SUNNINGHILL School in Dorchester is taking a rather hands-on approach to teaching the joys of Shakespeare to its oldest pupils.

In November, students from year eight are taking part in this year’s Shakespeare Schools Festival at Lighthouse in Poole. They will be performing a reduced adaptation of the bard’s famous play The Tempest, which should take 30 minutes from start to finish, and hoping to beat three other schools on the day.

The other schools taking part are Parkstone Grammar, Branksome Heath Middle School and the Victoria School in Poole.

The youngsters spent the summer holidays memorising their script and last week visited Lighthouse for a day of preparation, which included learning performing arts on the venue’s main stage.

Class members are also involved in promoting the performance and helping the backstage technicians at the Lighthouse with lighting on the day.

The Tempest is based on an isolated island where Prospero, the exiled Duke of Milan and a man of magical talents, plots to restore his daughter Miranda to her rightful place.

He conjures up a storm that shipwrecks his brother Antonio, who robbed him of his Dukedom, and his cohorts to the island. Among their number is Ferdinand, the son of the King of Naples who falls in love with Miranda.

Once the stage is set, the play works towards the resolution of feuds and the realisation of true love. It also has ethereal and comic elements, including the appearance of deformed ‘monster’ Caliban, the spirit Ariel and the jester and drunken butler Trinculo and Stephano.

The festival was established by the National Theatre and the National Youth Theatre to challenge the preconception that studying Shakespeare is difficult, dry or dull through a combination of teacher training, workshops and student performance in a local professional theatre.

This is the first year that Sunninghill has taken part in the festival and Head of English Donna Fernley hopes it wont be the last.

She said: “The whole of year eight are taking part and it is great to have them all involved. It is really good to have the chance to focus just on the children’s acting and not be distracted by anything else.

“They are doing really well. There are a lot of lines to learn and acting to do, but they seem to be comfortable with expressing themselves on stage and in front of each other. They don’t get embarrassed and their performance skills are coming on in leaps and bounds.”

Natasha Walker from year eight said: “It’s really good fun being part of the festival and it was amazing being on stage at the Lighthouse. It has really helped my acting and we are all having a good time.”

Chessie Fry added: “I’m really enjoying learning The Tempest and can’t wait to get on stage and perform it properly.”

The Schools Shakespeare Festival is at Lighthouse in Poole on November 17 at 7pm. Tickets are £8 plus concessions from 0844 406 8666