KIT Theatre
Our children all have opportunities, throughout their time at Durdans Park, to take part in immersive theatre which brings the stories they learn to life and deepens their understanding.
This is an integral part of our Oracy curriculum, providing the experience of working and performing with professional actors. The projects each year support critical thinking, dialogue, role play and collaboration, helping pupils articulate ideas and practice effective communication.
Primary Shakespeare Company
Primary Shakespeare Company brings Shakespeare’s plays to life, through drama, storytelling and performance, working alongside professional actors. It enhances pupil’s oracy by fostering speaking and listening skills and encouraging creative expression. This project is part of our year 4 curriculum, exposing pupils to the classic stories and Shakespearean language. Our pupils have the opportunity to perform, alongside other schools, in a real theatre. This provides an opportunity for performance but also critical review of others’ performance.
HeyDay UK
In year 5 our pupils have an opportunity to work alongside professional filmmakers. Our pupils are empowered to create their own films, working on scripting, filming and editing. It enhances pupils oracy and confidence by developing skills in storytelling, scriptwriting, collaborative discussions and performance. The project fosters creativity, confidence building and effective communication through the filmmaking process.
As part of our wonderful work with Heyday, pupils are invited to attend the British Film Institute (BFI) for an interschool short film festival. This event celebrates our achievements and budding filmmaking skills. Pupils are provided with a platform to speak about their films and the many diverse themes they encapsulate.
EveryDay Magic
Everyday Magic’s professional storytellers bring songs, rhymes and stories to life with our youngest children. It helps to develop children’s oracy, by developing active participation in storytelling and performance which builds confidence and develops language.
The stories fire up imagination and excitement and introduce both familiar and new ideas.
Forest School Association
We run our Forest School on the fields, amongst the trees and plants on our school site. We have a trained member of staff on our team who runs weekly Forest School sessions for our children in year 1 and Reception.
This programme supports play, exploration and supported risk taking. It develops confidence and self esteem through hands-on activities in the natural environment and is closely linked to our theme of sustainability as children are taught about how to look after our natural world.
Clubs
We have a wide range of clubs, which run after school every day. Many are linked to sports and fitness, led by sports specialist and leading to high achievement in sports.
Whilst our children are exposed to a wide range of sports and practice on sports’ fields with high quality equipment, our specialist sport is cricket and we have professional cricket nets for children to practice in. We are always looking for opportunities for our most talented pupils to develop their skills outside of school.
In addition, we have an after school and before school club and many additional “booster” classes to ensure pupils keep up academically.
Animal Care
Durdans Park has a school dog called Kenny. Children are taught about animals, their needs and behaviours. This develops a sense of care, responsibility and respect for the welfare of living things.
Children in Nursery and Reception have the opportunity to meet and learn about a wide range of farm animals during an annual mobile farm visit.
The school has a wild garden with bug hotels and wild flowers, to encourage a wide range of mini-beasts to take up residence. There are also many bird boxes around the school to provide a safe environment for nesting birds.
Aspiration Day
The school holds an annual aspiration day for year 6 pupils. This event provides an opportunity for pupils to meet and interview a diverse group of professionals who volunteer their time.
The aim of this event is to broaden pupils’ knowledge of different careers, raise their aspirations and develop an understanding of what skills each career requires. This event links to the theme of power.