-ABOUT US-
Our Approach
Every child is unique and at the Helen O’Grady Drama Academy all of our students are treated equally and given the opportunity to shine, regardless of their level of confidence or ability. We avoid auditions and ensure all our students feel encouraged and nurtured within our classes, enabling them to develop at their own pace.
With a focus on personalisation, each teacher at the Academy seeks to gradually integrate their students within the group until they are fully immersed in the fun classroom environment and unaware of any inhibitions they may have had before joining us.
Our teachers interact with the students in an energetic and engaging way to capture their students’ attention and encourage creativity. We all aim to make our hour-long sessions an exciting and fun-packed environment for students where they are able to develop social interaction and communication skills, engage creatively and express themselves confidently, both physically and vocally.
Class Structure
Our specially written curriculum and specialist teacher training ensures our students have a balanced, fun-filled lesson every week. Although the structure remains the same each week, each lesson is different and, with the different age groups offered, a child can join the Academy at five years of age and stay until they are 18 without ever repeating a lesson.
Age groups cover:
Lower Primary – 5 to 8 years
Upper Primary – 9 to 11 years
Youth Theatre – 12 years plus
The Academy year is made up of three terms: Terms 1 and 2 concentrate on developmental drama with each primary class consisting of introductory activities, speech exercises, movement and a creative improvisation or Mime to Music. In Upper Primary we also introduce mini-scripts so older students become familiar with using text.
Whilst Youth Theatre follows a similar plan, activities in these classes are age appropriate and the challenges increase as the students become more independent.
Regardless of age, the main aim of our programme is to build confidence, self-esteem and skill in verbal communication. All this is achieved through the unique, diverse curriculum we teach each week.
Term 3 sees all students in the Academy working on a scripted piece of work which they present to parents and friends at the end of the Academic year. Although there are presentations for parents at the end of each term, this is a culmination which sees every child on stage and involved at all times.