Does your child find it hard to sit still?
From prep, when some kids are just 4 years old, they are told to look at the teacher when they are speaking and sit still an...
Information For Current Speak Up Families
From prep, when some kids are just 4 years old, they are told to look at the teacher when they are speaking and sit still an...
When your child tells you they want to be an athlete you sign them up for weekend sport. If they tell you they want to be a politician, you encourage ...
When you are growing up, it’s important to experience the magic of performing. If you had the privilege of this experience when you were younger...
The *blissful early childhood and primary school years can seem like an unending period of our lives. It’s a time when our kids are still depend...
On Thursday afternoons I teach two back-to-back philosopher classes. The first group has been in our philosophers program for only a term, let’s cal...
If we focus on being perfect all the time, we hear that little voice in our head that says, “not good enough.” When I listen to the voice, I buy...
I started Speak Up when I was 20 years old. Looking back, I think I had more confidence than I do now. Or maybe it was naivety? Or blind faith that I ...
How to spark imaginative play and keep you and your child interested. Photograph: Fotofox Images When you’re a parent, you may find a time when you ...
Kids have some amazing brains in those heads of theirs and as a boring old grown up myself, I am easily envied by their natural ability to imagine fan...
Did you ever have a teacher when you were growing up who felt like a different kind of parent, a second parent or a wise older sibling? When I was gro...
Every year at Speak Up we say solemn goodbyes to talented kids as they make the transition to high school. Many leave us to try new extracurriculars o...
If it’s time for your child to move up from one Speak Up level to the next, congratulations, your child has worked hard in their drama classes to de...
Speak Up Studio is expanding, from the hills to the woods. From our colourful studios in Red Hill, we launch into the leafy surrounds of Sherwood, pro...
As a teacher who finds herself in a great number of classrooms filled with students of varying social, political, and economic backgrounds, I witness ...
Building a positive classroom environment can be difficult for teachers. It can be a mission that is easier said than done! At Speak Up Studio, we are...
The one thing I hope for most, as a parent, is that my kids will grow up to simply be decent human beings. I try to teach my son and daughter to be re...
Even before I started working at Speak Up, I knew about the Speech and Drama classes they held. In fact, my eldest attended lessons at his school when...
Who said practice makes perfect? If practice makes perfect and nobody is perfect, then why practise? Perfection is not what we should be aiming for. R...
How much do you protect your child from seeing scary things? Parents all have different approaches if their child is scared easily. We should, of cour...
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 is a fant...
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, ̶...
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, cr...
by Miss Cathy Clur 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 i...
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 comp...
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...
Are you wondering how to help your child overcome fear and anxiety about show and tell or school oral presentations? Here are three tips for public sp...
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...
We have seen a variety of parenting styles here at Speak Up over the years. We see so many examples of truly outstanding parenting – parents who...
by Miss Cathy Clur Gender stereotypes tell kids how to behave, what to be interested in, and how they should exist in the world. Gender stereotypes ar...
by Miss Cathy Clur “Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it’s the only thing that ev...