After weeks of incredibly hard preparation and planning, the grand afternoon finally arrived at Turney School – time for the prestigious end of term Summer Production! This is always one of the annual highlights in the Turney School calendar as it is an occasion when the whole school can join together and celebrate the many talents and enthusiasm that our pupils are able to put forward using music and acting.

We decided from the start that we wanted the Summer Production this year to emphasise our celebration of signing within the school community. This is an inclusive form of communication for all, and it allows everyone within our community to participate and access the curriculum. The production of Wicked Mr Wold was perfect for this – plenty of song, intrigue, and a plot that was ideal to share through the use of signing!

Pupils from Silver Class through to Class 12 have been working with Mr Louie and Miss Parker all term on the songs, signs and acting. We had a stunning cast acting out on stage, backed up brilliantly by a team of signers standing at the front of the stage to help all within the audience appreciate the performance. A couple of pupils provided extremely eloquent narration.

The success of the Summer Production was there for all to see, with not only the generous applause that each song received, but also the participation by all pupils within our community. This was an incredibly fun afternoon at Turney School! This of course wouldn’t have been possible without the support that we received from the many family and friends that kindly were able to attend the production.

We are proud to present a series of videos and some photographs to share below.

A number of pupils from Class 8 have been involved in the highly successful Turney School ELA drama group. This is a weekly session where pupils who may need some extra support with their language skills come together and use drama to help boost confidence and raise abilities. We play a number of games, such as the memory table or the head band game, all designed to help the pupils work together and communicate effectively in small groups. A favourite within the drama group is musical squares. Each pupil picks a coloured card to stand on once the music has stopped. An adult randomly selects a colour from the hat. If we are standing on that colour then we are out of the game. You can watch a short video of musical squares being played by our ELA drama group above.

Elsewhere around class 8 and we have started to think about our contribution for the Turney School Summer Fair. The pupils have decided to decorate some plain books with their own funky patterns, and then sell these on to help raise some money for the school. Using a number of D & T materials, we have been focussing on producing some repeating patterns. We will then take some photographs of these, and then use these images to help decorate the books with. As you can see from the picture gallery below, we have some wonderful ideas already being used for the books.

Our drama work in Class 7 has involved using different props to help get into character. The pupils have been using a selection of hats to try and establish a character. We started off by describing the hats, thinking about if they were hard or soft, and what type of material they are made out of. The pupils were then able to try and think which type of job you might be doing if you were to wear a particular hat.

We finished off our drama session in Class 7 by playing a guessing game with the character cards. Each pupil is given a random card, showing an animal, an object or a particular job. By asking a series of questions to our class friends, we then have to try and work out what the card said, without actually seeing it. You can watch a video of the game taking place above.

Class 11 have been using their drama sessions to think about the different jobs that are carried out around Turney School. We have been talking about the work that the adults do, and what actions are needed to complete this work.

Using the drama expression masks, we worked in small groups to show the different actions. These included working in the school canteen, looking after the school premises or helping the busy school office to run smoothly. We tried to stay in character for as long as the music was playing.

This drama work is connected to the Class 11 work experience scheme that will be taking place later in the school year. By using drama, we have been developing our ideas about where we would like to spend our work experience. Each pupil has been considering the skills they have to offer, and then matching these with a possible job.

We finished off our weekly drama session by playing some games to help us with our concentration skills. You can watch a video of the Class 11 drama lesson above.

All pupils across Key Stage 3 and Key Stage 4 had a wonderful afternoon this week watching a theatre production. Our friends from the Tiny Giant Theatre came into our school, and kindly put on a play looking at the issue of road safety.

A series of different characters helped to remind our pupils what we need to remember when we approach a busy road – stop, look, listen and think are all important actions for us to carry out.

The production was highly interactive, with the Turney pupils encouraged to help out the actors with their work. We also learnt about the importance of wearing a seat belt in a car, and how we have to take our own responsibility for making sure that we don’t forget to belt up.

Crossing a road was also addressed in the play. This is an independent life skill that our Year 12 young adults have been practising during our regular trips out into the local community. The play put across the message of how dangerous it can be to cross the road between two parked cars. We can’t see what other traffic is coming – using a zebra crossing is the safe way to cross a busy road.

Our friends from the Tiny Giant Theatre concluded their comedy with the main message of: Don’t take a chance on the roads. This was a wonderful afternoon for our secondary school pupils. We would like to thank the actors who so kindly came into Turney School to spend some time with us.

You can listen to a short podcast with a couple of our Class 8 pupils, explaining what they have learnt from the production below.

Class 11 have been using their drama sessions to think about the different jobs that are carried out around Turney School. We have been talking about the work that the adults do, and what actions are needed to complete this work.

Using the drama expression masks, we worked in small groups to show the different actions. These included working in the school canteen, looking after the school premises or helping the busy school office to run smoothly. We tried to stay in character for as long as the music was playing.

This drama work is connected to the Class 11 work experience scheme that will be taking place later in the school year. By using drama, we have been developing our ideas about where we would like to spend our work experience. Each pupil has been considering the skills they have to offer, and then matching these with a possible job.

We finished off our weekly drama session by playing some games to help us with our concentration skills. You can watch a video of the Class 11 drama lesson above.