act 1996, and Ofsted’s expectations for personal development.
Importantly, we are a not-for-profit organisation. Every pound spent on a Bigfoot PSHE drama workshop goes directly back into developing better programmes for children. We know that school budgets have never been tighter, and we are genuinely grateful to every school that chooses to invest in this kind of work.
What Teachers Say About Our PSHE Drama Workshops
The best evidence we have comes from the schools themselves. Here’s a selection of what teachers have told us:
“The children left feeling empowered, informed and that they had been heard. The programme gives the children a voice that it is essential for adults to listen to. It is informative, sensitive and empowering.”
— St Edmund’s Catholic Primary School
“Outstanding! It was straight speaking, boldly honest and full of respect. The children are encouraged to share what they think and mean in a way which took all the adults who work with them by surprise.”
— John Scurr Primary School
“The sessions we had this week were outstanding, possibly the best we’ve ever had. The humour and energy they brought to every minute of the session was infectious. The pupils were left feeling empowered to make a change.”
— Beaver Community Primary School
Ready to Book a Bigfoot PSHE Drama Workshop?
Whether you’re planning Anti-Bullying Week, a Safer Internet Day event, a Year 6 Transition programme, or something entirely bespoke, we’d love to hear from you. Our PSHE drama workshops are available across London and the South East, the Midlands, the North of England, Wales, the West Country, and East of England.
Browse our full range of primary PSHE workshops at HERE email us at info@bigfootartseducation.co.uk, or call us free on 0800 448 0864. We’d love to work with your school.
The Bigfoot Arts Education Team
Keywords: PSHE drama workshops, primary PSHE workshops, PSHE outside provider, PSHE education, drama in schools, anti-bullying workshops, transition workshops, internet safety workshops, PSHE association, Bigfoot Arts Education
