YOUNGSTERS from a York primary school have been fundraising for a city theatre project.

Knavesmire School presented a cheque for £418 for the York Theatre Royal capital re-development project to theatre staff at the school.

The school has had a partnership with the theatre for more than a decade and the collaboration has seen the children learning about and experiencing many different facets of theatre life- from watching performances to learning about pricing and the box office mailing list, cooking recipes from the cafe to learning about costume and scenery design.

Teacher, Karen Thompson, said: "One of the most memorable trips ‘behind the scenes at the theatre’ was a treasure hunt for a reception class. It was an amazing backstage tour where they kept stumbling across characters from the play they were working on - A Midsummer Night’s Dream. They had to crawl past a snoring donkey and follow fairy footsteps to the next clue, finding letters leading them to the forest on stage.

"Ours has been a sustained creative partnership of work delivered both in school and at the theatre. This work is multi-faceted, including using drama across the curriculum. The education associates come into school at the beginning of each term to discuss the upcoming ‘Big Ideas’ with the teachers.

"We embed drama in cross-curricular teaching , eg the lighting crew helping with a science project, an actor playing Vincent Van Gogh dropping in on an art lesson, and an actor playing an alien Skyping from his spaceship or bringing history to life by re-enacting an Aztec sacrifice."

In addition the theatre's leading director helped a class to learn how a book can be turned into a script and developed into a play. All classes receive professional advice on staging their productions.

Last week The Press reported that the theatre will be sold for £1 to York Conservation Trust. The theatre building - parts of which are mediaeval, Georgian and Victorian - needs a great deal of attention to ensure it is well maintained.

Trust boss, Philip Thake, said a "wish list" of work for the next ten years could cost upwards of £2 million, making the trust's offer to buy the building for £1 a very generous one.