Pupils at a Shropshire school donned a “beard for a bard” to commemorate the 400th anniversary of William Shakespeare.
Children at Prestfelde School in Shrewsbury wore a selection of handcrafted 17th Century-inspired beards on Friday April 22 as part of the school’s celebration of Shakespeare’s life.
William Shakespeare died on April 23 in 1616, and a series of events are taking place across the world to commemorate his life.
Staff and pupils at the Shrewsbury prep school have been discovering the great playwright’s work in a variety of ways, and the school took part in the Shakespeare Festival at Shrewsbury Castle on Saturday April 23.
Fiona Orchard, head of Prestfelde, said the Beard for a Bard day was a fun way of educating the children about Shakespeare’s life and work.
“We have children from the age of three to 13 years old here at Prestfelde, so the Beard for a Bard day was a wonderful way of involving the whole school in the Shakespeare celebrations,” she said.
“Children paid £1 to dress in their own clothes and wear a beard which they made themselves, with all proceeds going to the Shakespeare Schools Festival.
“Our older pupils have been reading some of Shakespeare’s work, and events like this help the younger children start to discover who he was and why he was so important.
“The children enjoyed making their own beards inspired by Shakespeare and wore them during the day which was great fun.”
Prestfelde is a co-educational preparatory school in Shrewsbury and for more information, visit the website at www.prestfelde.co.uk or call 01743 245400.
