Support your child’s transition back to school through the Performing Arts.
Support your child’s transition back to school through the Performing Arts.
September always brings lots of brand-new feelings for your child. After a summer full of fun and lots of time spent with the family it can always feel difficult! Whether your child is starting at primary school, secondary school, college or even going back to their brand-new class in September it can feel very nerve – racking!
Have you ever considered performing arts as a way to support your child through this new experience?
James Aconley, Principal at PQA York explains why a love of performing can develop key skills for life!
‘‘Whether it be diving in their dressing up box or stepping onto the stage, performing is important to children and young people, and the benefits of this can often go unnoticed. Performing arts can teach them key skills that can be used in everyday life.
Creativity
Children are naturally imaginative, and pretend play and make believe comes easily to them. Imaginative play can enable a child’s social an emotional development, helping them to form new ideas and develop resourcefulness.
Problem solving
The ability to solve problems creatively within the safety of a performing arts environment can be transferred to everyday life when dealing with a variety of issues. If children feel comfortable exploring and dealing with problems in a non-linear way, this makes them more confident overall.
Empathy
Performances are a classic form of storytelling, not only for entertainment but for sharing tales and ideas. Performing in character can help children appreciate another person’s point of view. To accurately portray a character, we need to be able to step into their shoes, understand their situation and what has brought them to that situation. If a child understands a character in this way, they can apply this to everyday life, helping them to react to friends and adults, developing their social skills.
Listening
The ability to listen is an important skill, especially when a child is in a new setting, with new routines and expectations. During performing arts classes children, take direction from their teachers and peers. This encourages them to be receptive to others’ ideas and work collaboratively.
Confidence Building
Some children are never happier than putting on a show for their family and friends, but for some standing up in front an audience can be daunting. Performing arts are hugely beneficial to children’s confidence levels. Learning new skills, rehearsing, and performing in a safe space, with the support of expert teachers and encouragement of their peers, can prepare children to deal with situations in which they feel anxious.
At PQA York, we are preparing to support our students through their brand-new term at school. We have three core modules, Musical Theatre, Comedy & Drama and Film & Television, which provide our students the very best mix of both performance based and technical training as well as providing them with skills for life to help them grow into well-rounded individuals.’’
PQA York are holding a free open day on 24th September for children aged 4-18 years old to come along and experience a day in PQA.
Children and young people can enjoy a day in the life of a PQA student, led by industry professionals, whilst making new friends in a fun and rewarding environment.
Everyone is welcome, so come along for the day!
Spaces are limited and filling fast! You can secure your space today by visiting https://www.pqacademy.com/academies/york/
PQA York runs at Huntington School, York, YO32 9WT
Every Saturday 9.45am – 1.00pm and 1.45pm – 5.00pm
Have any questions? Contact our Principal James Aconley at [email protected] or call 07753 179070.
