25 Mar Why students stay at Speak Up for years?
During a child’s first year at Speak Up, it is clear to us as teachers how much they progress in speaking skills and confidence. But the real magic happens once they’ve mastered the basics of Speech and Drama and move up through our carefully designed syllabus.
Student retention matters to us for an important reason, so they can experience and benefit from all Speech and Drama has to offer. Often kids will begin in our Drama Club program and then move into more technical Speech and Drama classes. From there we love seeing kids truly grow as they move through our programs.
At Speak Up you will find a place where your child can grow up, and a community to love them for exactly who they are. We consider it a privilege to be one of those happy childhood memories. And when those kids become Dreamers, well let’s just say they are the coolest cats we’ve ever met.
Beautiful things take time…
Are you a long term Speak Up family? Have you noticed the beautiful things that come from being a part of our community for a long time:
✅ Meaningful relationships with teachers
✅ Incredible progress in terms of performance skills
✅ Beautiful friendships with like-minded kiddos
✅ A community that cares for your child and knows when they’re thriving/not ok
✅ A community that is there to work through the tough times, the tricky behaviours and is proud of their growth and progress
✅ Stories from past productions, shows and events
✅ Photographs and videos of their various performances (how far they’ve come!)
Progress
The longer kids are a part of Speak Up, the more we can challenge them as performers and be there for them as humans.
A few ways we ensure kids stay with us long enough to see real progress is to make sure they are given new challenges when they are ready (and often before they realise they’re ready!)
Here are some examples of how we plan progress as students move through the Speak Up program levels:
Developing Performance Skills – Creating Character
Drama Club – Performs with energy and enthusiasm
Storytellers – Adjusts body and voice to create simple characters
Inventors – Adjusts body and voice to create nuanced characters
Philosophers, Advanced Drama & Performers – Enthusiastically explores imaginative and engaging characters
Dreamers & Ensemble – Effortlessly crafts believable characters drawing from inspiration and instinct
Growing Creativity – The Future
Drama Club – Talks about their future with positivity
Storytellers – Talks about their future with thoughtfulness
Inventors – Dreams about their future with imagination and self belief
Philosophers, Advanced Drama & Performers – Approaches the world with curiosity and imagination
Dreamers & Ensemble Dreamers – Feels empowered to impact the world around them
Can you tell we’ve *really* thought about this? All of our lesson plans link back to these aims, and our teachers have different goals depending on the age group they’re working with. Just one of the ways we’ve made Speak Up a place to stay.
Personal
Another way we hold onto students for a long time is to make it personal. We know when Mum gets a new job, we know your dog’s name, we know your family is going through a renovation that just won’t end and how hard it is to find matching socks, let alone your drama folder. Our teachers take the time to learn about these things because our student’s lives impact their learning. How can you possibly concentrate on drama when you are being bullied at school? How many assignments do you have due next week? Seriously? By making sure we take the time to get to know our kids, their families and their personal struggles, we can adjust our expectations of them in the drama classroom, and provide them with genuine support.
Relationships
A close relationship with a Speech and Drama teacher is like a secret weapon. We are on your child’s side. We often teach our kids for years and years and we really get to know them, (and sometimes they listen to us more than they’ll listen to their parents!). True story. We’re here to help them develop communication and performance skills, but we’re also here to guide, support them as they learn and grow. It’s a special relationship and it’s a privilege to be part of their lives.
Final Word
One of our main “business” goals at Speak Up is 90% student retention from term to term. This measure (which we hit regularly by the way) not only shows us how happy our customers are, and how at home are students feel, it’s also critical to our mission as a performing arts studio: to be a safe place for children to perform throughout their childhood.