Spring is Coming

Spring is coming

And oh how we love newness.

A new term, a new season, new faces, new curriculum, new scenes, new skills to teach and new skills to learn, new opportunities for growth and new opportunities for fun!

And so far, this term has brought so much of it and we simply cannot wait for more.

Drama is a place of newness. New ideas come to life, new emotions are experienced throughout, new friends are made while it all happens and new layers of creativity are peeled back. 

We walk in others' shoes and learn empathy and compassion. We see the world through new eyes and see people with open hearts.

This is the magic of drama. This is why we do what we do. We are so happy to have you as a part of it all.

New Year New Drama

Every new year brings new challenges and each new challenge brings new opportunities. We are so excited to get the new school year started, to welcome familiar and new faces into our school and studio classes and start the journey of drama that 2017 holds in store. 

The action commences on Monday the 16^th of January. 

Please see below for the start dates for a school or studio near you:

Monday, 16^th

^{Bellville Christian Academy}

^Bellville

^Stellenbosch

Tuesday, 17^th

^Kenridge

^Paarl

Wednesday, 18^th

^Durbanville

Thursday, 19^th

^{Hebron Christian Academy}

^{Kuils River}

Friday, 20^th

^{De Tyger Primary}

^{Rainbow Montesorri} 

If you haven’t enrolled yet, no fear, we have some spaces left in some of our classes. All you have to do is send a quick e-mail to mari@helenogrady.co.za

HURRY. 2017 is going to be the best year yet!

Make a Dramatic Difference at School

Helen O’ Grady offers drama classes at a number of studios across the Northern Suburbs of Cape Town as well as the Winelands areas.

We also offer drama as an after school programme at a number of schools.
While some may question the merits of a drama programme at a school with an already full extra-curricular programme, we offer these answers:

Drama at school stimulates CREATIVITY IN PROBLEM SOLVING
Drama activities can CHALLENGE STUDENTS' PERCEPTIONS about their world and about themselves.
Dramatic exploration as seen in our lessons can provide students with an outlet for EMOTIONS, THOUGHTS and DREAMS, that they might not otherwise have a platform to EXPRESS.
With our improvisations students can BECOME ANOTHER, explore a new role, try out and experiment with various personal choices and solutions to very real problems- or problems faced by characters in literature or historical figures.

De Tyger's Primary Group doing an Improv

Of course, at the core of Helen O’ Grady is COMMUNICATION, CONFIDENCE and CREATIVITY.

In this way drama REINFORCES the rest of the school curriculum giving students the all-round development they need. 

Lights. Camera. PRODUCTIONS

Productions are a great time of the year when teachers, students and parents lose sleep, teeth and hair while they gear up for the highlight of the drama year.

A great part about Helen O’ Grady productions is that no one has to audition. The students ALL get to be a part of the action.

Another exciting element is that our productions will be performed at a real theatre at the end of the curriculum year. HOW EXCITING.

Real lights, real props and costumes and of course, real drama.

We are very excited as we’ll start working towards those productions in the coming weeks. Teachers will be revealing the 2015 plays to their classes, casting and sharing what we’ll be showing our friends and family at the end of this year.

We hope our parents and friends will support us this year as they have in the past so that, together, we can put on a showcase of our young talent and hard work.

We look forward to a grueling but fun build up to PRODUCTIONS 2015.

Keep your eyes on this page, our Facebook  for details around this year’s Productions.

DRAMA: A UNIVERSAL LANGUAGE

Helen O' Grady, around the world has shown that drama creates the opportunity for students to develop their communication skills. 

We know that drama allows students to learn to communicate effectively. We have also found and experienced that drama is a great tool for students to learn and practice communicating in their second language.

As drama is taught in an active and interesting way students are exposed to words, expressions and discussions that they may not experience during a language lesson.

Adlibbing is a central part of our curriculum. Adlibbing, or informal language, asks that students create their own lines, sentences and conversations. This part of the lesson is an effective tool for language development, especially with younger students and students who use English as their second language.

Lower and Upper Primary students at the Paarl studio reveling in the Improv exercises.

The benefits of drama are endless.

Take a look at our website to find out more about how drama is key in developing Confidence, Creativity and Communication.

Putting the drama into your next party

Did you know we also take drama out of the classroom and into your home?

Helen O'Grady Drama Parties allow children to become stars for a day!

Fast-paced and action-packed, students play drama games and work on a short performance
piece under the guidance of the Academy's expert teachers, following a specific theme.

This fun-filled party will include and entertain everyone on this very special day and what's more it is educational as well!

This could be a great idea for a class, drama troupe, sports team or your child’s next birthday. It’s a great way to introduce children who have not done drama before.

Get in touch with us to find out more.

Thank you Term II...Here we come Term III

We’ve enjoyed a great, eventful term. 10 weeks of hard work, lots of fun and loads of drama.

Term two is largely focused on the Parent Day which is held at the end of the term where students showcase the skills they’ve been taught during their drama lessons.

This term we had parents express their joy at seeing the progress made by their children.

We would like to take some time to thank all of our parents who were able to attend our parent days. Thank you for your continued support and your kind words.

We look forward to spending more time with your children nurturing their talent and refining their skills.

We hope you all enjoy the break and we will see you next term!

Happy holidays

Making a dramatic difference

Our students at Hebron Christian Academy in Kuils River showed that they are ready for Parent Day by giving their best performances this week.

From Scene Starters to Mime and even during the Introductory Activities, every student gave their best and showed how much they've enjoyed what they've learnt this term.

The Introductory activities had them searching their homes for lost treasures while the Mime To Music this week took place at The Dog Show. In pairs the group produced plays centred around a first – time canoe adventure allowing students to put to practise the ad-lib and improv skills they've been taught throughout the year.

Hebron Christian Academy's Lower Primary group giving their best.

All our studios and after-school programmes give students the opportunity to learn and grow with each lesson. Every lesson ends with students having performed mimes, improv plays in big or small groups allowing them to walk away not only with more skills, but also a sense of achievement.

If you would like to know more about what we do or how you could get involved take a look at our website. You are also free to visit our Facebook and Twitter pages for more info and regular updates.

We can't wait to meet you.

All the world's a stage

One of the best parts of being part of the global Helen O' Grady Drama Academy is witnessing the growth of our students week in and week out. Every lesson they are faced with various challenges. These challenges are often of the creative kind where they are asked to produce and create scenes, characters and stories. They are also challenged to work in teams, accept others and respect the ideas and input from classmates. These challenges allow our students to grow within the demands of drama as well as skills that will assist them with the daily demands of life.

Shakespeare said it best.

Not only is the drama class a place for our students, your children, to be anything they choose to be; they also walk out knowing a understanding a little more about themselves and the world we live in.

If your child is between the ages of 3 and 18 find a studio near you and join us for a free trial lesson.

If YOU are in this age group and would like to get involved, tell your parents about us, give us a call and we'll tell you more.

For now, find out more at our website, on Facebook or Twitter.