YEAR PLAN TEMPLATE

We ask Lead Associate Schools to submit a plan of your year’s activity in the Summer, and at the very latest by October Half Term.  

This gives us plenty of time to book practitioners and confirm support for your activity across the year (we require a minimum of 10 weeks' notice to book Associate Learning Practitioners for delivery). We also find that providing your cluster with dates as far in advance as possible increases their engagement.  

Below you will find a template that you can use to plan your year of activity. Please include the list of the schools in your cluster.  

The core activity for each cluster:

3 x Cluster Meetings

Hosted by the Lead Associate School, these meetings are a chance for teachers to come together to develop a community of practice; plan upcoming activity, reflect on recent training and share the successes and challenges of embedding RSC Rehearsal Room approaches into classroom settings.  

3 x Continuing Professional Development training days

Our transformative CPD opportunities for teachers to bring Shakespeare to life in the classroom by exploring practices and techniques directly from our rehearsal rooms. Uniquely to the Associate Schools Programme, these three days of training are sequential, typically beginning with an introduction to the play and rehearsal room approaches on Day 1, followed by a deeper dive on Day 2 and a focus on Playmaking skills on Day 3.

Director Mentor visits – 1 x 2-hour visit for each Associate School

The role of the Director Mentor is to support teacher directors and young people bring their moments of the Playmaking Festival to life. They will attend the third CPD day, help the Lead Teachers to develop the creative parameters of the Festival and visit each Associate School for a 2-hour session on consecutive days, to assist the teacher director and their ensemble to develop their performance moment. They will then be on hand on the day of the Festival to help bring everything together. 

Playmaking Festival

Playmaking is a celebration of the work created together with young people, teachers and artist, shared with an audience. It is a collaboration between the words of Shakespeare and young people’s insights and discoveries through a creative process. Each cluster will approach Playmaking differently. For example, you might decide to perform a Playmaking Pack edit of a Shakespeare play with sections divided between the Associate Schools in the hall of your Lead School, rehearsing during the day with a performance in the afternoon. 

Please speak to your RSC Relationship Manager – Ellie, Esther or Sarah – if you have any questions about drafting your Year Plan.