Resources

Please Note: The following information is relevant to the 2025 Adelaide Fringe Season. 

The Adelaide Fringe Schools Program connects artists and youth audiences through the promotion of school-appropriate shows for teachers and school aged children.

Fringe is committed to developing future audiences and providing support to artists and access for young people. Joining the Schools Program will see your show promoted directly to schools and teachers. 

Table of contents

• Eligibility
• Adelaide Fringe will...
• How to opt-in
• Tips for Success
• In-school performances
• How to market to schools
• Pricing
• How to be prepared
• The best shot at getting booked
• Ratings and suitability

Eligibility?

To meet the minimum requirements you must:

• Set a Schools ticket price that is lower than your least expensive ticket
• Agree to provide free teacher tickets as per the DECD teacher/student ratio guidelines (usually one or two per school group)
• Have an age suitability rating lower than (M) and list all content warnings
• It is highly recommended to schedule at least one daytime session Monday - Friday between 10:00am and 2:00pm

Adelaide Fringe will...

• Halve the Artist Inside Charge (AIC) to 2.5% on all Schools tickets sold
• Include you in the printed Kids & Schools Guide (distributed to South Australian schools)
• Waive the $4.80 Transaction Fee when a Schools group is booked
• The Schools Program Coordinator will be available to you for advice, answer your questions and assist you in negotiating with schools where needed. They also ensure that your Schools tickets are only purchased by schools and process all school bookings through an invoice payment method.

How to opt-in

Opt into the Schools Program in the 'Ticketing - Setup' section of AVR or email schools@adelaidefringe.com.au for more info.

Tips for Success

Many primary and lower secondary teachers can only bring their classes to performances during school hours (between 10:00am - 2:00pm is ideal). By programming within this time, you will give your show the best chance for school bookings. You can also have Schools sessions outside of these times in addition to performances within school hours. We do have a small number of schools that travel from interstate or regional areas and book shows on the weekends.

In-school performances

In-school performances, or incursions, are where you travel to the school to present your show. These incursions are organised privately between the artist/show and the chosen school. If you need any assistance reaching out to schools or artists, the Schools Program Coordinator can facilitate this. All aspects of the performance (e.g. day/time and fee) will be negotiated between you and the school, but the Fringe Schools Program Coordinator is available if you need assistance. 

Marketing to schools

How to best promote your show to schools

As an open-access festival, we cannot promote one show over another. However, you can! You, as the artist, are encouraged to sell, sell, sell your show. But how?

• Have some sessions scheduled within the school day (10:00am - 2:00pm)
• Promote your show on social media groups, share it with schools near your Fringe venue, share it with your teacher friends
• Get creative—is there a hook that works for a particular school or curriculum point? Then target that topic, school, or class with some marketing. For example, if your show is about a war, it may be great for the Drama department, but could also be amazing for the History curriculum
• Have a clear show description including any warnings for teachers to base their booking decisions on—you MUST disclose if there is coarse language, violence, or nudity. Something to think about: sometimes you register your show before it's completed, make sure you go back and check your content and trigger warnings and update them. It's also a good idea to flag anything you think could be a potential issue for schools with our Schools coordinator. 
• Include Fringe logos, booking contact info and links to your show on your promotional material.

We will do our part by sharing your show in the Kids & Schools Guide and help teachers to choose shows appropriate to their year level and by dates and times.

Reach out to appropriate schools/groups

Below is a great link to the South Australian Department of Education's database of schools. This is a searchable list, which you can use to find primary or secondary schools to target the right age group for your event. Ensure your work is aligned with the school's values or faith before approaching them.

https://www.education.sa.gov.au/parents-and-families/find-schools-preschools-and-other-services

It is a good idea to look for schools with a dedicated Arts Coordinator (generally listed on their website), or address your email to the Curriculum Coordinator, or the subject teacher suited to your event ( i.e. Drama/Music/Art/Language/etc). For primary schools and childcare centres normally it is best to contact the Principal/Director respectively. 

You could also approach schools which are near your venue, or speak to any teachers you may know about marketing your show to their school. It may be helpful to approach youth and community groups to ask if your show can be included in their next newsletter or bulletin board.

Align with the Australian curriculum

To see how your show may align with subjects offered in schools, we recommend you look at the Australian curriculum. When you contact schools, it is beneficial to make them aware of any curriculum your show covers.

The Australian curriculum (Reception - Year 10)

SACE (Year 11 - Year 12) Guidelines for individual subjects

Marketing to a school

Once you have found an appropriate school/group, it is a good idea to send them an information kit or online flyer that contains all relevant details. This may include:

• Adelaide Fringe 2025 Logo
• Clearly state you are registered with the Adelaide Fringe Schools Program
• Session times and School Ticket Prices
• Venue information
• Age suitability and rating guidelines
• A list of Australian curriculum points that your event covers
• Event description and/or photo
• Awards and quotes from previous reviews/audience response
• Any previous arts-in-education experience you have
• Company / artist biographies
• Teacher resources  (i.e. teacher notes or activities)
• Possibility for a Q&A post show- Please confirm this with your venue beforehand!

For any Schools Program bookings please email schools@adelaidefringe.com.au or call 08 8100 2004

If you're using email, send your information kit/flyer in an easy-to-download format such as a PDF or Word Document. 

Fringe reaches your target market by

• Listing your show in the online Kids & Schools Guide and having your event filtered by 'Schools' on the website
• Listing your show in the printed Kids & Schools Guide (distributed to schools in South Australia)
• Promoting the Schools Program to teachers through targeted emails and social media leading up to and during Fringe
• Adelaide Fringe provides support to socio-economically disadvantaged South Australian schools by offering them access to an Equity discount. This is a $5 discount from the Schools ticket price and the difference in price will be funded by Adelaide Fringe with no loss of income to the artist.

Pricing

How many free teacher tickets do I need to provide?

Schools follow the DECD ratios for excursions so we ask the artists for free tickets to match that ratio.

Additional teachers/adults above the complimentary ratios are charged at the same ticket price as a student.

On average it's 1 per 10 students, so an average of two free tickets per booking. Please note that additional teachers/adults attending the show above complimentary ratios are charged at the same rate as students.

How much do I discount?

The benefit of a Schools session is you may get group bookings often 20+ students. You must discount your ticket price, however you also need to be realistic about your budget to avoid the show costing you money. You don't have to offer a Schools price on all sessions, you can offer it on selected sessions only. 

A bit of an idea

In 2021 the average Schools ticket price was $17.31, which included the $1.50 booking fee which has been removed and replaced with the 5% AIC.

So in 2022, if your ticket was $17.31 you would pay an artist inside charge of 0.87 cents per ticket.

Only schools (including home schools) and community groups working specifically with youth can purchase Schools price tickets. Only the Schools Program Coordinator can access the Schools price tickets - they can't be purchased over the phone, online or at a box office. 

Be prepared

Organising a school excursion is an extensive process, involving a huge amount of paperwork and seeking permission by both school staff and parents. Once the Kids & Schools Guide is printed it is not effective to make changes to your show, such as lowering the ticket price or scheduling additional sessions, in an attempt to make ticket sales. It is difficult to convey the changes to the schools, and teachers need time to get organised.

Have the best shot at getting booked

• Have ALL your information ready to go for your show to be included in the Kids & Schools Guide. Your AVR registration must be completed, venue/s confirmed, and event details and images provided before the 20th December 2024 to appear in the Kids & Schools Guide
• Be smart about the time you choose
• Look into extra resources that might be appealing to teachers like a workbook or a Q&A
• Start your marketing early

Ratings and suitability for the Schools program

The event listing in the Kids & Schools Guide will include the classification you nominated during the event registration. R-rated material (18+) including full frontal nudity (even in context), graphic sexual depictions or showings of excessive violence, and unresolved anti-social behavior will not be accepted into the Schools Program. 

You are also asked to give an indication of what year levels that your show would appeal to and be suitable for. In South Australia, High School starts in Year 7.

Year levels and ages of students

ELC

Primary School

We require you to provide accurate warnings as part of the event registration. Any additional explanation or information regarding suitability and warnings can be listed in the Kids & Schools Guide. Any complaints or concerns from teachers regarding the inappropriate nature or content of a show will be referred to the presenter.

Please email schools@adelaidefringe.com.au with queries.

Image: Victoria Falconer by Deb Tucker

Image Description: An artist sits on the ground surrounded by small children. She is wearing a white dress with red hearts and is playing a red accordion.