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Special Offers
Sitara welcomes schools and we provide great discounts for school bookings. Discounts available will depend on numbers. Contact our office for further details.
Teachers’ Kit
A comprehensive production-based Teachers’ Kit is full of activities and ideas as well as photocopiable sheets for teachers to respond to the show through listening, reading, writing, speaking, drama and art and craft.
This Kit is available on CD or hard copy.
School Workshops
General
Sitara will be offering schools a range of workshops – from drama, to puppetry, art and craft to story-telling.
School Production
Are your school productions always a nightmare? Sitara can design workshops to kickstart your school production as well as offering advice on how to make both the producing and artistic side of your show/concert more smooth-running.
From Stage to Page
Having problems bringing your focus text to life? Sitara can tailor-make a workshop to bring a book or play to life – from the Hungry Caterpillar to Macbeth, Sitara will create an interactive story telling for your school.
Please contact our office for further details.
How Does A Visit to Sitara relate to My Curriculum?
A trip to Sitara gives students the opportunity to discuss and evaluate a live performance which is an important part of any primary / elementary curriculum. By watching a piece of theatre and with the help of our comprehensive Teachers’ Kit, students can discuss:
- What they liked and disliked about the performance
- How characters are portrayed – thinking about costume, voice, physical movement or gesture, music etc
- What different settings are portrayed - thinking about how the different settings are represented.
- How this version of the story compares with other versions
- How mood and atmosphere are created.
- How tension is built
- What different theatrical techniques are used – puppetry, mask, music, lighting, sound effects
- How the plot is structured – beginning, middle ending / problem and solution etc.
- How theatre / live performance differs from recorded / filmed productions; outlining the strengths and weaknesses of the different media
Because Sitara is interactive it also gives students a chance to participate in creating drama and for some students the opportunity to create and sustain a role.
For further information, see the FAQs.
Further Information
(Approximate) Length of Workshop
1½ hours with a 15 minute interval
Payment
A school representative should go straight to the reception area and pay immediately upon arrival. Payment should be in Egyptian pounds, sterling or dollars. Cash only
Extra Pocket Money
Refreshments, Sitara souvenirs and other theatre / art / literary merchandise are available before and after the show and during the interval. We believe that a trip to the theatre should be a treat and offer juice, homemade cupcakes and cookies plus much more. As part of our commitment to promote a healthy lifestyle we do not sell crisps, fizzy drinks, chocolates or sweets. Upon confirmation of your booking we will send you a sample letter to parents for your use which includes a suggestion that children bring some pocket money with them in order to purchase refreshments or other merchandise. This can be adapted as you wish.
Feedback
We ask that each school choose one teacher and one student to fill in a page of our visitor book. We are also delighted to receive any students’ drawings, letters or other feedback on our workshop. We include a form for teacher feedback in our Kit. These can be delivered at our premises in New Cairo or e-mailed to: admin@sitarakids.com
Punctuality
Please note that the workshop needs to begin on time. We can only hold for the curtain for 10 minutes if you are late arriving. Please allow for Cairo traffic when setting off!!!
Absent Children
Sitara understands that there are always children absent on any given school day. However, as the school can appreciate, if you book 60 seats and only 35 turn up, Sitara has lost the opportunity to sell 25 seats. In addition, the discount you received was based on the number of seats you booked.
Therefore Sitara allows a 10% rate of absenteeism. If more than 10% of children are absent the school is expected to make up the shortfall in the agreed fee
Behaviour Management
While at the Sitara premises, school staff are responsible for ensuring that their students behave in an appropriate manner. As the majority of your children will have not had the opportunity to be part of a theatre audience before, it is a good idea to outline expected behaviour and audience etiquette before the trip, eg. remain seated and quiet unless asked to participate; appropriate responses such as applause or laughter are always welcome; use of cell phones and cameras are not allowed etc. It should also be explained to them that only 7 children will be chosen from the whole audience to be a character on the stage. Children sometimes find it difficult to cope with the unfairness of this but by explaining it carefully beforehand we can avoid too much disappointment. Unfortunately in real life they will have to encounter this type of unfairness many times!!! Even if they are not a character on stage the whole audience plays an active role in the telling of the story.
Cancellation
Sitara understands that unexpected events do occur and will treat each circumstance individually. However, after a booking has been confirmed the cancellation fees are generally as follows:
- If the school cancels more than a week before their booking, they will not be liable to any payment.
- If the school cancels 3-6 days before their booking, they will be liable to pay 10% of the agreed fee
- If the school cancels less than 48 hours before their booking, they will be liable to pay 25% of the agreed fee
- If the school cancels less than 24 hours before their booking, they will be liable to pay 50% of the agreed fee.
- If the school fails to cancel and does not attend at the agreed time, they will be liable to pay 100% of the agreed fee.
Failure to pay the cancellation fees may affect future bookings.
In the unlikely event that Sitara postpones a confirmed booking, the following discount will be given:
- If Sitara postpones more than a week before the booking, no discount will apply
- If Sitara postpones 3-6 days before the booking, the school will receive a 10% discount on the agreed fee
- If Sitara postpones 48 hours before the booking, the school will receive a 25% discount on the agreed fee.
- If Sitara postpones less than 24 hours before the booking, the school will receive a 50% discount on the agreed fee.
- IN THE VERY UNLIKELY EVENT that Sitara has to postpone the booking on the day itself because of illness or emergency, we will offer a free performance for your school.
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