Christmas Card #20 – Help! We need YOUR design!
Too early to talk about Christmas? Scarily, it’s only 11 weeks away! Here at Finding the Will, we want to make this year’s Christmas Card even more special. Why? Because this is our 20th anniversary year. So we want YOU to design it! What Christmas design are we looking for? We are open to anything! Below (and above) you will see examples of past Christmas cards. Some have been inspired by children’s drawings and writing; some by props made by children; some by bits of set made by teachers, even one by a special Twelfth Night themed menu! Who can enter? Absolutely anybody! Staff, children, governors, friends, families – all are welcome! We may not have worked with you recently – that doesn’t matter. If we have crossed paths in any shape or form in the last 20 years, you are in with a chance! More to the point, we would love to hear from you. Conditions of Entry The image must have something to do with Shakespeare or one of the following plays: MACBETH; THE TEMPEST; A MIDSUMMER NIGHT’S DREAM; ROMEO & JULIET; TWELFTH NIGHT; HAMLET. If you wish to add a Christmas Greeting to your image, that is entirely up to you, however it is not necessary. The artist and/or school will be credited. The image will be used on our social media pages. The deadline for submissions is 31 October 2026. All submissions should be sent by email to jules@findingthewill.com. The winning entry The winning entry will be chosen by me and an exclusive panel including Father Christmas! The card will be printed with a credit to the artist and/or the name of the school. It will be sent to all schools we have worked with in 2026 and are going to work with in 2027. A digital version will be sent to everyone who takes part. 20 years of Us! We know that the Autumn term is extremely busy. We don’t want to add to your long list of activities but we would really like you to be involved in this special year for Finding the Will. If anyone had said to Richard or me back in 2007, that we would work with 40000 young people in the UK and beyond over the course of the next 20 years, we would never have believed them! And yet here we are. So please celebrate with us throughout this academic year. If Christmas cards are not your thing, then consider leaving us a Google review by following this QR Code: While the Autumn term is in full swing in schools, Finding the Will is gearing up for some gentle work in November. Nick is heading back to King Henry VIII School in Coventry to do ROMEO & JULIET with Y5; and we will both be leading workshops on THE TEMPEST for the UK charity Heart Heroes in Bristol and Gloucester. We are looking forward to kicking off 2027 with A MIDSUMMER NIGHT’S DREAM at Great Leighs Primary in Essex in the first week of the new year. It will be our 8th visit to this fabulous school. For now though, we are waiting with bated breath for your Christmas card submissions. Let the games begin!
Special times at Woodfield
Woodfield is a fantastic school in north London which serves young people aged 11-19 who have complex learning needs. Finding the Will has been fortunate to spend 10 days in this school during 2026 leading workshops on THE TEMPEST, TWELFTH NIGHT, MACBETH and A MIDSUMMER NIGHT’S DREAM. In June and July we worked with KS3/4 and 5, many of the students learning two plays with us. MACBETH drew out some visceral emotions especially when the man himself realised the game was up! Shakespeare’s language may have been more poetic, but you could not argue with the sentiment. There is something magical about young people who, frankly, were not remotely interested in a 400 year old play at the beginning of the session, getting caught up in the emotion of the piece. A MIDSUMMER NIGHT’S DREAM also inspired some improvisation from students and practitioners alike. As practitioners, it’s not our job to make anyone feel uncomfortable, so it was absolutely fine by us for students to remain sitting and hold a hat (if they didn’t want to wear it). We filled in playing some of the roles and we even persuaded some of the staff to play fairies and lovers too! A few of the classes had the opportunity to perform in the play within a play – honestly, in 20 years of Finding the Will, we have never had a better Snug the lion! We all genuinely laughed at the tragic comedy! We also had a couple of Pucks who spoke beautifully the final lines of the play after me. Nick and I led one TWELFTH NIGHT workshop and, although we couldn’t get to the end of the play in the time allotted, we did cover Malvolio’s story. We all agreed that the trick letter (see below) and the fall out, though funny, was tantamount to bullying, so really not good.
Goodbye to 1370 joyous children? Surely not!
Read on to discover why we’re saying goodbye to Ffion (for now) and why Jules has said goodbye to live public performance.
What’s the best way to entertain 450 children?
‘To entertain’ is defined in the Collins English Dictionary as follows: ‘Receive as a guest; amuse, divert, maintain; consider favourably, take into consideration, cherish.’ And I can safely say that, on that basis, Fay, Richard and I have most definitely entertained 450 children during June. Perhaps, more to the point, I should say they have entertained us! The common denominator being Shakespeare. Below are just a few examples of how we were amused and diverted. Westende Junior, Wokingham We began the month at Westende Junior – our sixth annual visit to this fantastic school. As always we worked with the whole of KS2 over two days. Each Year Group tackled a different play. Here’s just a flavour of the entertainment. Y3 – A Midsummer Night’s Dream What we really noticed was how articulate some of the children were – amazing vocabulary and understanding for seven and eight year olds. When Hermia entered the scene to find both Demetrius and Lysander (her boyfriend, possibly ex at this point) declaring their love to her best friend Helena, we asked “How do you think Hermia might be feeling right now?” The answers were not the usual ‘sad’, ‘angry’, ‘unhappy’ but….“betrayed”, “furious”, “destroyed”. Good work Y3! Y4 – Romeo & Juliet Moving up a year to the eight and nine year olds, we went to Italy and the very grown up themes in Romeo & Juliet. Again we got some great vocabulary (“heartbroken”, “distraught”) and some really imaginative responses. The roving reporter asked “What do you do when you see fighting on the streets of Verona?” The reply “I sit in the pizzeria and watch the entertainment!” I’m tempted to say, you couldn’t make it up, but actually they did and we, at Finding the Will, absolutely love it! Y5 – The Tempest We set sail on The Good Ship Peaceful Ship (always fun getting your tongue round names like that first thing in the morning!). However, it was up to ten year old Trinculo to entertain the King which he did in style (a Trinculo jig which amused us if not King Alonso). Actually King Alonso was most entertained by a joke provided by one of his sailors: “Knock, Knock! Who’s there? Europe. Europe Who? Rude!” (Well you can see why that raised a smile I suppose). With the King laughing at this point in the voyage, he didn’t need the services of the Royal Therapist. Oh were you not aware of that particular Shakespeare character? (Spoiler Alert – more Finding the Will inspired pure imagination). Y6 – Macbeth To complete the quartet of plays (all of which Y6 has done with Finding the Will) we went to Scotland for to see Macbeth. Here we were royally entertained with two cracking feasts! To begin with the last supper for King Duncan (though he didn’t know that at the time of course) included pheasant, beer and sushi. I mean if he really consumed all that, he might have saved Macbeth and Lady Macbeth a job, and died of natural causes! No wonder the new King Macbeth and Queen decided to stick to the far more traditional Chinese Stir Fry and Chocolate Fondue. Y6 now go on as Shakespeare Ambassadors with the knowledge of four plays and the courage to tell anyone who says ‘Shakespeare’s boring’ that they are “Wrong and here’s why!…….” Collingbourne Primary, Wiltshire After eight years, Finding the Will returned to Collingbourne Primary in Wiltshire. This small rural village school is in a delightful setting, surrounded by fields and nearby Salisbury Plain. Here, we worked with the whole school from Reception right through to Y6 on A MIDSUMMER NIGHT’S DREAM. Over the course of four days, the four wildlife classes (Foxes, Hedgehogs, Otters and Kingfishers) learned lines, moves and (in some cases) dance moves and performed to a packed house on Friday afternoon. For some, this was a real learning curve. Being pushed well out of your comfort zone is never easy. However, tremendous effort was put in by everyone throughout the week and that’s what Finding the Will Project Weeks are all about. The final performance is the goal, the achievement if you like, but the work and the commitment that the children give during the week, is the most important aspect of what we do. So for those whose nerves got the better of them on the day, don’t worry, we know what you did during the week! And for those who covered at the very last minute, thank you. 4-11 year olds performing Shakespeare in 4 days is no mean feat. When asked what the response would be to the assertion that ‘Shakespeare is boring’, a young Kingfisher (Y5/6) said “I’d say, think again”. Our work here is done! Thanks to Mrs May and Mrs Phillips for getting back in touch and inviting us in once more. Barkston & Syston Primary, Lincolnshire Talking of 4-11 year olds performing Shakespeare in 4 days, Richard and I finished off June in style (and insane heat) at Barkston & Syston CE Primary, a gorgeous little school in Lincolnshire. This was our fourth visit in five years and this time we tackled the tragedy of ROMEO & JULIET. There were many entertaining moments here, not least the five year old Romeo & Juliet blowing kisses to each other after their secret wedding. You can always rely on the cute factor to steal the show! Yet again though, we saw some real effort going into some truly courageous performances. It takes guts to act out the iconic balcony scene at any age, but when you’re only eight years old……. And while I’m on the subject of the balcony, check out this incredible piece of portable scenery (Mrs Brown, you did not disappoint!) All 96 actors did an amazing job and that’s without taking into consideration the record-breaking temperature. Enormous thanks to Miss Lyon and every one of your exceptional members of staff. Not only did they drill the actors when they were not
Michael Rosen, 80? Surely not! (We love Michael)
Michael Rosen is a national treasure. We are proud to say that he is also a Patron of Finding the Will.
It’s Not Just about Acting
There are many unsung heroes in a production at whatever level. At St Botolph’s Primary, Peterborough in 2024, some fabulous props were created including a quite spectacular severed head of MACBETH! Check out these posters and programmes too, not to mention the backdrop!
Exploring Shakespeare in Oman
We were thrilled to be given the opportunity to be part of the Play Your Dream – Exploring Shakespeare Project at the The Royal Opera House, Muscat in early 2024. Whilst we are known for weaving our magic nationally here in the UK, it was a huge thrill to be asked to share our work internationally. At the end of 2023 we were approached to run workshops for children on A MIDSUMMER NIGHT’S DREAM in the run up to performances of Benjamin Britten’s opera. What an honour! Just look where we finished up! Both Richard and I were amazed by the confidence, vocabulary, enthusiasm and general joie de vivre of all of the children we met. In total we worked with approximately 200 children over the three days. They ranged in age from 6 – 12 and were from a variety of backgrounds. One workshop was purely for children who were home-schooled. With only 5 children taking part in this one, we roped in their mums to play Oberon, Titania and Puck, whilst Richard and I covered Theseus, Hippolyta and Egeus. In all honesty, the adults in the room, in every workshop we ran, were as engaged as the children. Completely drawn into the magic of the story!
Hats Off to KS4!
Southlands School is a small and friendly Special School in North Shields. Our Interactive Workshops with KS4 on A MIDSUMMER NIGHT’S DREAM were great fun! Bearing in mind that our usual identifying costumes are made to fit primary school children, we thought outside the box and took a selection of hats. These proved a great success and also inspired some amazing performances. Helena in Year 10 took on a real ‘diva’ personality – inspired! The staff at this lovely school also got involved playing the roles of Oberon and Titania in one workshop. There’s something really rather wonderful about seeing students and their teachers getting stuck in and discovering a story together. A dream? No, just beautiful reality in North Shields! “Just wanted to say a huge thank you for your wonderful work today at Southlands – we all thoroughly enjoyed your workshops and thought you were amazing. We would love to have you back….” KS4 Teacher – A MIDSUMMER NIGHT’S DREAM Interactive Workshops
What Do You Call an Elephant in a Phone Box?
Stuck!! Thank you to Trinculo in Year 8 for this! He had some cracking jokes to keep King Alonso happy before THE TEMPEST ruined everyone’s voyage! St Dominic’s School near Godalming is a caring and inspiring special school in an amazing location. Nick and I were delighted to spend a day with Years 7 and 8 working on A MIDSUMMER NIGHT’S DREAM and THE TEMPEST respectively. In SEND schools, we make the workshops bespoke. Time is often more limited and we change the actors at regular intervals. In fact, during A MIDSUMMER NIGHT’S DREAM, some of the teachers became actors – an extra thrill for the students watching the staff fall in and out of love at the squeeze of a purple flower! There were some cracking performances from students too, some of whom took on more than one role. It’s so rewarding watching young people blossom before your very eyes. After the tempest raged and we landed on Prospero’s island, our cast was joined by a couple of toys playing Ariel and Miranda. It certainly made it more comfortable to give Miranda a hug! And Trinculo just kept the jokes coming…….oh alright, here’s another: Man gives up chocolate to become a magician. “I have a few Twix up my sleeve!” Trinculo – St Dominic’s School
A Successful Royal Banquet – the #1 Secret….
When next you’re planning a banquet, consider sushi and lemonade as your star attraction. It certainly satisfied King Macbeth and his Queen in Birmingham .