Lucy's blog

It is a fact universally acknowledged (thank you Jane Austen) that parenting is difficult. There's no real training course, no previous experience and yet the risks if you get it wrong are serious and far-reaching. In particular, as parents, we are challenged with...

12 months. 12 disciples. 12 star signs. 12 years of Perform. On 8th January 2012, Perform was 12 years old and I, for one, can't quite believe it. It was January 8th 2000 when I started my first ever Perform class at Primrose Hill Community Centre with just 4 children....

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...

We all know the magic of going to see a live performance. And I really believe (well I would, wouldn't I?) that it's really important to expose children to live theatre from as young as you can. And what better time to do this than in the panto season? The time of year...

I have to admit that I’m a bit of a Christmas fan. And if I’m really honest, I start getting excited about Christmas around August! It's not so much that I put my decorations up in November, but I’m definitely with Andy Williams when he says that...

A good friend of mine was told last week that her five-year-old daughter would always be at a disadvantage educationally because she had been born in July. This advice was given to her by an experienced teacher at a well-known secondary school who said that this was such a...

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...

With half-term virtually upon us and a two and four year old to entertain, I've been finalising plans for next week and thought I'd share my recommended family days out. So, in the words of Maria Von Trapp (an icon when it comes to entertaining children) and, in no...

I was chatting with a friend of mine today about her new job. She's now a "Play Specialist" at a Central London Hospital. The role has many different responsibilities but her major focus is on using "play" to prepare children for treatment, distract...

Having set up Perform almost 12 years ago now, I often get asked questions by other Mums who are looking to set up something of their own like ?How did you get the idea to set up the business?? and ?What was your business background?? This type of question always makes me...