100 Doncaster Things to do Before You're 11... From building a den at Sandall Beat Wood to finding a fossilised dinosaur at Doncaster Museum, there are so many exciting things to do in Doncaster! Now there is a definitive list of the 100 things to do in Doncaster before you’re 11! Click here to visit the website.

Doncaster Music Service have worked in collaboration with Sheffield Music Hub to produce weekly ‘Musical Moments’ videos for primary schools to support with learning in school and at home during this period. For ALL primary schools

• Weekly “Musical Moments” videos – these 15 minute videos provide engaging, informative and educational musical content. They can be easily played on a school whiteboard and sent home.
• Printable creative, musical Home Learning resources.

Click the link to access: Musical Moments 2.0 - Episode 1, Pitch featuring Heather Musical Moments 2.0 - Episode 2, Pulse & Rhythm featuring the Percussion Team Musical Moments 2.0 Episode 3 - Dynamics featuring the Woodwind Team Musical Moments 2.0 Episode 4 - Timbre featuring the Brass Team Musical Moments Playlist (where all the weekly videos will be uploaded)

Nine cultural organisations have joined forces to create Doncaster’s first ever storytelling festival to celebrate a range of stories from around the world and stimulate creativity. Hosted by Doncaster Cultural Education Partnership together with local literacy campaign Doncaster Stories, the festival is bookended by National Storytelling Week, starting Monday 1 February, and finishes on Thursday 4 March with the grand finale of World Book Day. The storytelling festival will be hosted on the Doncaster CEP website and involves several local organisations:

• Doncaster Stories
• Cast Theatre
• Adult Family and Community Learning
• Doncaster Libraries
• BME United Doncaster
• Hungry Little Minds
• darts
• Heritage Doncaster

Members of DCEP landed on the idea of a storytelling festival to create a programme of free (or subsidized for those who need it) virtual events from different organisations that families and schools can access in one place instead of being overwhelmed by competing offers. Whilst COVID restrictions mean that the festival will be online for its first year, it’s hoped that in the future it can be celebrated with a series of free in-person events. Research from the National Literacy Trust shows that storytelling has provided solace for young people during lockdown. Of the 4,141 children aged 8 to 18 who were surveyed, 1 in 3 said they were reading more during lockdown, 1 in 4 said they were listening to more, and 1 in 5 said they were writing more often. [1] The research also shows that audiobooks help children relax, whilst reading and writing helped children feel better when they couldn’t see their family and friends. The Doncaster Storytelling festival hopes to harness this increased literacy engagement with lots of feel-good activities and events throughout the month. Activities include live workshops on Microsoft Teams, a young writers club with CAST Theatre, storytelling videos exploring different identities and cultures, book giveaways, and content from popular children’s authors. There will also be creative resources that take children away from screens after a day of home-learning such as using a dice to build a story and heading outdoors to play in the mud. There’s even an opportunity for volunteers to create their own storytelling videos as part of the festival, and they’re especially interested in working with people from minority backgrounds – anyone wanting to get involved with the project should contact Phil Sheppard, phil.sheppard@literacytrust.org.uk. For more information about the festival, please visit doncastercep.org.uk/storytelling-festival/ where families can find a full schedule of events. Phil Sheppard, Senior Project Officer for Doncaster Stories, said: “There’s always lots going on around reading and books at this time of year, spurred on by events like National Storytelling Week and World Book Day. So instead of organising lots of separate activities, we thought it would be more impactful if we all came together to create one big event under the same name. Doncaster Storytelling Festival is all about using the power of stories to celebrate diversity in the widest sense of the word and I’m really looking forward to spotlighting uplifting and empowering content.” Susan Kerrigan, Culture Education Manager for Doncaster CEP, said: “The partners have pulled together some fantastic activities that both teachers and families can use to connect children and young people with creative activities at home.  It would be lovely to see how our young people take part by sharing their photos and videos on social media using the hashtag #DoncasterStories. I can wait to see and share their creativity online.”