Polka Theatre to Expand Free Schools Programmes for 2026/27

Polka Theatre's Artistic Director and Joint CEO Helen Matravers, Executive Director and Joint CEO Lynette Shanbury, and the whole team at the Wimbledon venue have announced an expansion of Polka's schools programme for the 2026/27 academic year. The expansion will enable thousands more children across London and Surrey to experience live theatre and take part in Creative Learning programmes, developing literacy, communication, confidence and creativity.

Polka will increase the reach of a number of its schools programmes over the coming year, responding to growing demand from schools and providing more opportunities for children and teachers to experience live theatre, develop creativity and build confidence. This has been made possible thanks to the very generous support from The Garek Trust and other funders.

Polka's annual Curtain Up! programme, which provides free theatre tickets to children who may otherwise be unable to experience live performance, will increase from 9,000 to 10,000 free tickets in 2026/27. More than 100 state primary and special schools across London and Surrey will benefit, helping to ensure that cost is not a barrier to children experiencing live theatre. The expansion follows significant demand during 2025/26, when Polka received 16,749 requests for free tickets.

One teacher from a Curtain Up! partner school said, “Most of the children had never been to a live theatre show until experiencing Polka Theatre.”

Following the successful completion of its two-year Talking Tales pilot, Polka will now roll the programme out to 10 additional schools, supporting more teachers and children to develop their oracy, communication and presentation skills.

The pilot worked with teachers from six partner schools, exploring how drama and storytelling can be used in the classroom to help children become confident communicators. Feedback from teachers and school leaders showed that Talking Tales has become more than a programme of activities, acting as a catalyst for lasting change in teaching, learning and school culture.

One teacher said, “The structure of the training has been completely unique. In Talking Tales, we had CPD and then direct support to move that into the classroom. At first our Polka Practitioner modelled the sessions with our children, and then he shifted into more of a mentoring role. I don't know of any other training like this.”

An English Lead at a Talking Tales partner school added, “Talking Tales is the kind of project I'd tell any school or senior leader to grab with both hands.”

The need for programmes supporting children's communication skills continues to grow. Research shows that 31% of children are now starting primary school without the expected communication skills for their age, rising to 47% among children from disadvantaged backgrounds. Children who struggle with language at age five are also significantly more likely to fall behind in reading and writing later in primary school*.

With oracy set to become part of the new National Curriculum from 2028, Polka's work with schools is increasingly focused on helping children build the confidence and communication skills they need.

One headteacher said, “Children who never put their hands up now go into the middle of the circle, speak loudly and are coming up with ideas that I would never have thought of.”

Polka will also continue to expand Write Here Write Now, its creative literacy programme supporting children to develop confidence, language and creative writing skills through storytelling.

Over two terms, children from partner schools take part in weekly creative workshops with Polka practitioners, developing their own stories before seeing them brought to life on Polka's stage by professional actors in front of their families, friends and peers.

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