Making Shakespeare simple for six-year-olds

Children as young as six are to study Shakespeare in a scheme which reverses years of decline in teaching of his work.

Schools will be sent film versions of plays and a teaching pack compiled in conjunction with the Globe Theatre and Royal Shakespeare Company.

Pupils in Year Two at primary school will be introduced to some of the best-loved plays and characters.

And the booklet suggests related activities for younger children - including toddlers in nursery - to prime them for basic Shakespeare studies at six.

The initiative follows a warning from the RSC that a generation is growing up loathing Shakespeare because lessons are 'boring' and break the plays into bite-size chunks.

Directors complained that teenagers are forced to study scenes in isolation instead of whole works and rarely have chance to act out the plays.

They were limited to studying 'a script on a page' and too many are never taken to see any of Shakespeare's plays performed live.

Concern has also been voiced over the increasing use of cartoon-strip versions of his plays which reduce his rich language to simplistic jokes and phrases. One, an abridged version of Romeo and Juliet, reduces the heroine's words in the classic balcony kiss scene to: 'Give us a snog then.'

Schools Minister Jim Knight said Shakespeare's work was a protected part of the curriculum but the Government would 'go further' to give more children an appreciation and from a younger age.

He said: 'Shakespeare is the most famous playwright of all time. One of our great Britons, his work is studied all over the world.

'It is fitting then that his work is a protected part of the curriculum in the country he came from. But I want to go further to ensure that Shakespeare can be enjoyed as much as possible and from a younger age.'

Under the initiative, all primary schools will be offered a free DVD of Shakespeare: The Animated Tales --abridged film versions which keep the original language of the plays.

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Secondary pupils in trials of new testing arrangements will have the chance to see a live performance.

Some £1.5million has already been allocated to the live productions programme, leading to pupils watching the Taming of the Shrew or A Midsummer Night's Dream.

Meanwhile all schools will be sent a copy of the booklet Shakespeare for All Ages and Stages, which gives practical tips to help teachers reinvigorate their lessons on the Bard.

Pupils in Year One learn that stories can be dramatised through performing selected scenes while in Year Two they encounter Shakespeare for the first time.

Mick Waters, director of curriculum at the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority, said: 'Teachers can make young people's experience of Shakespeare an inspiring one and nurture a lifelong interest in the playwright.

'But getting to grips with Shakespeare's verse is a challenge for teachers and young people alike.

'Shakespeare For All Ages And Stages will help by suggesting a range of innovative and practical ideas to help bring Shakespeare to life in the classroom.'