Drama, Literature and Poetry
A Temple To Water, Papplewick
Lakeside: Storytelling Sessions
Dragon Breath Theatre
Papplewick Pumping Station Museum
May - July '25 Papplewick Pumping Station Victorian Museum
£300 for 60 children
An award-winning, day-long, immersive drama experience for KS1 and KS2, exploring local history, engineering, science, geography, and contemporary environmental/global water management issues. The visit to this awe-inspiring Victorian site is part of an offer including extensive online cross-curriculum resources. It can be a one-off event, or support a half-term's thematic curriculum around water, science, geography, history and literacy. Children’s understanding of history is fostered and embedded through empathising with live characters’ stories, and by getting their hands on practical, kinaesthetic activities.
Lakeside: Storytelling Sessions
Lakeside: Storytelling Sessions
EYFS, KS1, KS2. Bring literacy to life with Lakeside Art’s storytelling sessions. Children are encouraged to join in the story using their imagination, props, and costumes. Using traditional oral storytelling skills pupils can explore themes, characters of traditional tales and myths.
First Story: Year-Long Programmes
Primary and Secondary. First Story’s extra-curricular Young Writers’ Programme includes writing workshops which equip students with the skills and confidence to tell their own stories, with whole-school activities which encourage writing for pleasure. It also includes CPD for educators and access to a range of resources, events and competitions. First Story’s work expands young
people’s horizons and encourages aspirations, giving participants the skills to thrive in education - and in life. Download the PDF. Staff can also access dedicated creative writing CPD.
Talk to them now about programmes for 2025/6
Sport and Literacy Skills Academy
Playhouse: Book A Backstage Tour/ Drama Workshops
Year 7 and 8. Secondary schools are still able to access this fun and effective catch up reading programme. Help students improve their reading, get them engaged and motivated and find their reason to read today. Skills Academy costs £150. You can register an unlimited number of students on the programme throughout your 12-month subscription. When you sign up to the programme your school also receives a year's membership of the National Literacy Trust worth £100, which gives you access to all of their resources.
Playhouse: Book A Backstage Tour/ Drama Workshops
Playhouse: Book A Backstage Tour/ Drama Workshops
Playhouse: Book A Backstage Tour/ Drama Workshops
Give your students the opportunity to see what it’s like behind the scenes of Nottingham Playhouse, to understand the various roles in theatre and see the teams at work. Led by a member of the Participation Team, students will hear from professionals about what they do day-to-day and how their role contributes towards the productions.
The Playhouse team can also offer bespoe drame and writng workshops for up to 90 pupils on the same day to tie in with curriculum texts.
Heritage and History
Wollaton Hall: Stone Age sessions in the Walled Garden
Wollaton Hall: Stone Age sessions in the Walled Garden
Wollaton Hall: Stone Age sessions in the Walled Garden
KS1-KS2. Sessions at 10.30-12.00 or 1.00-2.30. £5 per child
Using original artefacts see how stone age people hunted and fed themselves, made shelters and used their surroundings to sustain them. Have a go at your own piece of cave art and try out a bow saw.
National Justice Museum: Blended workshops
Wollaton Hall: Stone Age sessions in the Walled Garden
Wollaton Hall: Stone Age sessions in the Walled Garden
KS2-KS5. The National Justice Museum is offering blended learning workshops to schools unable to visit their site. Working with you, their expert facilitators will deliver live, interactive learning into your classroom. Workshops are held via Zoom and Teams, and can even be delivered to students at home if your school has temporarily closed.
National Justice Museum: Choices and Consequences
Wollaton Hall: Stone Age sessions in the Walled Garden
Discovery Days with Creswell Crags at Lakeside Arts
Years 7-9. Developed in partnership with the National Justice Museum and Ben Kinsella Trust, this workshop has been proven to make a difference in changing attitudes to knife crime among the young. To find out more please contact NJM.
Discovery Days with Creswell Crags at Lakeside Arts
Discovery Days with Creswell Crags at Lakeside Arts
Creswell Crags & University of Nottingham
Ages KS2
Mondays to Wednesdays - term time
Engaging and practical KS2 discovery days delivered by the Creswell Crags Learning Team at the University of Nottingham Museum, Lakeside Arts.
Designed to help your students’ understanding of the changes in Britain from the Stone Age to the Iron Age, a visit to the University of Nottingham Museum is the perfect way to learn about pre-historic Britain. Your students will have an opportunity to learn what we know about prehistory and how we know about the changes that took place.
Nottingham City Museums Collections
Access Artefacts, all key stages
This collection of artefacts covers a huge range of themes, including social history, archaeology, geology, industrial history, the natural sciences and others. School Resources Boxes have been developed by Nottingham City Museums to meet the requirements of the national curriculum from Foundation to Key Stage 3.
Resource Boxes contain between 10 and 20 objects related to a specific theme as well as information, planned activities and a fact sheet. There are a range of collections from Africa Inspires to D.H Lawrence, Toys in the Past to Handa’s Surprise.
Theatre Royal and Royal Concert Hall (TRCH)
Discover Your Theatre- Primary (Key Stage 1 & 2) Visit, £5 per pupil, 30max
Learn through storytelling how the Theatre Royal was designed and built in the Victorian times and the social history of theatre going. Children learn specific theatre design terminology before getting the chance to design their very own theatres in a craft workshop.
The programme has been designed with links to History/Art/English and uses the theatre buildings and archive to tell stories of the past and highlight the theatre’s local significance today as a landmark building and working arts venue.
For further information and bookings please contact Georgina Donohue (Heritage Officer) georgina.donohue@nottinghamcity.gov.uk
Art and Design
Artist Experience Workshops
Fashion Fictions for Children: Resource Pack
Fashion Fictions for Children: Resource Pack
Nottingham Contemporary, suitable for all ages and abilities
Nottingham Contemporary will work with schools, colleges and university groups to plan a visit and provide resources to connect students to the exhibitions. Their team of artists can also support visits with an Artist Expereince Workshop. These are £150 for a 2-hour workshop for a single class and £250 for two classes. Contact learn@nottinghamcontemporary.org (0115 9489750) to book.
Fashion Fictions for Children: Resource Pack
Fashion Fictions for Children: Resource Pack
Fashion Fictions for Children: Resource Pack
In school resource, suitable for Primary & Key Stage 3 (7-14years)
Fashion Fictions for Children is a free resource pack for teachers and facilitators working with children aged 7–14. Fashion Fictions brings imagination, playfulness and hands-on exploration to education for sustainability by inviting participants to imagine and enact fictional worlds in which people live differently with their clothes. Through these creative activities, children learn new skills and identify possibilities for real-world action.
The resource, written by researchers at Nottingham School of Art and Design, is informed by a pilot project involving Ignite!, Bulwell Arts Festival and six Nottingham primary schools, which was documented in a short film. Activities within the resource pack can be combined to suit different age groups, timescales and settings.
Dance and Movement
SURGE VR, Tom Dale Dance
A groundbreaking virtual reality experience that combines movement, music and digital arts. Designed to inspire creativity, curiosity and engagement, SURGE VR offers students a unique opportunity to explore the intersection of technology and performance while meeting key educational aims for Key Stage 2.
Flexible Setup: SURGE VR can be delivered in schools using VR headsets in a separate room or hall. Tom Dale Company would provide up to 4 VR headsets. The school could engage groups of up to 8 pupils with half the group at a time enjoying the experience. A class of 30-32 children could enjoy the experience over a period of 2 hours. 1 class in the morning and 1 in the afternoon so 2 classes per day. The school could purchase the experience for one day £350 or 4 days £1000
Contact sophie@tomdale.org.uk
Lost Performers workshops
Lost Performers: Workshops for Schools, Y4-Y6
Circus Hub’s Lost Performers Club is a group for disabled and / or neurodivergent performers. They are creating a new show which is based around the social model of disability & reimagining our world to be fit for everybody.
They are looking for schools and pupils to be part of this reimagining, so that the next generation co-design this world. This will feed into the story, design and creation of the new circus show which will then be performed at free events throughout the city this summer.
The workshop is drama and design based, pupils will creatively explore the themes of disability, inclusion and society with pupils creating seeds for change to enable them to help reimagine and redesign the world together.
Email circushubnotts@gmail.com to book.
Dancing Digits - Maths!
Dancing Digits - Maths!
Dancing Digits for Schools: Workshops, live show, staff CPD and resources
EYFS and Key Stage 1, 4-8 years
Dates and times to be arranged with schools
£200
Bring your Maths teaching to life through movement and music. Dancing Digits blends curriculum-based maths concepts with engaging physical activities, helping children build confidence, recall key number facts, and develop spatial thinking.
Recently researched with the Education Endowment Foundation, each session is carefully crafted to promote active learning through music, brightly coloured props, and a vibrant number line! These workshops are ideal for making maths enjoyable and reinforcing numeracy skills in a fun, inclusive environment.
There is also a bespoke Happy Maths programme for Foundation Stage pupils.
Music
Drumming and Wellbeing Workshops
Beatfeet (Your School or Setting)
Year Round, All Ages
Liven up your classes with bespoke and specialist drumming sessions! Specialising in West African and Brazilian music and dance, BeatFeet are the UK’s No.1 provider of drumming, dance & wellbeing workshops. Bring the heart of global musical cultures to your classroom.
Nottingham Music Hub: Area Band
Primary.
Area Bands are beginner orchestral groups open to young people in city schools that have a Whole Class Ensemble or In Harmony programme in collaboration with Nottingham Music Hub. These bands are ideal for pupils (usually Year 5) who have completed one year of instrumental learning.
Noise Academy: Music Lessons
Noise Academy: Music Lessons
Noise Academy can deliver inclusive and engaging sessions in DJing, music production, and more, using industry-standard equipment in schools. Tutors are active industry professionals who can provide mentoring and career advice. Students will build a personal portfolio item to support college applications.
Physical and Mental Wellbeing
Freedom Foundation: Drop Down Days
Ages: KS1-2
In their work with schools Freedom Foundation have seen an increase in anxiety, issues with attendance, lack of resilience and aspiration, and the negative impact of social media on young people. Drop Down Days cover important PSHE outcomes including identifying emotions, how to recognise and deal with anxiety, positive and negative impact of online behaviour, how social media and technology use affects mental wellbeing and improving self-confidence. Please email or phone for more information 0115 993 2370.
Freedom Foundation Assemblies
Freedom Foundation
Your School or Setting
Year Round, Free
Freedom Foundation have put together some taster sessions and assemblies showcasing what they deliver within their programmes. Their talks revolve around music, positive mindsets and mental health using creativity and the arts. There is no charge for a session and Freedom Foundation is interested in working with schools delivering termly or year-round sessions. Get in touch
Freedom Foundation: Freedom Factory
Freedom Foundation: Freedom Factory
Freedom Foundation deliver their 12 week Freedom Factory sessions in school time or as an after-school club. Using street dance and hip-hop, singing and song writing their 90 minute sessions with up to 30 children build confidence, resilience and aspiration, educate about the impact of social media on mental health and help children cope with common mental health problems such as anxiety, stress, depression and self-harm.
Other Opportunities
The Curiosity Project, Festival of Science and Curiosity
Suitable for all Primary and Secondary Pupils
As part of FOSAC (Nottingham's annual Festival of Science and Curiosity in Feb each year) pupils develop their own science investigations about the questions that matter to them, and work with scientists who specialise in that field to help work out the answers. flexible for different ages, time-frames and the topics can be tailored to support curriculum teaching and extra-curricular activity in your school.. Take a look at this year's highlights!
The ChalleNGe Activities Pack
We're pleased to bring you the second edition of our free creative activities pack designed for Nottingham’s children and young people. It’s filled with over 40 engaging and fun activities created by 20 of Nottingham’s arts organisations.
Votes for Schools
Wollaton Hall: Discover The Amazing Trees
Votes for Schools is an award-winning platform giving your students a voice on the issues that affect them the most, as well as supporting you to consistently embed SMSC, British Values and Prevent across your school.
Wollaton Hall: Discover The Amazing Trees
Wollaton Hall: Discover The Amazing Trees
Wollaton Hall: Discover The Amazing Trees
Meet some of Wollaton’s magnificent trees, learn to identify them and take a closer look at their leaves, flowers, bark and seeds as well as the animal life that lives on and around them. Fun practical science activities including measuring trees, comparing leaf shapes and bark patterns and finding out what woodlice like. You’ll see species of trees whose ancestors lived at the same time as dinosaurs.
Voice Box Project
Wollaton Hall: Discover The Amazing Trees
Voice Box Project
Create an imaginative Voice Box to support pupil voice. This is a fun, uniquely designed post box to encourage pupils to share thoughts, ideas and feedback, anonymously if needed. It is anticipated school leaders will respond to letters demonstrating that children’s views are taken seriously.
Make your Voice Box in any material you choose. There is also an option for schools to submit a character/front panel design that can be cut out of wood (£110) or cardboard (£85) for schools to decorate (Max size: 4ft x 4ft).
More Useful Opportunities
Film workshops - Silverscreen Primary
Nottingham Central Library Immersive Room
Film workshops: curriculum development KS1 & 2
Dates to be agreed. In school and/or at Broadway Cinema, Nottingham. £295 per day, including production of final film.
For the last fourteen years, Silverscreen Primary Education has been working across the UK, supporting schools’ English and topic curriculums through a range of film-driven workshops. The workshops are delivered and differentiated using the current objectives in the National Curriculum and are designed on a bespoke basis to match pupils age, abilities, interests, stage of learning and potential written/topic/creative outcomes.
any of the school projects delivered result in an afternoon of film-making, designed to celebrate and consolidate the children’s learning.
Contact: silverscreenprimary@gmail.com
Nottingham Central Library Immersive Room
Nottingham Central Library Immersive Room
Bespoke School Sessions EYFS - Y6
Schools are welcome to contact Central library to discuss sessions based on individual topics/requests, with as much notice as possible as the ability to respond will depend on their workload.
However, schools can access a range of topics with interactive touchpoints and video, narration and activities already through their immersive room (History, Geography, Maths, English, Science, Music and RE)
Contact Hannah Clover: hannah.clover@nottinghamcity.gov.uk
Nottingham Central Library: Themed Visits
EYFS- Y6
Tuesdays & Fridays - dates by arrangement
Nottingham Central Library
EYFS – Y6, Free
Nottingham City Libraries now offer free themed class visit sessions suitable for primary aged children at the Central Library. These involve a variety of stories, crafts, and games in the futuristic immersive room as well as the chance to explore the children’s library and the extensive book stock.
Themes for 2025 are:
- Shark in the Park for FS1 and FS2
- Dinosaurumpus for Years 1, 2 and 3
- World War 1 or World War 2 for Years 4, 5 and 6
Nottm. Education Trust Bursaries
Nottm. Education Trust Bursaries
Bursaries available for individuals
Key Stage 1-5, up to 21 years
Did you know young people with talent and hobbies can apply for funding to pursue their interests out of school?
The Nottingham Education Trust is a locally managed trust which exists to support young people, under the age of 21 and permanently resident in the City of Nottingham, to pursue activities outside of formal education, particularly in Music & the Arts, the Sciences, Languages, Travel and Cultural Experiences, Sports and Outdoor and Adventurous pursuits, who would otherwise not have the opportunity.
Eligible young people can apply for bursaries up to £800 in total to fund their projects and the application process is straightforward.
Refugee Week & A Day of Welcome
Nottm. Education Trust Bursaries
Refugee Week & A Day of Welcome
Refugee Week 16-22 June 2025
Registration for A Day of Welcome is now open.
A Day of Welcome is an annual day of solidarity and learning in schools that aims to build a culture of welcome and understanding for people seeking sanctuary.
It will kickstart Refugee Week by providing FREE live events, sharing books, art and stories as well as resources and activities for pupils of all ages.
Schools will receive a Teacher’s Guide, learning and resources including lesson plans KS1-KS4, free live events, and refugee education supporting schools to work effectively with families who have experienced forced displacement.
Online resources available from 24 April 2025