St Luke’s Church of England School and St James School, both part of the Ted Wragg Trust, as well as St Peter's Church of England Aided School, have had a visit from the Saltmine Theatre Trust this term.

Since 1990 the Saltmine Theatre Trust has been dedicated to transforming lives through the power of theatre, offering professional, thought-provoking performances and workshops that leave a lasting impact reaching over 70,000 people a year.

Inspired by the life and teachings of Jesus, their theatre is faith motivated.  A team of five came along from the trust to perform ‘Switch Up’ at St Luke’s, a show addressing the themes of gang violence, county lines,  knife crime and self identity.  After watching the performance, Year 8 and 9 students took part in a thought provoking workshop where they explored the themes raised, and their response to the show.

Joe Greenhalgh, the Ted Wragg TrustLeader for Christian Distinctiveness worked in partnership with St Peter's Church of England Aided School to organise the visits and he would like to thank all the churches and local charities who helped to enable the theatre company to visit the school through their donations. 

Mr Harrison Littler, Headteacher at St Luke’s C of E School said:

“I am grateful to the actors from the Saltmine Theatre Company for coming down to Exeter.  Their performance was hard-hitting and had powerful messages about the dangers of engaging with drug dealing and knife crime. 

“However, it also sought to bring a positive message about how all young people have value and dignity, and encouraged those watching to value themselves and have high aspirations.”

Emily Harper, Headteacher at St James School said:

“It’s great to that schools across Exeter have benefitted from this very impactful session with the Saltmine Theatre Trust.  The social and spiritual development of young people is just as important as their academic journeys and it’s so beneficial that schools are helping students to address the big issues and questions we all face in life.”