Education
Oxton Playwrights CIC is deeply invested in education, using theatre as a powerful tool for learning, engagement, and community development. Alongside our productions, we are committed to creating meaningful educational opportunities, from student placements and workshops to bespoke education packs that support curriculum learning.
We believe that theatre can spark curiosity, deepen understanding, and bring local history and social issues to life. By working closely with schools, colleges, and community groups, we aim to provide accessible, creative resources that inspire the next generation of thinkers, makers, and storytellers.
Jessie Gavin Education Pack
The Jessie Gavin Education Pack has been created to help schools, students, and community groups explore the extraordinary life of Jessie Gavin - a bold Victorian artist from Oxton, Wirral, who became known locally as “Oxton’s First Gentleman Jack.”
Through a mix of live theatre and heritage learning, this resource celebrates LGBTQ+ history, creativity, and self-expression. Jessie’s story offers a powerful way to discuss identity, hidden histories, and the role of art as resistance.
The pack is designed for use in classrooms, workshops, or independent study, and links to curriculum areas including History, English, Art & Design, and PSHE/Citizenship. With flexible activities, discussion prompts, and creative tasks, it encourages learners to:
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Discover local LGBTQ+ heritage often overlooked in mainstream history.
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Reflect on identity, equality, and belonging.
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Explore creativity as a force for change.
By engaging with Jessie’s life and legacy, students are invited to connect the past with the present, sparking conversations about progress, diversity, and the ongoing barriers in society today.
The Story of Edith Smith Education Pack
The Edith Smith Education Pack has been created to help schools, students and community groups explore the remarkable life and legacy of Edith Smith an Oxton-born woman who went on to become Britain’s first female police constable with full powers of arrest.
Through a combination of theatre, local history and wellbeing-focused learning, the resource explores Edith’s experiences of public service, responsibility, resilience and the changing role of women in the early twentieth century. Developed with input from Wirral Mind, the pack is designed to support safe and thoughtful discussion around challenge, pressure, courage and community support. It can be used in classrooms, workshops or independent study, and links to curriculum areas including History, English, PSHE/Citizenship and Drama. With flexible activities, discussion prompts and creative tasks, it encourages learners to: Discover an important local woman whose story is often overlooked in mainstream history.
Explore the changing role of women in work, public life and policing. Reflect on courage, resilience, responsibility and wellbeing. Consider how communities can support people facing change or challenge. Connect local heritage with wider conversations about equality, public service and social change.
By engaging with Edith Smith’s life and legacy, students are encouraged to see history as something connected to real people and real places, while reflecting on how individual actions can help create lasting social change.