Inspiring Children's Festival kicks off

Rotherham's Children's Festival gets into full gear this week as it aims to inspire children, families and educationalists to celebrate learning.

The spectacular event at Magna Science Adventure Centre runs from June 27 to July 15 and follows on the success of last year's event which welcomed over 8,000 visitors.

This year's Festival will start off with a musical theme and is then gearing up for an event for the public to come along and be inspired about communication and learning.

The Inspired Families event will run from 10am to 2.30pm on Sunday July 10, is open to the public, and involves an array of family communication activities and workshops for all ages to enjoy as well as free resources and information for families. 

It will also provide a showcase of projects and activities which have been delivered across Rotherham through the Inspire Rotherham Literacy Campaign. The event is free to enter and for those wanting to visit the rest of the Magna Centre on that day, the centre is offering free entry for a child with one paying adult, if they have visited the Inspired Families Event.

The Festival first week will see:

- June 24/25 - Summer Proms performances organised by Rotherham Schools Music Service involving the Junior and Intermediate ensembles

- Shakespeare Festival - Primary school children produce their own versions of Shakespeare plays with support from the Open Minds Theatre Company and the Royal Shakespeare Company. This week's performances will involve the plays Romeo and Juliet (Tuesday), The Tempest (Wednesday), Macbeth (Thursday).

- Rotherham Ready Enterprise Conference (June 28) - The pioneering schools enterprise project, Rotherham Ready will be showcasing its successes through the young people, teachers and young entrepreneurs who have been involved with the project. Its work with schools has led Rotherham to be dubbed 'the most enterprising town in Britain.

Throughout the festival, Magna will also play host to the Picture This Exhibition. The exhibition showcases creative work from local schools inspired by the National Gallery painting, 'Surprised! Tiger in a Tropical Storm', by French post-impressionist Henri Rousseau.

In addition to all these exciting activities there will be a number of events for staff involved in education settings including a Careers Education and Guidance Conference and an evening with educationalist and 'Associate of Independent Thinking', Dave Keeling.

There is also a two day event called Inspiring Lives which aims to look at the future of education in Rotherham through the borough's new Schools Improvement Partnership. Among the speakers will be John Crookes from the Qualifications and Curriculum Development Agency, Jean Gross the Communication Champion from The Communication Trust and Michael Rosen, Children's Novelist and Poet.

More details of the events that make up the Festival are available online at www.rgfl.org/childrensfestival