25th April 2013 9:00
By Blue Tutors
To celebrate the 450th anniversary of Shakespeare’s birth, The Shakespeare Birthplace Trust is planning a special week in schools between 17th and 23rd March next year. The trust wants every child in the country to comprehend the legacy left to us by this prolific playwright by offering free lesson materials to schools.
The trust, which oversees different Shakespeare sites in Stratford-upon-Avon, believes that these materials will provide teachers with various ideas on how to educate the children about Shakespeare within their lessons. These would range from cookery and creative writing to drama and sport.
The campaign has won support not only from leading academics but also from a number of actors and actresses including Dame Judi Dench. This renowned actress has praised the lead taken by the trust in promoting Shakespeare among younger children and encouraging them to celebrate his great legacy. She believes that ‘Shakespeare Week should become a great and joyous national festival’.
Education Secretary Michael Gove regards Shakespeare as being ‘our inheritance’ and a poet who’s ‘language is our language’. He wholly backs the week and is intending to speak at an event launching the campaign next week. This comes along with proposed changes to the national curriculum in which 14 to 16 year olds will study two Shakespeare plays as opposed to the one currently required. 7 to 11 year olds will also learn about the playwright in their history lessons.