Thanks to our amazing drama teachers
The last 3 weeks have been extremely busy for me because I’ve been contracting all our teachers for next term. As you can imagine, with over 200 schools and currently 208 teachers working for Perform, this is no easy task. It also demands quite a lot of concentration, so the mince pies and gingerbread lattes have been helping with this too!
Because we now have quite a few schools, many people think that Perform is franchised like most other drama, dance and singing organisations. But we aren’t. Everything is centrally run and we are very specific about the sort of teacher who works for us – specifically, we only pick the fabulous sort. Which is why I actually really enjoy the contracting part of my job, because it means that I get to talk to them all. Read more »
Careful the things you say, children will listen
I took my 4 year old son to a birthday party last week. Just before we got there, he fell over and so was a bit tearful and clingy when we arrived. He didn’t want to join in with the rest of his friends who were being entertained by a well-known local clown. Tom’s a very confident child and is usually very good at joining in so I knew that this out-of-character behaviour was because he’d just hurt himself. As a result, I was quite happy to let him sit on my lap for a bit until he’d settled down.
When the party entertainer saw that Tom wasn’t taking part, he came over and said “Come on, Mr Shy Boy. Come and join in!” He walked away and I said to Tom, “Go on, Tom”. And Tom responded with “I can’t, Mummy, I’m shy”. Although I didn’t show it at the time, inside I was quite annoyed. Although well meaning, the flip comment that had just been made in front of my son was inaccurate and unhelpful and, while I don’t think Tom believed it about himself, it gave him a good reason not to join in. Read more »
Children’s communication skills – a casualty of the online era?
When I was
a teenager, if I wanted to arrange to meet a friend at the weekend, I’d call my friend’s home phone (having asked permission to use my home phone first, of course). In most cases, the friend’s Mum or Dad would answer the phone and I’d politely ask to speak with them have a conversation, make our arrangements and put the phone down.
If I were a teenager today, I’d probably simply bbm/text my friend “R u free Sat?”
There’s no doubt that the ability to communicate remotely has advanced hugely since I was young. However, while all this technology is extraordinarily clever and useful, does it mean that our children’s communication skills will lose out? Read more »
Children and eye contact – helping your child look people in the eye
Darling, look at Jane when she says hello to you!
Does that sound familiar to you? Have you ever said it to your own child? I know I have!
I’ve always been passionate about helping children make eye contact, especially when they meet new people or talk to adults. I think it is such an important skill to have. You only have to do an internet search for “Looking people in the eye” and you’ll find hundreds of pages about how hard people find eye contact. There are forums and websites completely dedicated to the subject so it is obviously a big problem out there.
Closer to home, eye contact is something we get asked about frequently when we talk to parents whose children come to Perform. Looking into someone’s eyes when you talk to them demonstrates confidence and we all want our children to be confident and to show this to the outside world. Eye contact is crucial for good communication skills and, if taught early, it can be with you for life. Read more »
Drama & Autistic Children
Before I start, I’d like to say that I’m not an expert in autism by any means. However, over the past 15 years, I have taught a great many children on the Autism Spectrum so I have seen firsthand how autistic children can benefit from the kind of games and exercises we do at Perform.
My first experience of working with a child with autism did not go smoothly – largely because the parents hadn’t told me he was autistic (something which is more common that you might expect). They desperately wanted him to do drama but were worried that I would not want to have him in the class after he had been judged as too disruptive by several other schools. Read more »
Thank you mummy
Before I had my own children, I had very clear ideas about the way in which I was going to bring them up. Having taught so many and seen so many parents ‘parent’, I thought I knew it all. Hmmm…
The reality, of course, has been very different. There are so many things that I thought I’d do or do better. But life just gets in the way, doesn’t it?
The one basic rule I have kept, however, is that my children absolutely must say ‘please’ and ‘thank you’. Almost as they started learning words, I have prompted, encouraged and insisted that they respond politely to adults and children alike. Yes, I am a soft touch in other areas (chocolate, bed-times etc. etc.) but I have been super strict with this and now, I am proud to say, I think they are pretty good at it. They say “please” and “thank you” every time without thinking and people often comment on this – which pleases me no end. And I don’t think I’m alone. Did anyone else see that interview where David Beckham said that his kids had impeccable manners? It struck me as such a good reflection on him and his wife that, despite their wealth and fame, they still attached importance to getting the basics right. Read more »
Sing, Sing, Sing
It’s probably no surprise to you that I’m a big believer in the power of song. So I was really pleased to read this Guardian article that a friend forwarded to me this week; http://bit.ly/moqAbc.
It’s about a new book written by Sally Goddard Blythe, a consultant in near-developmental education and director of the Institute for Neuro-Physiological Psychology. Sally claims that ‘signature’ melodies and inflections of traditional rhymes prepare children’s brains for language.
While I was delighted to hear this (it is, after all, what Mini Ps and Perform is all about), I couldn’t help wonder if it’s really news. Read more »
How a Spoonful of Perform Helps the Confidence Come Out
Confidence is something that we’d all love to be able to infuse our children with – I’m sure many parents have wished it was something you could bottle and administer now and again.
Alas, I fear science still has some way to go on that front…
In the meantime, I’ve heard quite a few parents describe Perform as ‘confidence medicine’ for children who can sometimes be shy or awkward in new situations. Little by little, with our warm and friendly teachers’ encouragement, the games that we play and the example that the other children set, they start to gain confidence.
That, after all, is why I set up Perform. I’d worked for other drama schools but no one else was focusing on drama specifically to help children develop social skills. Sure, some of them *said* that they did, but in reality they were just as concerned about sending the kids to audition for shows.
So it was fabulous last week to pop into a local class and be hugged by a Mum and Dad who told me that their child had literally transformed since she’d been coming. This little girl had started with us in May and back then her parents were really concerned about her. Her total lack of confidence was completely ruining her school experience, she was struggling to make friends, she wouldn’t ever answer the teacher’s questions out loud and would never go on play dates – let alone sleep over at a friend’s house.
Teaching the Teachers
Wow – it’s been yet another hectic week! No rest for the wicked, eh?
This week I’ve been working hard with our Regional Partner Simon Fielding on developing a new series of training courses for our Perform teachers.
Simon originally joined us 9 years ago as a Producer - and then soon became an Area Partner, visiting schools, evaluating teachers etc, but last term we decided to set him a brand new challenge. We’re focusing on growth here at Perform, but I’m absolutely passionate about ensuring that standards don’t slip as we grow. You see, unlike all other children’s drama classes, we don’t operate as franchises – instead, all Perform schools are centrally managed and they all run the same curriculum so we can maintain the high quality of our workshops across the board.
Over the years Simon’s been instrumental in helping to evolve the Perform style of teaching that we a call ‘learning through laughter’. He is staggeringly good at his job and such an inspiring trainer.
