Dear Head Teacher or appropriate Staff Lead,
Mr Shapeshifter – West Yorkshire Learning Package for Year 5 and 6 Children – GW Theatre Company
We are writing to offer you a unique learning package.
For the last two years, with support from the West Yorkshire Police and Crime Commissioner [WYPCC], a number of schools across West Yorkshire have taken performances of
Mr Shapeshifter – an exciting, modern ‘fairy tale’ to help children aged 9-11 understand the way some adults abuse the trust of young people and how children can work together and with trusted adults to protect themselves from abuse and other
online and real life risks and dangers.
This work has been very successful and has had a powerful impact on the children who saw it. The play has also toured nationally and is now regarded as a powerful safeguarding learning tool which makes a significant contribution to help keep young children
safe from abuse.
“The play serves to empower children in their capacity to understand when the behaviour of a person is wrong. A mantra throughout the play is
if something doesn’t feel right, then it isn’t”
Education Through Theatre Report 2018, Dr Donna Peach
In 2017 the WYPCC commissioned and funded GW Theatre to produce an animated version of the play, which has just been launched. GW Theatre has also published a
Mr Shapeshifter book. With these the aim is to reach more children in all schools and, significantly, to extend the impact of the work beyond the classroom to parents, carers, families and the wider community, as well as to children learning
in different and more complex settings. The animation has been placed online to facilitate this and can be found at
www.mrshapeshifter.com . It is already being acknowledged at the highest level.
“This is a really important project…resources like Mr Shapeshifter can really help to create conditions in which children feel secure enough to tell someone they trust if they are being abused”
Children’s Commissioner for England, Anne Longfield.
With the addition of these two new elements GW Theatre is working in a continuing collaboration with WYPCC to offer a comprehensive and unique CSE/CSA prevention, education and awareness raising package to schools across the whole of West Yorkshire.
This package will consist:
· School copy of the Mr Shapeshifter animation, plus a learning version with question mark pauses
· 25 copies of the Mr Shapeshifter book
· Pre and post animation lesson outlines/learning activities for teachers/professionals
· Structure for awareness raising/training session with teachers/staff/governors/professionals
· Structure to signpost parents & carers to the free
www.mrshapeshifter.com resources
· Copies of the learning activities from the
mrshapeshifter.com website
· Guidance on how to gather responses and feedback from children and parents/carers
· Guidance on how to provide children & families with information on local/national support/help
· Built in evaluation
All the above will sent on a special USB memory drive. All learning resources are printable.
COST: This complete package is available to all West Yorkshire schools at the discounted cost of £300
To order the package please complete the attached order form and return to
dave.jones@gwtheatre.co.uk by Friday 8th February 2019.