Regional Teacher Mentorship
Teachers Mutual Bank is proud to support the Bell Shakespeare Regional Teacher Mentorship.
Regional Teacher Mentorship
Teachers Mutual Bank is proud to support the Bell Shakespeare Regional Teacher Mentorship.
Every year, 30 regional and remote teachers from across Australia receive a fully funded, year-long mentorship with Bell Shakespeare. They travel to Bell Shakespeare HQ in Sydney to attend four intensive days learning innovative Shakespeare strategies, active learning principles, and teaching techniques to engage all learners across all year levels. Then, on return to their schools, the teachers receive mentoring for the remainder of the year, provided with support, guidance and resources as and when they need it.
To celebrate five years supporting this unique learning experience in 2021, we travelled across Australia to meet some of the teachers who have completed the mentorship and hear their stories.
Watch now:
Applying for the Regional Teacher Mentorship will be the smartest career decision you will ever make.
Marcia Bell, Bowraville Central School, NSW
The biggest lesson was Bell gave me the starting point and confidence to approach Shakespeare in a different way than I was taught, and transformed me from a hater to a lover. The kids now come to expect Shakespeare and aren't afraid or opposed to studying it.
Melanie Grant, Ouyen, VIC
I could not have imagined how well the skills, activities and explorative, playful attitude fostered at Bell Shakespeare would benefit this process. Not only did the students produce amazing and original interpretations, they built enduring relationships that help make our school a community.
Stuart Orr, The Alice Miller School, VIC
The impact on me personally was significant. It gave me a confidence in my teaching that I have never had before. Since participating in the program I have consistently had feedback from students and parents about how they kept talking about Shakespeare and were really engaging with his plays. It has caused positive change in my faculty to how we all approach Shakespeare and I have had several opportunities to present to teachers from other schools.
Lee Stafford, Coffs Harbor Senior School, NSW
Students across the school loved learning about the works of Shakespeare, and the profile of English and the Creative Arts really rose in the school. On a smaller level it really raised the confidence of our students and opened up a whole new world. We even had a Shakespeare Day.
Emma Grant, Wyalkatchem District High School, WA
Shakespeare in the classroom
‘It’s one of the best things I’ve ever done in my life,’ says Alison Kerimofski, recalling the year-long mentorship she undertook. As a teacher for kids with disabilities, this mentorship gave her the confidence and support she needed to open the emotional world of Shakespeare and its benefits to her students.
Read more about her experience and takeaways.
About Bell Shakespeare
Bell Shakespeare is Australia’s national theatre company specialising in the works of Shakespeare and his contemporaries. Established by renowned Actor/Director John Bell, what began in a circus tent in Sydney in 1990 has grown into a theatre company with unrivalled reach and impact, delivering mainstage productions and an education and outreach program to every state and territory, ensuring classic theatre experiences are accessible to all Australians.