Speech and Drama at Ellendel; the things we have learned:
Research
has shown that children’s language skills have greatly deteriorated. We need to
provide opportunities for young people to learn how to communicate effectively.
These are some of the things we have learned about Speech and Drama and its
benefits since opening our school 4 years ago:
- All
children want to express themselves- even the ‘shy’ children; they just need a
safe environment and platform to do this.
- By
allowing students the freedom to express themselves, they naturally grow in
confidence.
- The
loudest students are not always the most confident.
- The
importance of creating an uncompetitive environment for children, especially in
today’s world.
- Speech
and Drama allows students to develop their performance skills through lots of
different activities – it is not always about learning the techniques of good
presentation rigidly. Through different activities, students develop their own
personal style that is unique to them. This is much more engaging for an
audience.
- Children
often find poetry boring but when given a poem to learn and present in their
own personal style, they begin to develop a much better appreciation for it.
Speech and Drama kickstarts a lifelong love and appreciation for all
literature: poetry, prose and drama because children get to take ownership of
it, engage with it and make it their own. Their interpretation is not
constructed by someone else.
- Students
underestimate how much they can achieve. They all need someone who believes in
them to make them shine!
- Students
soon learn that what is more important than winning at festivals is the fact
that they participated in the first place and the confidence they gain as a
result.
- Students
LOVE Tongue Twisters!
Students make long lasting friendships easily when they have shared
passion for something: drama!