Lucy's blog

When we train our teachers for Perform classes, one of the sections we spend the longest time working on is their voices. I'm not talking about their singing voices here; they are, after all, trained actors and singers and wouldn't get to the training stage if they...

No, this blog post is not about the toe-curling anti-drugs eighties-fest that is the Grange Hill Just Say No video (though it's worth having a look if you fancy a nostalgia-based giggle). It's about a much more prevalent problem in primary school at least -...

It’s nearly back-to-school time and that means that some children will be starting school for the first time, others will be moving to new schools and most will be moving up an academic year to new classroom surroundings and a new teacher. Now, I’m a confident...

Like everyone else, I was shocked and saddened to read about Amy Winehouse yesterday. With hindsight, looking back at that footage from the Belgrade concert a few weeks ago, it was pretty clear that something was definitely not right - even more so than over the past few...

Louisa was five when I first met her a year ago. She turned up looking small and terrified. In fact, I'd never seen a child so nervous before. Children often get a bit teary at their first session but Louisa was distraught. Her mum was in a similarly panicked state...

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...

I spend a lot of my day making up games for children, playing games with children and undertaking other fun and creative tasks in my work with Perform. The trouble is that sometimes, after a long day at work, it's hard to keep it up when entertaining my own children,...

I've been watching Rebecca Ferguson's journey through X Factor with interest. Remember her first audition? Beautiful girl; wonderful voice - and yet as she admitted herself, she's lost confidence. As Simon said "you've got to start looking people...

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,...

"Be who you are and say what you feel because those who mind don't matter, and those who matter don't mind." - Dr Seuss I love that quote. At Perform, I come into contact with children every day who worry that they're 'different'. All too...