Stan’s Café! An English/Drama Workshop 

We had a drama group called ‘Stan’s Café’ come in to work with us. We started off by watching an old Formula 1 clip with a focus on the commentators describing what the viewer couldn’t the see. We explored the language they used and how they built up tension with their descriptions.

Following this, we went into the hall and played a game similar to Jenga. In pairs, we approached the game to pull the bricks out. While one child did this, the other pupils imagined that they were commentators and described what was happening. We had examples like: “Betty cautiously approaches the wall and gingerly pulls out her brick”

After that, we had got into teams and gave ourselves suitable racing names like FalconsQuicksilver and Raddlebarn Racers. Two teams at a time then raced each other on a Scalextric track!

Everyone on the team had a different role and we rotated so everyone had a go at each part.

  • Racers
  • Journalists
  • Time keepers
  • Commentator
  • Track Marshalls.

We absolutely loved this activity and our teacher said it was magical watching each child grow in confidence and proudly commentate the race using the microphone.

The next day, we worked in pairs to write a 200-word newspaper report on the final race: Falcons versus Quicksilver!