Schools & Learning
Watford Palace Theatre was one of the first theatres to develop Theatre in Education workshops and performances that toured to schools in the local area and was one of the frontrunners in developing an education offer alongside its work on the stage.
Today, we’re delighted to offer a range of workshops, tours, resources, and opportunities for teachers and learners of all ages, within both formal and informal learning settings.
Watford Palace Theatre is proud to be working in partnership with schools and settings on their Artsmark Award journey. By supporting Artsmark settings, we’re helping to put the arts at the heart of education, inspiring young people to create, experience and participate in high quality arts and culture.
Join us backstage for an insight into what happens behind the scenes of a working theatre!
Our theatre tours cover the history of our beautiful Edwardian auditorium and building that dates to 1908 and provides a fascinating rarely seen glimpse backstage. Tours last 45mins-1 hour and can be adapted to suit your group’s interests, such as highlighting the various roles and creative processes employed within the theatre, to support Gatsby benchmarks.
For availability and costs, please contact us below.
Our digital learning resources have been created specifically to support blended learning and are ideal for lesson planning. Bite-sized video content offers insights into our productions and the creative processes behind them, as well as interviews, and much more to support curriculum learning and enrich your visit to the theatre.
We’re continually developing our digital learning offer, and regularly discuss the aims and objectives of our resources with teachers to ensure you’re getting the most out of the resources we provide. Let us know how we can adapt them to your specific needs.
We currently have digital learning resources for The Merchant of Venice 1936 and The Lost Spells.
Our regular in-person at the theatre or Zoom “Teach Meets” are a great opportunity to meet the Palace team and your fellow teachers, whilst enjoying a drink on us before a show!
Bespoke continuing professional development opportunities enables our team to support your arts teaching, such as how to use classroom drama techniques for non-drama specialists, and the teaching of a creative curriculum, or the exploration of specialist skills with theatre staff and visiting artists and companies.
If you’d like to be involved, please contact us below.
We offer careers talks in school and placements at the theatre as part of open access formal government schemes and higher education courses. Applications for placements are usually made via open callout or directly through your scheme or course.
Unfortunately, we’re not currently able to offer work experience placements at Key Stages 4 and 5.