As the leaves began to fall, our teams were busy filling schools and community spaces with enriching educational experiences and creativity. This Autumn has been one of our busiest yet — a term of visiting schools we know well, schools we are beginning to get to know, programme launches and special moments with young people across the North. From celebrating Black history to championing kindness and ending the year with festive fun, it’s been a term full of energy and impact. Here are some of our highlights!
Black History Month
This Black History Month we have explored, created, and celebrated Black history and culture through an incredible range of projects!
From Handa’s Surprise adventures with Early Years, to exploring friendship and inclusion in My Friend Flo with SEND settings — creativity was everywhere!
Our Black and British drama workshops brought stories of resilience and pride to life, while our I Have a Dream filmmaking sessions empowered young voices to imagine a brighter future. And across KS1 and KS2, our Hidden Figures assemblies inspired curiosity and admiration for the unsung heroes who shaped history.
“The children thoroughly enjoyed learning about hidden black figures in history. They were all really excited to learn about them more when they got back to their classrooms! Thanks so much – we highly recommend!” – Class Teacher, Yew Tree Community School
We’ve also been ensuring that all children can access our programmes, so this term sees the adaptation of many more of our programmes in order to be accessible for SEND students. We delivered our My Friend Flo and Generation Windrush programmes to KS2 and KS3 students at Woodlawn School in Whitley Bay, with high praise from the Headteacher, Shauna Foster, who said:
“I just wanted to share that our Bigfoot sessions were a real success! Our students engaged really well, and I’ve received lots of positive feedback from both teachers and pupils about how interesting and enjoyable they found the sessions.
The My Friend Flo and the Windrush workshop was particularly impactful. Through storytelling, music, movement, and sensory elements, it brought history to life in a way that deepened students’ understanding of migration to Great Britain. This multisensory approach not only supported our sensory learners but also helped all pupils to develop empathy and contextual understanding – key aspects of learning within Humanities.
The workshops have effectively reinforced key curriculum aims by encouraging critical thinking, social awareness, and cultural appreciation. Students were able to link the sessions to themes of identity, belonging, and diversity.
Our secondary sessions were also highly successful, enabling students to extend their learning by creating reflective and creative pieces of work that will be displayed around school. These follow-up activities have supported consolidation of knowledge.”
Uncle Beard in County Durham Libraries
What a wonderful October half term we had visiting three County Durham Libraries with our ‘Uncle Beard’s Garden’ story telling sessions. We encouraged the children to think about nature, the environment and what we can do to protect our precious bees.
The turn out was great!
Anti-Bullying Week
This November saw one of our busiest Anti Bullying Week’s to date! We visited a whopping 5,250 children across the North of England this month to explore through drama how we can all use our #PowerforGood.
Our Power for Good Filmmaking programme proved extremely popular, which sees children create their own music video inspired by the Andy and the Oddsocks official Anti Bullying Week track!
“The video is excellent and captures the hard work the children put into the sessions. It provoked further conversation in each class when the children watched it back. Lots of our children who are nervous to put themselves forward did in these session and felt proud as they watched the video back and saw themselves on the screen” – Deputy Head, Stanhope Barrington CofE Primary
Festive Fun with Agent Frostbite & The Clumsiest Elf
As the term came to a close, our Christmas shows took centre stage! Our new KS1 and KS2 show Agent Frostbite and the Search for Tinsel Tally has proved to be a huge hit, with a sell out tour in the North East!
The Clumsiest Elf is sure to bring joy and laughter to children across the North. Our magical performances proved once again that there’s nothing quite like theatre to spread festive cheer in our schools.
Our rehearsals have been a hoot, with our hard-working cast putting their all into spreading Christmas cheer and joy!
To find out more about our programmes and discuss how we could work with your school next term please contact north@bigfootartseducation.co.uk