The Belgrade Theatre recently appointed Matthew Pegg as the new Head of Young People's Work. Matthew joins us from the Education Department of The Leicester Haymarket and promises to deliver an exciting programme of events for youngsters in the Coventry and Warwickshire area. Every aspect of work for Young People is going to be re-launched, and this includes a range of activities for schools. The Belgrade Theatre will be delivering a range of supporting activities for all home-produced shows as well as Theatre In Education projects and workshops for teachers. The autumn season will see a whole range of Saturday morning children's shows (for ages 3-7) as well as a tour of Silent Lake, a production for 7-11 year olds with accompanying education work.

The first major undertaking is a piece entitled Big School and forms part of a ‘transitions project'. The change from one school to another is a difficult time, fraught with hopes and fears, anticipation and anxiety. For some it is a chance to stretch their wings and discover new friends and interests. For others, no longer being a big fish in a small pool can be a shock. Big School will tour selected secondary schools and their feeder primary schools from mid June. The play is aimed at those who are about to make a transition and those who will be on the receiving end of a new intake.

Big School will enable primary children to think about some of the changes that they will be facing and equip them with strategies to deal with them. For secondary students it will remind them of how they felt when they first arrived and frame them in a supportive role.

The students will be faced by a mixed group of characters played by experienced actor-teachers; their contributions will influence the character's experiences and the way they deal with them. The play will be entertaining and thought provoking - but more than anything it will be empowering. A list of participating schools is available on request.

The Belgrade Youth Theatre is also set to be re-launched in September - making space for even more youngsters to take part. Anyone aged between 7 - 18 will be considered. Interested parties should contact 02476 256 431 ext 240.