Female Magician for School Assemblies and Enrichment Days
Female Magician for School Assemblies and Enrichment Days
Schools book performers for assemblies, enrichment weeks, careers days, and end of term events, usually on a small budget, arranged by a teacher doing it alongside a full teaching load. The practical considerations matter considerably more than anything else.
I'm Magical Katrina, an award winning magician and mentalist with a Family Entertainer of the Year honor, and I want to set out what a school should check when booking a female magician, and what genuinely works in a school hall.
Check the Practical Things First
Start with what any school needs regardless of the performer. Current safeguarding clearance, public liability insurance, references from other schools, and experience with the age group you're booking for.
Ask for all of it at enquiry rather than in the final week, and expect it back promptly. A performer who works with schools regularly has it ready and provides it unprompted. Anybody vague about clearance or insurance is not somebody to be booking into a building full of children, whatever their footage looks like.
Ask About the Age Group Specifically
Worth doing, since it's where school bookings most often misfire. A performer excellent with five year olds may be poor with Year 9, and the reverse is equally true.
Those are genuinely different skills rather than one adjusted for height. Ask what proportion of their work is with your age group, and ask for footage of them performing for children of that age rather than at a corporate event. The gap between a performer who works primary and one who works secondary is wider than most schools assume.
Halls Are Difficult Rooms
Practically relevant. A school hall has hard floors, high ceilings, a stage nobody can use properly, and acoustics that make anything spoken at distance hard to follow for children sitting at the back.
The practical fixes are simple: seat children close together at one end rather than spread across the space, keep the front rows genuinely at the front, and don't use the stage unless sightlines genuinely require it. A performer who asks about the room before arriving is one who's worked in school halls, since everybody who has knows what they're walking into.
Assembly Length Is Shorter Than You Think
Worth planning realistically. An assembly slot is typically twenty to thirty minutes including getting children in and out, which means the actual performance is shorter than the slot.
Say the real figure when you book rather than the timetabled one, and build in the five minutes at each end that a hall full of children genuinely takes. A performer given thirty minutes who discovers they have eighteen is cutting material on the spot, which is worse for everybody than having planned for eighteen.
The Role Model Element Is Real and Secondary
Worth being straightforward about. Magic has been overwhelmingly male throughout its history, and girls seeing a woman doing something genuinely difficult and impressive registers without anybody framing it.
That's a real benefit and it shouldn't be the reason you book. Book the performer who's excellent with your age group, and take the rest as an addition. A booking made on the basis of representation alone, with a performer who isn't right for the room, teaches children something considerably less useful than a brilliant performance does.
Careers Days Are a Different Booking
Worth separating, since schools frequently conflate them. A performance entertains, and a careers session answers how somebody ended up doing this, what the work actually involves, and what a day looks like.
Both are legitimate and they need different preparation. If you want the careers angle, say so, since it means a different session rather than the same show with a few minutes added. For secondary students particularly, somebody describing an unusual career honestly is frequently more valuable than the performance itself.
Enrichment Weeks Need More Than One Session
Practically useful. If you're booking for an enrichment day or week, several shorter sessions across year groups reach considerably more children than one long assembly.
That's usually cheaper per child and better received, since each group gets something pitched at them rather than a compromise aimed at the middle. Ask about a day rate rather than a session rate, since most performers price a block considerably more favorably than separate bookings.
Say Your Budget Plainly
The practical advice for school buyers. Schools frequently send a vague enquiry, receive a corporate quote, and go away without replying.
Say what you can spend in the first message, since the performer will confirm it works, propose something shorter, or tell you honestly it doesn't. Many reduce rates for schools, and none can offer what they haven't been asked for. Mention whether it's a state school, what the occasion is, and roughly how many children, since all of it affects the answer.
Why Book Magical Katrina
If you're booking for a school, here's my case. I'm a member of the Magic Circle in London and the Academy of Magical Arts in Hollywood, I've earned multiple magic awards including a Family Entertainer of the Year honour, and I've appeared on Blippi as a performer and magic consultant, along with Penn & Teller: Fool Us and Masters of Illusion. I perform for every age without pitching at the wrong one, I need no stage, power, or sound so your hall works as it is, I provide clearance and insurance documentation unprompted, and no child is ever brought up who doesn't clearly want to be.
Frequently Asked Questions
What should we check first?
Current safeguarding clearance, public liability insurance, references from other schools, and experience with your age group, asked for at enquiry rather than the final week. A performer who works with schools has it ready unprompted, and vagueness about clearance is disqualifying whatever the footage looks like.
Does the age group really matter?
Considerably, since a performer excellent with five year olds may be poor with Year 9 and the reverse is equally true, which are genuinely different skills rather than one adjusted for height. Ask what proportion of their work is with your age group and for footage of them performing for children that age.
What works in a school hall?
Seating children close together at one end rather than spread across the space, keeping the front rows genuinely at the front, and not using the stage unless sightlines require it, since halls have hard floors, high ceilings, and acoustics that defeat anything spoken at distance.
How long is an assembly really?
Shorter than the slot, since twenty to thirty minutes typically includes getting children in and out. Say the real figure rather than the timetabled one and build in five minutes at each end, since a performer given thirty who discovers they have eighteen is cutting material on the spot.
Should we book on the role model basis?
As an addition rather than the reason. Girls seeing a woman doing something genuinely difficult registers without anybody framing it, and that's real, but a booking made on representation alone with a performer who isn't right for the room teaches children less than a brilliant performance does.
Is a careers session different from a show?
Entirely, since a performance entertains while a careers session answers how somebody ended up doing this and what the work involves. Say which you want, since it means different preparation, and for secondary students an honest account of an unusual career is frequently more valuable than the performance.
How should we structure an enrichment day?
Several shorter sessions across year groups rather than one long assembly, since that reaches more children, is usually cheaper per child, and lets each group get something pitched at them. Ask about a day rate, since most performers price a block considerably more favorably.
How do we approach a performer on a school budget?
Say what you can spend in the first message, since a vague enquiry produces a corporate quote and most schools then go away without replying. Mention the occasion and roughly how many children, since many performers reduce rates for schools and none can offer what they haven't been asked for.
Book for the Room, Not the Headline
A school booking succeeds on unglamorous things: clearance and insurance in order, a performer genuinely experienced with your age group, a realistic assembly length, and children seated close together rather than spread across a difficult hall.
Book a female magician because she's excellent with the children you're booking for, and let the rest be the addition it genuinely is. Girls in that hall will notice without anybody pointing it out, and they'll notice it considerably more if the performance was brilliant.
Reach out with your date, age groups, and what you can spend, and I'll tell you plainly what's possible.