Lucy's blog

As Principal of a drama school, I'm asked this question a lot. And I could write a book on the many reasons why drama is so excellent - not just good - for children. But for this blog post, I'll focus on just one benefit; and that's the improvement drama can...

The count down to Christmas is on and what does that mean? Pantomimes! Going to a pantomime is often a child’s first exposure to the theatre and is something I do every year with my children. It’s also an exciting time for many of our teachers as they take to...

I often hear parents say that their children can get very nervous about starting school for the first time and even going back to school after the summer break. If this is your child, then rest assured that it’s really normal and lots and lots of children experience...

Around two years ago, we established Perform X, a street and hip hop dance class for 6-12 year olds. As with our drama classes, we wanted to offer more than just a dance lesson. We wanted to use dance as a tool for developing life skills as well as keeping fit. And...

Getting ready for the term ahead is always an exciting process as we prepare the content for the new themes and new end of term shows. At this point, the songs are written, the choreography set, scripts printed, and the music learnt. If we were a...

This week is a very busy week for us at Perform HQ. Despite that fact that our term ends on 21st July, we are working hard to put the final touches on our summer holiday courses that start on 24th July and run until 25th August. This year, 7-12s will be working on a...

I recently came across a really interesting post on Ideas.Ted.com. It discusses whether schools should start teaching emotions as well as other core subjects. You can read it here. I’d be interested to hear your thoughts. Teaching emotions is...

I’m passionate about children being confident when they speak in public and it’s something that we are very committed to at Perform. We have numerous exercises that we play with the children at our weekly workshops - public speaking really can be learnt. Having...

  I know plenty of very bright musicians but does learning to play a musical instrument at an early age actually help with brain development? Or is it simply that parents who can afford to give their children music lessons are also going to be...

As a parent of two young children (5 & 7) I am aware that sometimes they do spend a bit too much time than I’d like on the iPad. But I've always taken the view that, providing you supervise the apps that they use and limit the time sensibly, there probably...