Beginning Shakespeare 4-11

'Beginning Shakespeare makes a passionate case for including Shakespeare in the primary school curriculum and backs up its arguments with a rich bank of activities and lesson sequences. Head of Education Partnerships at the RSC Miles Tandy and Professor of Drama at Warwick University Joe Winston have very clearly ‘road-tested’ their ideas and I am sure that those working in schools will find this book a useful addition to their professional library. At the same time any trainee teacher will find the arguments here thought-provoking and challenging as they consider the place of ‘classic texts’ and drama in the 21st century classroom...Winston and Tandy, in Beginning Shakespeare , give a very sound rationale and resource base for schools to make a start in pursuing their ambitious targets.' David Gibbons, NATE Primary Committee

'The authors have gone beyond such standard fare as A Midsummer Night's Dream and Macbeth (evergreen favourites in primary schools), and include work on less familiar and perhaps more challenging plays such as Troilus and Cressida , King Lear and Hamlet . In each case, they support children's moral, social and cultural development, presenting pertinent and relevant issues for them to consider such as the terrible cost of war in Henry V or what it feels like to be bullied like Malvolio in Twelfth Night . The authors are skilled at seeing the links to the personal and social development of pupils, which is a key aim of primary practice.' Georghia Ellinas, Around the Globe, Issue 54, 2013

'Beginning Shakespeare makes a passionate case for including Shakespeare in the primary school curriculum and backs up its arguments with a rich bank of activities and lesson sequences. Head of Education Partnerships at the RSC Miles Tandy and Professor of Drama at Warwick University Joe Winston have very clearly ‘road-tested’ their ideas and I am sure that those working in schools will find this book a useful addition to their professional library. At the same time any trainee teacher will find the arguments here thought-provoking and challenging as they consider the place of ‘classic texts’ and drama in the 21st century classroom...Winston and Tandy, in Beginning Shakespeare , give a very sound rationale and resource base for schools to make a start in pursuing their ambitious targets.' David Gibbons, NATE Primary Committee

'The authors have gone beyond such standard fare as A Midsummer Night's Dream and Macbeth (evergreen favourites in primary schools), and include work on less familiar and perhaps more challenging plays such as Troilus and Cressida , King Lear and Hamlet . In each case, they support children's moral, social and cultural development, presenting pertinent and relevant issues for them to consider such as the terrible cost of war in Henry V or what it feels like to be bullied like Malvolio in Twelfth Night . The authors are skilled at seeing the links to the personal and social development of pupils, which is a key aim of primary practice.' Georghia Ellinas, Around the Globe, Issue 54, 2013

Joe Winston is Professor of Drama and Arts Education at the University of Warwick and has served as co-editor of Research in Drama Education since 2005.

Miles Tandy is Head of Education Partnerships at the Royal Shakespeare Company. He has worked previously as a teacher, school leader and local authority adviser.