ABSTRACT

Drama, the art form of social encounters, offers children the chance to engage creatively in fictional world making play. Such play, whether in the role-play area or in classroom drama, involves making and shaping worlds, investigating issues within them and returning to the real world with more understanding and insight. While drama is associated with speaking and listening, it can also make a contribution to children’s reading and writing as it offers rich opportunities for their purposeful use. By the end of the Early Years Foundation Stage (DCSF, 2008a), it is expected that children should be able to ‘use language to imagine and recreate roles and experiences’. Within the PNS framework (DfES, 2006a), children are expected to:

(PNS, Strand 4)

The key features of creative literacy practice are evident in drama: it fosters play, collaborative engagement and reflection, is often based on a powerful text and harnesses children’s curiosity and agency. It also enables them to lead their own class explorations accompanied by the Teacher in Role (TIR).