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How Perform helps

Walking confidently

Children love experimenting and discovering what their growing bodies can do.

In Walk Like A Wallaby, we explore different ways of moving which helps develop mobile coordination and the ability to express physical self-confidence.

Non-verbal communication

Children quickly understand the power of eye contact, facial expressions and gestures. By breathing fire like a dragon, we demonstrate the effect of non-verbal signals and encourage positive open communication.

Good manners

Good manners are at the heart of respect for ourselves and for others. Baking a Mississippi Mud Pie using a recipe filled with politeness helps children understand the benefits of friendly and respectful exchanges.

Expressing our feelings

Self-expression allows children to distinguish themselves from others, reflects their beliefs and validate their ideas. By pitching a movie about themselves and their feelings, the children are encouraged to open up and talk confidently about themselves.  

Developing empathy

Empathy for others is a vital life skill enabling us to develop and maintain friendships.

Meeting the Zulu princess encourages the children to think about ways they can be welcoming to a new person in any situation.

Overcoming our inhibitions

Inhibitions can prevent us fulfilling our potential both socially and in the wider world.

This week, we practise overcoming our fears using a series of branching scenarios and then look at the positive results.

Diction  

Developing good diction is essential for everyday life and in many careers. Performing tongue-twisters like the Pyramid Rap helps children explore fast rhyming patterns as increases their confidence and dexterity when speaking.

When to use a loud voice

Many children lack awareness of their vocal volume, speaking too loudly in quiet places like libraries and too softly elsewhere. We discuss different environments and use our carnival voices to decide when to use the “right” voice.  

Spatial awareness

Children’s perspective on spatial awareness is often very different from adults’.

Waddling like a penguin is an excellent starting point for thinking about the space we and others need to feel comfortable.

Standing up to bullying

Being singled-out or teased is never a nice experience. By standing up for a snowman we role-play the moment of decision when your child or their friend is being bullied and workshop strategies for resilience and self-confidence.  

Actions and consequences

Learning about the consequences of our actions is a vital step in learning to make good life choices. By saving the polar bears and linking this message to the effects of global warming, we reinforce the importance of preserving the world around us.  

It's the week before the show

Next week is show week so we spend a significant amount of the class going through our show and getting excited about dressing up, singing and dancing and performing for our families.

Even though it’s a great part of our term’s work, the performance is not the most important part of what we do at Perform. However, it’s a fantastic way to bring together the skills that we focus on each week.

Our teachers take the children on a final run-through and get them to really work on their vocal projection in readiness for an audience, plus a reminder of where they stand in every scene.  So much to remember!

Presentation week

Performing in our end-of-term presentation for family and friends is a wonderful demonstration of how talent, tenacity and teamwork can combine to triumphant effect. Your child will be proud of everything they’ve achieved and you’ll be proud of them too.

Introduction to the production

It’s the start of a new year, a new term and a new show.

This term, we’ll be working on a musical version of Robin Hood set in modern-day Nottingham.

Body language skills

Studies shows that 93% of communication is non-verbal so learning how to communicate physically is an essential life skill. By “throwing away” words, we discover the most powerful communication is via gesture, eye contact, facial expression, posture and vocal intonation.

Leadership

Taking the lead in something, no matter how small, helps a child build confidence and develop a sense of responsibility.

Using some great leaders as our inspiration, we’ll look at how they communicate effectively and why this is so important.

Sharing emotions

Bottling up our feelings can lead to pent-up frustration and moods.

To encourage a habit of expressing how we feel, we’ll challenge the children to interrogate and then try to articulate their emotions before discussing when, how and with whom it’s best to share.

Including others

Learning how to be inclusive is important for social situations in many areas of life.

We’ll look at how to help a newcomer feel welcome, relaxed and included when they join a new environment, be it in our class, at school or anywhere else.

Learning to let go

Shyness or embarassment is a normal reaction to unfamiliar situations but can inhibit social interactions and limit achievement.

We use games and exercises to see how inhibitions are a choice and explore role-play scenarios to find ways to deal with these natural instincts.

Helping others

Stepping into someone else’s shoes helps us develop greater awareness of how others are feeling.

Using hot-seating and character monologues, we look at how important it is to be a good friend and family member.

Communicating in our own words

Putting things into our own words allows us to expand our vocabulary and practise articulation.

To develop this skill, we experiment with communicating a story, situation or event in our own words and in a confident and interesting way.

Personal space

Being aware of one’s personal space helps us be considerate about the space we give to others.

Using situations from plays and stories we’ll develop the children’s understanding of space from high above, in the middle and below them.

Resilience

Being resilient is a fundamental skill which helps a child learn how to stay strong in difficult situations. We’ll learn some techniques for dealing with being teased or picked on and who we should talk to if we’re in this situation.

Controlling outcomes

Thinking about ‘what would happen if...’ allows us to assess the action we may be about to take.

Using the legend of Robin Hood, we’ll discuss what consequences are and act out scenarios where different actions lead to different outcomes.

Final rehearsal

We know our lines, our character, our costume, our blocking and stage directions. We just need an audience and that’s next week.

A fun class where we’ll put the finishing touches to our show.

Show week

It’s show day where we are joined by our family and friends to showcase our performance and put into practice the different skills.

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