Our Speak Up kids have made a great video to show you our Speech and Drama warm up they will be practising for the end of year concert. This year’s concert is based on one of our favourite authors, Dr Seuss and is called Oh the places you’ll go! Watch the video here and then get your kids to try it at home. Download
When parents enrol their children in Speak Up classes we send them a little questionnaire to fill in about their child. One of the questions is, “What brought you to Speak Up?” By far the most common reason parents enrol their children in our Speech and Drama classes is because they can see their child’s creative and confident side at home and they want
We know what it can be like at the end of the day. You have just got the kids home after a busy day and they are starting to lose it. They are sad, cranky and complaining that they’re bored. This is often the time of day that they are desperate to connect and have a little time with you, but also when you
The most common concern I hear from new Speak Up Studio parents is, “My child is full of confidence at home, but as soon as she is in front of people she doesn’t know, she becomes quiet and shy.” Parents hope that by participating in drama their child will learn to “let go”. I agree, that drama is very good at helping kids be
by Amy What did you want to be when you were growing up? I wanted to be many things. The first I can remember was a florist. When I was older it was a composer, and then a conductor. I loved music and I seemed to do ok at it, so I decided to pursue my passion. As life would turn out, I am
Our Speech and Drama teachers are all bookworms and take inspiration for their classes from a huge variety of children’s books they love. Books that inspire our teachers have wonderful characters, magical storylines and positive messages. We asked the staff at Speak Up, what books inspire them. These are inspirational books for teachers and you will see why. We think they are books every
Wondering how to help your child overcome fear and anxiety about show and tell or school oral presentations? Here are three tips for public speaking from our studio director, Miss Cathy. 1. Acknowledge your child’s fears and worries. Don’t minimise them. Public speaking is scary. It is said that humans fear speaking in public more than death! Avoid downplaying just how scary public speaking
In a past life, I worked in film and television creating costumes and dressing sets. It was such a creative and imaginative job and I LOVED it! For a while, I tried to have two careers at once; running Speak Up and working 60 hour weeks on set. Cue exhaustion and burn out. It was really hard to let go of film life. The
Trust is one of the most important building blocks in a drama classroom, or any classroom for that matter. Trust works in mysterious ways, but we very much love the way Brene Brown describes it in her book Dare To Lead. Brene uses the analogy of a marble jar to explain how trust develops over time. “We trust people who have earned marbles over
We have seen a variety of parenting styles here at Speak Up over the years. We see so many examples of truly outstanding parenting. We see parents who pave the way for their child, parents who communicate compassionately and clearly and parents who empower their children without getting in their way. Unfortunately, we also see some examples of parenting that worry us – parenting