Charlotte Makhlouf, Senior Tutor at Queen’s Gate Junior School, explains how even shy and retiring children can be transformed through the power of Drama and why many careers benefit from it too.
Ask the children at school what their favourite subject is and quite a large number will tell you it is Drama! Most children relish the opportunity to embark on small plays and improvisations and with the run up to Christmas the excitement of being a shepherd or donkey simply cannot be missed. Even shy and retiring children can be transformed through Drama and its power should not be underestimated. It grieves me, therefore, to see it being slowly eroded from the curriculum in favour of what may be considered more academic subjects. Such a short-sighted and unimaginative view fills me with horror.
As both a Form teacher and Drama teacher, I know the value of Drama in bringing other subjects alive. Our topic of ‘Space’ blossomed through pretending to walk on the moon and being astronauts on the International Space Station. During English, we imagined we were working for a newspaper, getting our copy together, whilst I, took on the role of Editor in Chief.
So many careers these days benefit from Drama and it was only recently, during one of our enrichment talks, that an eminent barrister told us how important Drama and debating had been to his career. There isn’t a job in the world that doesn’t benefit from Drama and we have to ensure our children have the chance to express themselves creatively and imaginatively.
Children need to be exposed to Drama from an early age. The role play corner at nursery and primary school is a fabulous way to allow children to express themselves creatively and learn the important social skills that will translate into adult life. At Queen’s Gate Junior School we have weekly Drama lessons for every class and the impact is enormous. Creativity and collaboration abound and I am proud to say our girls speak with great confidence to an audience. We have regular plays, assemblies and productions which enable our girls to transform themselves into different characters.
Tips for your Dramatic Child
Not every child will prove to be a keen thespian, but this is not a prerequisite to enjoy some of the activities I suggest here. They will still have the chance to develop a range of skills and gain more confidence and enjoyment from doing so.
Learn new songs or poems
Learning lines is a powerful way of training and challenging the brain. It helps the hippocampal foundation in the brain, which is a key structure that deals with episodic and spatial memory.
Create a mini theatre
Use old boxes as a theatre and your child’s toys as characters for a puppet show. They can act out a variety of scenarios and from this improve their speaking and listening skills. Not only that, their voice projection and awareness of staging will develop.
Use your pets!
Pets are a fabulous way of giving children the chance to explore different ‘voices’. The family hamster, guinea pig, cat or dog can be transformed into an animal who talks and narrates his daily adventures! For those people who remember the wonderful Johnny Morris, he brought animals alive on his television programme by pretending they were having conversations together. He would put on all kinds of funny voices which was hugely entertaining.
Utilise the outdoors
The park, garden or woods can be a wonderful place for your children to use Drama. They can be explorers on a quest to find a strange new creature which has been sighted or they can emulate David Attenborough and give talks about the plants and creatures they see around them.
For the budding thespian, there are many stage schools around which will hone and encourage their talents. If they are really serious about acting, then it is worthwhile looking into these specialist schools. A word of caution, however, from one who comes from a family of thespians: The world of stage is not for the faint-hearted and you should be prepared for disappointment. For every successful individual blessed by stardom, there will be others who will still need to keep the day job!
Even if your child is not aimed for a life treading the boards, they can still take great pleasure from Drama, whether at home or at school. Let’s ensure that it remains an essential part of the school curriculum because without it, I think we might all be lost!
Queen’s Gate is an independent girls’ school in South Kensington for 4-18-year-olds.
Find out more by visiting their website , contacting registrar@queensgate.org.uk or calling them on 020 7594 4982.
