Samantha Bates
Founder, Director and Teacher
Sam is a specialist Performing Arts teacher with 17 years’ experience in primary education. Based in Christchurch, she is passionate about children’s literature and the arts, seeing picture books as many children’s first encounter with art and storytelling.
Sam originally trained in dance, pursuing Ballet with the Royal Academy of Dance and training in Contemporary Dance, with aspirations of a professional performing career. However, an injury during training led her to pivot towards teaching - a change that ultimately introduced her to the transformative power of drama in education.
Sam holds a Bachelor of Arts in Art History from Canterbury University, a Diploma in Primary teaching from the NZ Graduate School of Education, and Vocational Intermediate Ballet training with the Royal Academy of Dance, alongside Contemporary Dance training.
Her passion for using drama as a learning tool began during teacher training and has grown into a lifelong commitment to the arts in education. She served for three years on the Drama New Zealand National Executive as both a committee member and Primary Representative, mentoring teachers through the Drama and Literacy Project and presenting workshops at conferences on using drama to enhance literacy learning. Sam has also written educational resources for Drama New Zealand and Creative Arts Circles, supporting teachers to bring creativity and drama into their classrooms.
Through Storybox Drama, Sam has created a space where children’s imaginations are celebrated, their ideas are genuinely heard and valued, and creativity is allowed to unfold naturally.
The Storybox Way
At Storybox Drama, we believe in the power of the arts to support children’s wellbeing, growth, and development. We have created a space where children can be imaginative, creative, and confident in sharing their voices.
Stories at the heart of learning
Quality children’s literature and illustration inspires imaginative exploration of characters, worlds, and ideas.
Celebrating children’s ideas
We value children’s creativity and curiosity, shaping stories together through their questions and thinking and interpretations of both written and visual worlds.
Drama as play
Children explore stories through role-play, improvisation, soundscapes, songs, and creative movement.
Read more about us here in The Natural Parent Magazine
What is Process Drama?
Process Drama is a way of learning where children and the teacher step into an imagined world and explore stories together. Using drama techniques, we take on roles and build stories as they unfold through shared exploration - asking questions, exchanging ideas, and solving problems along the way.
It is not about performing for an audience, but about the learning experience itself.
Through weekly classes and school holiday workshops, children are encouraged to express themselves, explore different perspectives, and discover new ideas in a supportive and playful environment.
We also recognise that stories are not only found in books. Visual art , photographs and objects can also become rich story worlds for exploration. Through guided process drama experiences, we invite children to imagine, interpret, and explore stories in this way also.
“I like pretending to be a unicorn. It makes me happy.”
