Helping students to thrive

We are proud of our projects in a variety of schools in Hong Kong and China, assisting students to develop skills in conversational English.

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Hong Kong’s universities classes are conducted in English and the school system is a tiered system according to your academic ability.  Teachers felt that students needed another way of developing English. 

We were approached by an Australian NET (native English teacher)  to conduct improv classes in her C grade school in Apli Cha to give the students the confidence to give English ‘ a go’.

News soon spread and other NET teachers approached us, giving us the opportunity to work with many students.  

We made an annual visit for many years to  variety of schools and on 2 occasions a team of 5 students and a teacher came to  compete in The West Australian inter school competition.

We still keep in contact with these students and 3 of them did go to universities ( one in America) , which is unheard of from a C grade school.

Bringing parents and students together

When Governor Stirling Senior High School rebuilt and renovated they were keen to encourage the primary schools in their catchment area to connect with them and make it their school of choice.

We formulated a program which brought parents and students into the school and gave them a positive and engaging experience. 

AITS conducted an after school workshop series in the high school drama studio and the primary schools in the area were invited to have up to 8 children attend. Seven primary schools attended the workshops that ran for 2 hours once a week for 6 weeks and culminated in a competitive show – the Govo Cup.

AITS donated a very impressive trophy that has become a perpetual trophy. 
 

We are proud that a large number of parents attended and we connected parents and potential students to the school which is now into its fourth year .

Interschool competitions

We were approached by the drama department at John XXlllrd in 1996 to hold an Inter-house TheatreSports competition whereby teams could compete and accumulate drama points towards the overall house competition held at the school.

We conducted a weekend workshop and the students competed on the following Tuesday evening. This has now turned into an annual event and we have seen many students rom the school move into improv comedy and other performing areas.

This has become a huge success with both students and audiences over the years. Initially it was open to any student to apply to represent their house but in recent years it has become a right of passage for year 11 and 12 students only.

We now conduct a junior high school competition to allow the younger students to experience the delights of improvisation and compete in their houses.

The shows themselves have a cult following and although they are held in the evening it tends to have more students attend than parents.

Angela and Michael were terrific. They provided our children with a rich and varied tapestry of drama and esteem building activities, delivered with an infectious sense of fun and adventure. There were able to develop a good rapport with all children of all ages and they really gave their all in every TheatreSports session. An invaluable experience for School of The Air children.

Utahloy International School 

As a teacher I found the experience invaluable to observe rather than participate. I gained a lot of insight into my student’s sense of self with their peers. I was so impressed with the way the students from the ESC were involved so easily by Michael and Angela- doesn’t often happen. As a result I believe these students were more willing to deal with some of the negative attitude towards them by some of their peers. I enjoyed seeing some of the negative dynamics being dismantled and different positions of power being used by students who don’t always ‘get a go’. I found the time invaluable and am extremely worthwhile experience. My thanks.

Alinjarra primary School 

I thought the day was well planned, professional and appealed to the kid’s interests. It was great to see you spot the kids that needed a little extra help. The day was very well paced and I suspect, adjusted, to suit the children’s needs. The children raved about the day and it was a highlight of our Year 6 Activity Week. Thank-you and look forward to many more visits or performances at Alinjarra.

Orana Catholic Primary school

A well thought out and prepared concept, I was great to see my children beginning to take risks about being laughed at and making mistakes.  Some children were prepared to work with peers who were not friends – good to see.

Mukinbudin District High School

My class thoroughly enjoyed the activities and looked forward to going to TheatreSports each day.  It was great to see them all participate so actively in the performance, with no child being the “Star” of the show.  The cooperative nature of the activities was excellent.  All children had to take part equally in group activities.  Thanks a lot.  Hope to see you again.

Bunbury Cathedral Grammar  

The 2 leaders were very observant – they picked up things about individual students very quickly and adapted activities to suit them.