At Enact Solutions, we are fortunate to have delivered a plethora of educational tours in primary and secondary schools across the UK. We believe that drama can help to educate, challenge and connect. The school tours are a fantastic way for children to learn about different career options or option choices in an interactive and engaging format.
We welcomed Katy, Gary and Conor to our Enact team in January to be a part of our most recent education tour – a six-week-long primary school tour commissioned by Surrey Heartlands Health and Care. The show was called ‘Who CAREs?’. It was a jam-packed, entertaining and informative performance celebrating the NHS and the diverse careers available. Our Creative Producer, Helen Lacey, wrote the amazing script that blended fun (many a laugh was had) and important facts about the NHS.
The key aims of the show were:
- Raise awareness of the different job roles and careers in health and care.
- Breakdown gender stereotypes that could put limitations on young people’s interest in certain job roles.
- Communicate that anyone can be a part of this exciting sector.
Have a watch of the team in action:
After they celebrated a successful tour, we asked Katy, Conor and Gary about their experience and the impact they felt the show had.
Tell us a bit about the script and the aims of the performance.
Gary: The script is called ‘Who Cares’ and aims to teach children about the different job roles within the NHS (other than doctors and nurses). It also details the history of the NHS and travels back in time to find the origins of medical practices and key figures that helped to evolve these practices into what we know today.
Which character/s did you play? What role did they have in the NHS?
Katy: I played various characters such as an A&E receptionist and Marie Curie who came through the portal and an optician.
Conor: Ooga (a caveman who has appendicitis), Musical Theatre performer, Alexa, Art Therapist (A person who helps their patients express complex emotions through art), a Midwife and Bluebeard (a pirate who needs to see an optician)
Gary: I played many roles such as Drama Therapist (helps people through Drama therapy and talks about Marie Curie), Trainee Pharmacist (gives medicine to patients) and Ken (from Barbie).
Who was your favourite character in the show and why?
Katy: My favourite character was Marie Curie as I felt she was inspiring to lots of young girls as a woman in science to look up to.
Conor: That would be the midwife. Though a short role in the play, he was used to highlight an important fact within the performance, to quote from the script, “You can be any gender and do any role in the NHS.”
Gary: My favourite character is A+E Doctor because he was fun to play and I loved doing the Jamaican accent – the children loved him!
Tell us a bit about the rehearsal process. What was a typical day like?
Gary: A typical day would be to come into the space, warm up vocally, physically, and mentally and then block scene by scene. We would learn about transitions, what side we need to be on, learn about the tech and the slideshow and how to use the clicker in the performance. We would learn about putting the tech together and taking it down, putting the screen up and down, staging, and learning to drive the van. We would have lunch and then we would run the show several times.
What was the funniest thing that happened on tour?
Gary: The pre-show warm-ups – we got silly with it! When we played songs, we would let it all go – and some of the teachers and children found it funny who happened to be walking past!
Katy: The funniest thing that happened was at one school, there was an elderly lady who came in with a therapy dog to see some children. Instead of walking around the edge of the hall during our performance, she came on stage WITH THE DOG! Not once BUT TWICE! I thought it was hilarious and had to hold it together until the end of the show.
Conor: Watching the students react to silly costumes on the teachers at the end of the performance. (Yes, we may involve teachers from time to time in the shows – nothing to be afraid of though!)
What is your favourite memory from being on tour?
Katy: I loved being in the van – driving around and singing along to the radio. It was nice to see Surrey as I have never been there before, so it was like an adventure.
Gary: Going to one of the schools and the energy being so big from the children – they were singing along, asked for autographs and they loved KEN! It was so rewarding to see the reactions of the children at different schools.
Conor: A line of children making a competition to get the Turning Point remotes back in. (Turning Point is what the children use at the end of the show to tell us what they thought – we even make evaluations fun!)
Could you describe any moments during/after the shows where you felt the real impact you were having?
Katy: I found at the Q&A when the children would ask very well-thought-out questions that we had done a good job, as they were truly interested in the NHS and wanted to know more.
Conor: A student asked an NHS visitor about difficult cases they’d treated during their time in the NHS, the visitor spoke of a personal case, and then the child felt inspired to share that they had to take insulin and wanted to thank the NHS.
Gary: There were some moments where the teachers would come up to us and tell us how amazing the show was and that since COVID the children have not had something so fun/educational. It really made a massive impact on the children who watched it and they learned so much while having fun. Also, when the children would give us high fives and tell us that the show was amazing, I loved that!
Did you get feedback from the children watching the show afterward? What were the children’s and teacher’s reactions throughout the tour?
Katy: The children loved the show, they loved the fun but also mentioned that they would want to work for the NHS in the future. The teachers found the show enjoyable too, laughing along and mentioned to us plenty of times that the show would be memorable for the children.
Conor: Many enjoyed the performance and fed back that they “found the play engaging”, and “we played really funny characters” and praised us for bringing the show to the schools.
Gary: Again, children told us they LOVED IT. Turning Point questions showed that most children loved the show and learned a lot about the NHS. Teacher evaluations were positive. Teachers were laughing and singing along too and enjoyed an hour of letting us perform.
What key message will the children take away from the performance?
Katy: I think the key message was that there are so many NHS jobs other than doctors and nurses and that there is a role for everybody.
Conor: That the NHS can provide much to a person. Not just a steady job but a chance to be a part of something that has also a century of history of bringing help and hope to the entire nation.
Gary: The key message the children will take is that the NHS is so fundamental to our country, and we are very lucky to have it. There are so many job roles in the NHS, and it gives them something to think about in the future. Many people in their lives will work for or be associated with the NHS and that is special.
Why do you think shows like this are important?
Gary: They are important because it’s a fun way to prepare the next generation of NHS workers about what it is like to work for the biggest healthcare system in the world. It’s insightful and important that children are aware of what the NHS is and the roles within the service and have NHS ambassadors come in and talk about their experience. Children learn in a fun and engaging way, so this is the perfect show to promote the message.
Katy: I think shows like this are important because children will remember them for a long time and having an engaging performance is much more memorable than a simple presentation which often can go over people’s heads.
Conor: It gives young and still developing minds an opportunity to understand a key part of our infrastructure. It highlights that being a key part of the health service can be from different roles, not strictly medical – you can be an engineer, physiotherapist, culinary worker, etc.
Katy asked teachers what they thought about the performance:
We’d like to say a huge thank you to Katy, Conor and Gary for delivering a wonderful tour and for speaking to us about their experiences. If you’d like to find out more about Enact Solutions and our Education tours, check out our website, socials and don’t hesitate to get in touch!
