"Many thanks Lance Just to say a great big thank you for your performance
of ‘Dennis Comes Good’ show. The children were actively engaged
and interested throughout. Brownie points go to you for keeping the interest
of 4-7 year olds on a Friday afternoon! The key messages behind bullying
were very clearly portrayed using puppets. The Helping Hand and the STOP
1 & 2 strategies excellently help the children to understand what bullying
is and what they can do if they are bullied. I wish you well with your show
as it goes into other schools."
Angela Driscoll, St Andrew’s C of E Infant School,
Coventry
Puppets have been educating children at Weavers Close Primary School as
part of anti-bullying week.
It has taken the school's head-teacher Jean Buckby two years to book the
acclaimed group Puppet Madness and when she finally managed it they did
not disappoint.
She said "We do our best to prevent bullying at Weavers Close and we
were really eager to get Puppet Madness involved."
"They reinforced lots of things we have been teaching the children
and you could have heard a pin drop when they performed."
"They emphasised the most important thing is that children recognise
what bullying is and that they have the confidence to talk about it."
The group which is based in Hinckley, is accredited by the anti-bullying
alliance and performs regularly at schools in the Midlands.
They focus on different situations that victims, bullies and other children
find themselves in, backing up the work that the school does.
Bystanding is this year's theme for anti-bullying week and organisers are
trying to make sure that everybody knows what a bully is and that it doesn't
go ignored.
"Puppet Madness was invited to perform at an international conference for teachers and students which took place in Weston Super Mare on the 20th and 21st November during Anti-Bullying week. I am writing to thank you for your fantastic help at our 2006 i power i national conference. You added a touch of sparkle to the event and really helped make the whole two days such a success."
Andy Hickson , Director Actionwork
"As educators we have the task of encouraging children to develop skills such as empathy, understanding and respect. To do this, we must widen the child's experiences through triggering their imagination. Puppets are an excellent means of doing this and Puppet Madness are extremely successful in encouraging young children to explore, empathise and understand bullying issues."
Phil Harbour, Educational Psychologist
"Thank you for the Bystander Bullying puppet show, we had 2 days of follow up activities and the children produced some brilliant work for the sharing assembly - drama, songs, posters, graphs etc. I could let you have some photos if you like."
Meg Longford, Oakwood Junior School, Derbyshire
"The children thoroughly enjoyed the show which was very interactive. The message was clear - be nice to each other! Even our reception children were engaged and interested throughout. Good luck with your venture!
Debra Bailey, Chilvers Coton
"This 45 minute puppet show on anti-bullying really held the reception, year 1 and year 2 childrens' attention for the whole time. It was professionally performed with both lighting and mics. Before the play, Puppet Madness asked about the school's policy and included lots of references to our 'Break Time Buddies'. The play included lots of references to 'STOP' and 'The Helping Hand'. The children joined in a song about these. The puppet show illustrated the problem of bullying and how to overcome this problem for the children through and amusing and unthreatening medium."
Helen Hurst, Greenfield Primary School
For more information on bullying, please click on the links below.
Download our helping hand and picture of a puppet:
