Lucy's blog

My son's starting Reception class in September, so the ?Tiger Mother? in me contacted the school to ask when he could start learning an instrument. Apparently, his school has a policy of not starting children until Year 2, so if I want him to begin learning before then,...

Most parents I talk to are naturally very interested in the school that their child goes to. Whether they are choosing state or independent, collectively it seems that they spend hours touring schools, reading Ofsted Reports, discussing assessments, moving house, discovering...

So what do we all think about Michael Gove's phonics check? There's been a flurry of Twitter activity in the past few days and lots of arguments for and against. Whatever your view, this week all Year 1 pupils in maintained schools, academies and Free Schools will be...

Next week, my two-and-a-half year old daughter is going into hospital to have a minor procedure. Because she's so young, I spoke to a friend who works as a Hospital Play Specialist about the best way to prepare her for going into hospital and I thought I'd share her...

No parent wants to hear that their child is the victim of bullying. However, statistics show that one in every three children is bullied so unfortunately it is something that we need to be aware of. Bullying is a subject close to my heart because, in my early teenage years...

This post may be a little controversial (and I welcome your feedback) but I really don't agree with the concept of ?baby signing? which has become very fashionable these days. This is for one reason only - I genuinely think it delays children's speech...

When I first started Perform, one of my friends told me that ?staff would be my biggest problem?. She had her own business and said that finding the right people was her main challenge. In many ways, she was right. It is continual challenge to keep recruiting brilliant...

Two years ago, I offered my friend a free place at Perform for her son who had just turned 4 years old. She thanked me but declined saying ?He's not a performing sort of a boy but I'm sure his sister will enjoy it when she's old enough, she's really confident...

It's the Easter holidays and I'm often asked if this is a nice quiet time for me at Perform. Well, it's definitely quiet in the sense that we only have our holiday workshops running and not our normal workshops, but actually the holidays are probably my busiest...

One question that my teachers and I are frequently asked by Perform parents is ?Where should my child be at this stage?? And if I'm completely honest, as a mother myself, it's a question that I find myself asking about my own children too. I guess, as parents,...