The Recognition of Learning Module - Activity Number Five

Job Descriptions - From then to now...

What was my job description as an Actor?

My role as an actor was to provide entertainment and present a believable character in an imaginary yet believable siutation at that moment. To transport people to another world and help them escape the one in which they currently live in and present situations that affect people in everyday life and highlight how events can change people's lives, whether that be in a positive or negative way.

 

"Acting is behaving truthfully under imaginary circumstances."

Current Job Description

Acting Teacher at Kayleigh Carina Performing Arts School

My role within the school is to provide quality tuition in the practice of acting in order for the children to develop skills specifically in the Dramatic Arts. My other key role is to direct the children in upcoming shows and productions, preparing them for performing through rehearsals, classroom explorations and set homework where they can make there own explorations. It is my job to encourage young people and help them build their confidence, social skills and educate them about the performing world.

Tutor at Explore Learning

My role is to tutor children from 5- 14 years old in Maths and English tuition as well as act as Creative Writing Co-ordinator. My aim is to aid young people in developing their maths and english skills so that they progress in the National Curriculum.

 

Here you can see the specifications for my role as an Explore Learning Tutor. In summary I have to:

·         Monitor academic and social progress

·         Provide feedback to parents

·         Working with 6 children at a time

·         Give children support and encouragement

·         Work closely with centre managers

·         Ensure the curriculum is tailored to that child

·         Create a vibrant, positive, enjoyable atmosphere

10am Skype 'Coffee Shop' chat with Adesola and Megan

This Skype chat with Megan and Adesola was so useful and talking to Megan and listening to her discuss the stage of Module Two she was at after completing Module One already was incredibly insightful. Just hearing Megan talk about what she had found was really interesting and got me thinking about learning and transitioning.

 

Transitioning

 

How? What? Where? When? Why?
 

"What would I have liked to know, now that I know about it?"
 

From Acting to Teaching
 

I wasn't concious of this transitioning, but I soon realised it was about what made me happy. Transitions might be forced and others might not be but it's about that transition and development of knowledge.

A great example of me using my skills as an actor to enhance my teaching is my knowledge of the benefits of an ensemble and how my teaching approach is different from that of other teachers. I like to view my group of students as 'an ensemble' which benefits the whole group. This enables everyone to be equal, however I've noticed that when I have to discipline the children, I switch back into more of an authority figure. This I've found makes the children behave much more, because they love the fun of the ensemble and therefore try and behave to get the ensemble back!
 

Adesola's Points
 

What is the 'best?'
 

There's more than one definition of 'best.' People in school view the best as being able to correlate what the teacher has taught them and get good scores, but it can also be about being happy. It's about knowing yourself. Knowing your capabilities and strengths and weaknesses.
 

Which begs the question, "what is success?"
 

I've had this discussion with my friend Zara, who I went to drama school with said to me shortly after drama school, "it's being happy."
 

She was the person who introduced me to Explore Learning and the love of teaching children and has realised the importance of 'knowing yourself' and following your passions. She had soon realised that being successful isn't always materialistic.
 

So many actors and audiences view an actor's success by Oscars and awards and being in massive feature films, but just because you haven't appeared in Star Wars, does that make you any less of a successful and good actor? Really, that is no reflection on your acting ability, because you may not have been in the right place and the right time and had the same experiences and opportunities that those actors have had. You don't have that actor's nose, eyes, colour hair etc etc. As the saying goes, "if your face fits..."

Changes

 

Adesola pointed out that when reflecting on my new found love of teaching, that even though this is poignant, things STILL might change. For now teaching makes me happy, but who is to say that it will be my set career? Adesola said that it might go from teaching to then realise 'no...performing is what I should be doing!'
 

Discussion of Modules
 

Module one is reflecting on how your own experience have informed your own learning but Megan was at module two it's about reading into literature and other people and their views on how they've learned.
 

Summed up in one word the modules are:
 

Module 1 - Analysing

Module 2 - Forwarding

Module 3 - Developing
 

This whole course is about making an enquiry.
 

Actor Ralph Fiennes said in The Actor's Studio:
 

"It's about the journey, not the destination."
 

This phrase has rung so true to me.
 

A great way of summing up 'the journey' is shown in this video of 'The Mirror.'
 



 

 

I saw this video on Facebook the other day and it's been running through my head ever since. How we can see that glimpse of ourselves and what we used to be, but how we have changed so much that there is no going back. As Adesola said, "what would I have liked to know about this, now that I know?"

 

 

The Recognition of Learning Module: Activity Number Four

Writing my

Professional Actor CV

 

I spent some time today annotating my personal Actor CV and my findings were really interesting. The main finding I had was that the skills I had acquired as a result of undertaking the particular activity all appeared to form into one. I didn't just use Text skills to undertake a role in Restoration Comedy or TV skills to help me with my Disney Commericals. I used mask, comedy, physcial comedy, Commedia and Clowning.


My Actor CV Reflection


Any actor will have a particular set of unique skills in their professional toolkit and one element in this mix which was incredibly important to me when acting as a professional was my CV. The CV highlights every skill you own and therefore is unique. Nobody has done the all the same things that you have done, no one has experienced everything that you have done and therefore, nobody is YOU. Only YOU can be YOU. We had a CV lesson during work week at Drama Studio, a week that was incredibly useful, because we could get a real taste of what the industry would entail and we could really focus on selling what was unique about us.

 

Structure of the CV

Header

The header is without a doubt the first thing you will see when you look at the CV. It has your name, your photo with specific appearance details, details of your agent, your contact details and your other professional contact networks. It is the first thing that an employer will see so it's important to have an outstanding and engaging headshot, a nice bold font and colour for your name so that it is remembered and is vital that every bit of contact information is clear and correct.

Mid-Section

The middle section includes all the roles and jobs that you have undertaken both professionally and whilst training. This is a great way to show off your skill set and the type of roles you have explored which all relates to an actor's versatility. It also gives an insight into all of the workshops undertaken which can be incredibly useful in reflecting and showing an actor's professional development and wish to enhance and build on their existing skills. The workshops element has been extensively helpful as much of what I have done with the children has been as a result of the workshops I have done when in training and after training as well. Workshops are great ways of seeing how ensemble work and group games can bond a group and break barriers between people.

Footer



 

The footer is the lasting impression, so it's important to list anything you want to leave a director or potential employer with. These can include other skills including combat knowledge, movement abilities and accents. I also decided to add that I was a National Youth Theatre member which meant that not only did I have experience working as an ensemble but I also worked on stadium arts and continued to remain a member to show that I was remaining active in the profession and would hopefully continue more experiences with such a well-known organisation. Points such as the National Youth Theatre present something that shows a particular ensemble work ethic and shows that I would have had to work with a various people at different points.

 

Teacher CV

 

How have I used my Professional CV and it's positive aspects to enhance my Teaching CV?

 

Training and Professional Experience

 

 The great experiences I had working professionally and the benefits of training professionally meant that I could show potential employers and teaching recruitment companies how much knowledge I had both in the acting field and working with children. I spoke to recruitment companies and asked them what I could achieve next in order to fulfill my teacher training. Of course, they told me that teaching was a degree profession, but due to my experience and training as a professional actress, I was told that I would have no problem in getting a job as a teacher once I had gained the qualification due to my skill set and good amount of work that I had undertaken with children.

 

Work Experience

 

I think it's been incredibly important to remain in some form of work since graduating and when reflecting on my work and career journey up until now, my work with children had enabled me to really expand my knowledge of working with young people. When not undertaking acting jobs, I've used my acting skills to partake in Media Sales and speak to people confidently on the phone as well as support children in the classroom. All jobs have meant that I've had to deal people of various ages and has therefore broadened my knowledge of people's strengths, weaknesses, fears, doubts, hopes and dreams. It has also meant that I have been able to help them achieve and overcome their troubles, whatever that may be.

 

Now I have been able to add another job position to my CV and show that I have aquired skills in teaching both lesiure activities, such as the Performing Arts, as well as teaching the National Curriculum. Having these two jobs have enabled me to develop children through the medium of drama and as a result enhances my lessons and makes them incredibly fun and engaging. I undertake dramatic and storytelling games within my Creative Writing classes so that the children are constantly engaged within the group and this has done absolute wonders for the entire groups creativity.

 

 

Main Positive Points of my Professional Acting and Teaching CVs

 

• A variety of different job roles
• An involvement with workshops to improve skills
• Interests that enhance knowledge of my profession
• A consistent involvement of different jobs
• A constant development of skills with children
• A clear list of strengths



The Recognition of Learning Module: Activity Number Three

Reflective Exercise

Reflecting on a real situation
 

Nature of Learning Event:

Helping an autistic child find their voice.
 

Kayleigh Carina prides itself on being suitable for all ages and abilities and before the end of last term, I met a girl with autism who wanted to try out the mini performers class I ran. She would only come in with her mum and do the classes, which I of course, allowed, as I knew it would make her much more comfortable. However, throughout the sessions I could see that for someone who barely talks, she was joining in with the other children shouting, 'what's the time Mr Wolf?!'

 

This gave myself and Kayleigh an idea which I discussed with her mum. What would happen if she was put amongst older ones, perhaps in the main theatre school? I also met another autistic girl, who found it very hard to socialise but was thrown in with the older ones during Joseph and appeared to be enjoying her time there so much...that she ran onto the stage and started joining the older ones!!
 

Her mum said that her daughter often learns through watching the older children and I was therefore interested to see how these two girls would be after combining the mini group and main theatre school together.

 

 

What we my expectations and what actually happened?

It was the first week trialing the two groups together and I started off with the Name Game, a game that I do in all my classes where the children say their name, do a dramatic action and say one thing about themselves. This week I asked them to talk about what they had done during the holidays. I expected the girls to sit out or refuse to say anything or share with the group due to their autism making it incredibly hard for them to interact and express what they would like to in the group. I certainly didn't think one of the girls would leave her mum and join the group all at once and assumed that if she did join the circle, her mum would have to accompany her as she took part.
 

 

She saw the group dynamic and before I knew it, she had wandered into a space in the ciricle. I eventually got to her and rather than leave her on the spot, kneeled along side her and asked her what her name was. She said her name and when I asked her what she had done during the holidays she said, 'I went swimming.' This was an incredible for her and her mum who was totally gobsmacked! She had shared something with the group and wasn't phased by the people surrounding her. It may have been small...but it was MASSIVE.

 

 

 

 

 

When the Name Game reached the other girl, she took a moment and then burst out into a star shape shouting out her name! She was so lively and having so much fun. It was completely out of character and it was amazing to see her loving being in a group situation. It was lovely to tell her mum what she had achieved and I loved how, despite finding it difficult to join in with games like 'Captain's Coming' still wanted to help me judge when I asked her if she would prefer to do that instead.

 





Explain why the incident developed differently from how you expected.

 

I could see that both girls were itching to be a part of the group and I quite frankly thought there was a big chance that it would be the complete opposite and that both girls would want to shy away from the group because there were so many people. I think that common interests played a massive role in the girls joining in because other children were mentioning things that the girls also enjoyed doing, such as the swimming. I also think that by seeing other children enjoy themselves without their parents, it showed them that they could survive without her mum being there and therefore could communicate herself.

 

 

How will you handle similiar situations differently in the future?

 

This goes back to what I was saying before about the benefits of group situations and learning through others. The child appears to feel less pressure when in a group and sharing those common interests is something that I will aim to include, because no matter what their disabilities, children are children and love the same or very similar things. I will also make a habit of not dwelling on a child's insecurities, but simply move on and carry on exploring things as a group rather than individually. I will also continue to open interests up to the floor and let the group comment on the discussions.

My first Adobe Meeting Room online chat with Paula

So today I was the 'first guinea pig' in testing out the Adobe Meeting Room and having a one to one chat with course leader, Paula.

 

All in all...

I loved it!!!

 

There were, as always, issues with microphones and Paula had to restart her computer, but everything was fine after that and we were able to proceed in talking about the RoL and what I had done and found so far.

 

What did I think about Adobe Meeting Room?

I really liked the Adobe meeting room, mainly because when comparing it to the first Skype session we had, there were a good few issues with as many as 18 people trying to talk and interact all at once! This meeting room allowed us to talk more evenly and the use of the webcam enabled us to have that personal interaction. Paula said herself that she learns visually so it was incredibly useful for her to see my face and took a screenshot of our meeting room session. I liked the mixture of ways to communicate through, whitboard, audio, microphone and messaging. All different methods which are themselves, very ideal for for different types of learners.

 

What did we discuss?

 

I talked about how beneficial Activity Two (and the reflection of my teaching processes in Activity One) was in looking at learning process and how I've had to adapt my own lessons and teaching methods to cater to all.

 

Paula told me about a conference she has recently been to in which a woman was talking about B.F. Skinner's Operant Conditioning and that when it comes to learning used animals such as pigeons, (yes, pigeons...) as a way of saying that we are much more than simple. We have a mind and are aware of the things around us.  I discussed one particular girl, who two weeks ago tried my acting class and had a certain barrier. She was afraid to feel embarassed. She was the only one of her age there. However, what I did tell her was that the young ones would enable her let go and embrace being silly and the younger ones would learn self discipline from someone who was older. This I have found when we decided to mix the younger 'mini performers' group with the main theatre school group, with even autistic children braving being put on the spot mainly for the fact they look up to the older ones. The girl from my acting class undoubtedly struggled to let go and didn't expect her back at all. But she surprised everyone, as last week she came back...with a friend! I was shocked and this time she threw herself into the task and this time with someone she knew would support her. I was amazed. But she didn't let an obstacle beat her. Instead, she tried again with a new attitude.

 

I also reflected on how I learn best and how I have recently been taking driving lessons and that it's been taking me a little bit longer than everyone else. I spoke with Paula about this and established that it's most probably because I am naturally a thinker and repeater, which was apparent at drama school when I had to learn lines...I would repeat, repeat and repeat again until it was entirely automatic. My driving instructor keeps saying to me 'Stop thinking and just DO.' Paula made the point that it's fine learning as children, but how do we continue to learn when we become adults?  Drama school taught me to become more of an activist through improvisation and what a coincidence that the theme for this term's acting classes is...improvisation!!!

 

My reviewing of learning processes taught me that we can apply this to everyday life and that at times we can be all different things and learn in many different ways, something I've learnt at my tutor training. I can tell a child that 5 + 5 is 10, but that child may not be able correlate this unless they see it right in front of them. Children I tutor could be one of the different types of learners; audio, visual, verbal, physical, logical, social and solitary.

 

I also talked about how I've been taking advantage of social media and how I made a radio appearance spontaneously on Sheppey FM and how beneficial it was to 'be an activist' and tell the whole of Sheppey and even my friends who were in Canada at the time!! It was nice to reflect on the things benefiting me  as a professional and helping the school to grow through many different social media mediums.

 

RoL

 

Paula said that my blogs so far have been fantastic in showing my journey so far and reflecting on my learning process up until now. The next stage was to look at my CV and job description which I have already started to annotate and look at. She told me that she would check with Olivia from Trinity College to see exactly how many credits I would need to work towards but we worked out that it be be around 75 credits for Level 4/5. Paula also wants to put me together with some other people on the course who are looking at teaching and how their professional skills have enhanced their skills in the classroom and will be getting us in touch with each other via email. The next step is to look at Activity Three and keep adding to my CV and job description.

 

Overall Thoughts and Feelings - where do I go from here?

 

I am very excited to contunue my exploration with my teaching and learning and I am glad that I am running with this project with the right attitude. I am excited to see how my lessons in improvisation progress at the theatre school and see how far my students can take what they've found and use it to their advantage. It was lovely to simply discuss my findings are relish my achievements already with my teachings. It's also showing me that people don't just grow as a result of things they do...they can also grow as a result of other people and that's why social interaction is so incredibly important.

The Recognition of Learning Module: Activity Number Two

Learning Styles

 

There are four types of Learning styles that we can look at in Honey and Mumford's Learning Style descriptions. These are:

 

Activists

 

Reflectors

 

Theorists

 

Pragmatists

 



Honey, P and Mumford, A, 2006, The Learning Styles Questionnaire 80 item version, Maidenhead: Peter Honey Publications Ltd

There's a lot of activist skills I have developed since training at drama school. For example, my Improvisation classes enabled me to get out of my head and live 'in the moment' which is something that has really helped me in my profession since.

 

Example
 

When tutoring, there have been many times when I have been given numerous tasks to complete before running workshops and my Creative Wrting classes and as a result I have to learn how to successfully take in information a great deal quicker and run with the current thought and situation. I have found this particularly helpful in terms of working with children, one of the main reasons being that they have a very short attention span so throwing them into a set task straight away has been incredibly useful.

 

 

Honey, P and Mumford, A, 2006, The Learning Styles Questionnaire 80 item version, Maidenhead: Peter Honey Publications Ltd
 

I did alot of this when I had to direct the children and take notes of what needed to be improved. My note taking and constant looking at script annotation meant that I was able to evaluate choreography and blocking and to keep making decisions. This included any changes that had to be made and by writing everything down, Kayleigh and I could go away and truly reflect on what needed to be improved throughout Joseph.

Example

The most obvious example would be when I used the time to make notes in the last few weeks of rehearsals in order to note down anything that was particularly in need of some improving. I would then take the opportunity to share my notes with the cast and highlight any issues that I felt should be addressed. This was a more thoughtful way of doing things and remembered from my own experience how much noting improvements helped me as a performer, because it allowed me to think about what I was doing and therefore grow.  

 

Honey, P and Mumford, A, 2006, The Learning Styles Questionnaire 80 item version, Maidenhead: Peter Honey Publications Ltd
 

I would say that the theorist way of thinking is the way of thinking I relate to the most out of all four learning styles. This is because as a person I love structure and an set objective to work towards which I also incorporate into my acting lessons. I always have an objective and always make sure I write and annotate my scripts, when I worked as an actress and when I've worked as a director on the group's youth productions. I like to use logical and structured thought processes throughout and also like to have in my head exactly what the overall picture and finished model will potentially look like.

 

Example

An good example of when I put this into practice would be when I developed blocking for the Joseph Production and wrote and annotated my script. I made sure every single line had something interesting happening and the annotations show my need for structure and perfectionism!
 

Honey, P and Mumford, A, 2006, The Learning Styles Questionnaire 80 item version, Maidenhead: Peter Honey Publications Ltd
 

I definitely like to be able to see the relevance o
f my work in context, espeically when my ideas are put into practice by the children in the rehearsal room. In a rehearsal room it is improtant to explore and put an idea into practice and there were many times where we did that.

 

Example

 

Proven techiniques were apparent in Joseph when I used a proven concept already from my pantomime of Beauty and the Beast at drama school. I decided that instead of creating a massive 'story book', we would instead create a massive bible in which the characters were able to pop out and make a grand entrance. The audience as a result would be taken through the biblical story of Joseph that the audience would enjoy and would, as a result, enable the show to open with a bang.

What have I discovered about myself through my learning styles? Which one do I most comply with?

 

 

 I have learnt that in general I can be a mixture of all of these learning styles at some point in the learning process, however I would say that I am mostly a theorist. But what I have discovered, however, when reflecting on these learning styles is that my actor training has forced me to look at things in various different ways, forcing me to become more of an activist at certain points due to the nature of the situation. Generally, I would say I'm more of a thinker, putting me into more of the reflecting, theoretical category due to my love of structure, my logical note taking and my aim to see the overall image and how to reach that desired image. I've really enjoyed this activity, because it's made me realise that not only do people learn in different ways, but they can also have elements of each of the four types of learning. Depending on the situation, there may be times where we have to be Activists, but there may also be times where we have to be more of a Reflector and this has consequently made me think about the children I teach and that they can work and learn in various different ways, making variety of teaching methods incredibly important.  

 

The Recognition of Learning Module: Activity Number One

Reflection of Learning and Analysis

 

Joseph and the Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat - A Youth Production

The question I want to use for my reflection is "what have I learnt about directing and how have I used my acting skills and professional practice to enhance the children's performance?"

 Forms of Reflection

Gibbs' reflection cycle (1998) and The 'What' format cycle (Borton, 1970.)
 

Gibbs' reflection and analysis model is incredibly useful when it comes to structuring a reflection and enables you to not only reflect on what has happened and what you have learned throughout the process, but it also allows you to assess how you may potentially improve for next time if you were to complete the entire process again. I want to look at Gibbs' (1998) Reflective Cycle and use this method in order to create my own reflection of my professional practice as a teacher and director and have a closer look at my process throughout Joseph and the Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat.

The 'What' format cycle is a great way of exploring every single aspect of the performance with the contant questioning of 'what?' in much more specific detail. You can reflect on the past, the present and the future and therefore you can cover all time periods of learning and what you discovered.

 

Description

Had just under three months to direct this musical performed at the Oasis Academy, Sheerness on the 23rd and 24th of July. The performance was Joseph and the Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat, a youth production which included several different songs over two acts. This included 9 songs in Act One and 23 songs in Act Two, so Kayleigh and I were going to have to work together in order to complete the entire show. The show was incredibly ambitious, particularly when we only had less than three months to put it together!

Feelings

At the start

I felt so, so nervous when I was told we would only have three months in order to create and block the full thing. It was the first musical we had put together as the Kayleigh Carina team I was feeling panicked, trying to block numbers whenever I could and using class time in other lessons in order to do this.

Throughout the Rehearsals

Rehearsals felt fast paced but also felt like we were getting things done. Sometimes it felt like we were going at 100 miles per hour but what helped was the fact that we brought rehearsals of numbers into the other classes. For example, Joseph's Dream was choreographed in my acting class with children inputting their own ideas in order to create an entire blocked scene.  

At the End

I felt a sense of relief and achievement as parents congratualted us on a very well choreographed show. I was incredibly proud of all of the children for making such massive leaps in terms of their performance skills and confidence and was glad that we could all celebrate with an award ceremony. I did feel slightly disappointed with the fact that the first perfoamnce wasn't as smooth as the second but luckily a good amount of parents were able to see Joseph again on the second night.

From Audience Members
Audience members has so many wonderful things to say about the performance and couldn't believe how confident all of the children were. They loved the fact that you could clearly see that everyone was having fun and thought that much of the show was very well choreographed. One of our audience members wrote me a card and had this to say...

 

Feedback from an audience member
 

Evaluation

What Was Good?

• The ensemble as a whole was incredibly strong and everyone had bonded throughout the rehearsals.
• The acts were choreographed well so that everybody knew exactly what they were doing when they were on the stage.
• The amount of fun that the students were having whilst on the stage was seen by the audience members.
• The choreography and blocking was prepared well enough so that the children could perform comfortably and confidently.
• The space was wide so all of the students could use the space well and could all fit on the stage as an ensemble when performing each song.

What Was Bad?

• Not having a dress or technical rehearsal due to a lack of time really showed in the first performance, because certain things weren't where they should have been and the children told me that they felt a bit panicked because they didn't know where everything was.
• Not having a props table and not having costumes always organised meant that staff as well as children were scrambling around searching for things.
• Not having microphones prepared so that solo performers could be heard meant that there were times that the audience struggled to hear what they were singing.
• When Joseph's coat didn't come on the children showed that something was wrong to the audience due to them panicking.

Analysis

What Does It Mean?

The overall experience throughout Joseph showed me that the children still need more guidance in terms of performance knowledge and technique and that if something goes wrong to not let it show, but instead simply continue with the rest of the performance. The group had obviously bonded throughout the rehearsal period and this was due to the heavily ensemble based nature of mine and Kayleigh's teaching. The organised choreography proved to the parents that the children we developing their perfomance skills and were picking up steps well as a result of good tuition. It meant that the work we were doing was enabling them to present a much slicker and polished performance.

Award Ceremony: Recognising Achievements

It also meant that the children had come such a long way in terms of so many performing skills. They had developed confience and we had so, so many breakthroughs. We had an autistic girl who had overcome her fear of performing to an audience and was now out narrator! We had a fantastic celebration of the students that had truly shined and improved throughout rehearsals and one particular quote I take away with me is one which Ralph Fiennes expressed when being interviewed on the Actor Studio. He said:

"It's not about the destination, it's about the journey."

Conclusion

What else could we have done? What should we maybe not have done?

We could have had a dress rehearsal in order to help every one know exactly what the children were wearing and when and also had the chaperones and dressers in the rehearsal so that they could see an order. We should have had a props table from the very start so that students could locate their props and costumes easily throughout the performance and we could have enabled more time to correct some of the issues we had. The overall technical side of things could have been prepared a lot more in advance, including dress and tech rehearsals to sort those minor details and as a result make them flow alot better.

Action Plan

What would I do differently? How will I adapt my practice in the light of this new understanding?

I would make sure that scheduled rehearsal dates were made so that we were able to fit in a proper tech and dress rehearsal, incorporating the props and costumes area from the beginning and get the children used to having a props and costume area. I think it's important to always make sure you have a good amount of time in the performance space so you are used to all around you. I would definitely work more with the narrators in the cast next time and try to get them more confident with what they were doing, which may have been achieved if I had done some work with them earlier and showed them how they could project their voices successfully. I would also like to teach the children not to show the audience that something is wrong but to teach them to act as if those particular things were meant to happen and continue with their performing conviction, due to the well known fact that if the performers aren't relaxed, then the audience won't be. This is something I had to learn as a performer myself and plan to work on this with the children at some point throughout my future acting classes, which I hope to complete this term when I study improvisation with them and teaching them to take whatever happens and work with it. I also would like to cover stagecraft in Theatre School classes so that the children no entrances and exits and make sure they understand ecactly where there are at every single moment. Kayleigh and I have already discussed in a recent meeting and she has just recently booked a date in advance for Sunday the 18th of September, where we will perform our Christmas Variety Show which has enabled us to think about the space as well as give parents the time to keep the improtant date in their diaries and fully commit to the show.

What will we do differently for the new term? Where do we go from here?

Staff Meeting - Tuesday 30th August - A Reflection of the Term
Points and Minutes Covered

• Get the brand new leaflets out there before kids go back to school in the Leisure Complex and at the uniform shop.
• Potential Slogan: Heighten, Enlighten and Inspire.
• Booking dates and venues in advance - Sunday 18th December at a Village Hall.
• Must have a teach and dress rehearsal for the next show so that things run smoothly.
• Teach them about props table and costume changes so chaperones also know what is happening.
• For the next show we can have someone to do the teas and coffees.
• Let's book the videographer in advance so that they are booked and there are no issues or confusion with dates.
• I will create a programme template so that we can keep the Kayleigh Carina presentation consistent.
• Change overs of classes need to be slicker and smoother so we can run effortlessly from one to the other. eg. Street Class finished 5 minutes before Acting.
• Need Thierry as a helper for the wednesday classes so that she can do toilet duty, take the money and deal with the registers.
• Star of the week will be put in place so that we have a mascot and spread the kayleigh Carina word with our hashtag #KCPAstar
• Star. This will be done by putting names into a hat of people who have reallt stood out during the week.
• Star cards will now have smiley faces for attendance and stars for extra rewards and effort during classes.

 The lasting quote that I have been left mulling over and taking with me is:

"Fail to prepare and prepare to fail."

 

Spreading the Kayleigh Carina Word...

Marketing Strategies

Facebook

Facebook has been a fantastic social networking tool we've been able to use whilst we work on getting the website up and running. We've been able to upload rehearsal pictures, videos and generally keep our viewers informed of what is happening. Whilst we continue to launch the website, Facebook has enabled parents to contact us with enquities about the school and to find out more information which has been incredibly useful. So many people have Facebook now and had been a great tool to use.

Promotional Video

 

A great way to make use of my contacts from acting professionally was to create a promotional video for the school. This was done by filming on several different days during the time in which we were rehearsing for Joseph. This highlighted so many brilliant things about the school including the fact we accept students with disiblities and showed our approach towards teaching the Arts. We gained so much more interest in the school because of it and thought it was a brilliant thing to upload onto social networking sites such as Facebook and Instagram as well as out very own website which we aim to have on the home page.

Creating of a New Leaflet

I again used colours of the previous leaflet to create of blue, pink and black to match the header and logo. I also used a mixture of black and white and colourful photographs in order to create a variety of colours and contrasts so that it captivated the eye.

Distribution will be to:

• RJ's, the shop who makes and provides the Kayleigh Carina uniform so that they can place in school bags before the school term starts.
• Sheppey Leaisure Centre so that people who are local and visit the Leisure Centre can pick one up.

Picture of new leaflet

 

Pictures of the Performances

 



 

Picture of our 'Go, Go, Joseph' Performance at the End of Act 1

We decided to edit pictures taken of the performance so that they were bright and vibrant and showed how professional looking and polished our performance was. I asjusted the contrast to make the photrgraphs stand out and shows our blocking, choreography and performances at their very best.

Website

This is a more detailed way of providing information with class times and costs. We want to fit the promotional video onto the home page so we show ourselves in the best light and so the viewers are drawn into the school as soon as possible. We have an up and running link but want to start creating pages that give information about uniform, classes and prices and include staff biographies.

www.kayleighcarinaperformingarts.co.uk

Instagram

Creating an Instagram account has been so useful in contacting the outside world by showing them amazing pictures of our shows and rehearsals to keep our followers informed of everything that we are up to. This is also great for the students themselves as many of the older ones access Instagram from their phones and can keep up to date with all of the pictures from their shows and rehearsals.

Our Instagram account is accessible @kayleighcarinaperformingarts.

Cover Photos

I also created a cover photo for the Joseph Facebook album so that each album could have the Kayleigh Carina logo and be an advertisement in itself. This means we can keep consistency and continuity after every show, uploading photos of every performance whilst spreading that header and logo.

 

The cover photograph for our 'Joseph' album on Facebook

 

Twitter

 

I took the opportunity to create a Kayleigh Carina account of Twitter, as know from previous experience as an actress that Twitter is the place to spread the word and develop followers, both locally and world wide. The account can be accessed @KCperformarts and had been a great way of uploading pictures and snippets of our promotional video to gain interest. Our first follower was Phil, the radio host from SheppeyFM who interviewed me!

 

Let's see how many followers we can gain...

The Kayleigh Carina Journey thus far...from February to now...

Saturday 27th February 2016 was the opening day of Kayleigh Carina Performing Arts School and it was time to put these big ideas into action and not only work on providing good, quality tuition, but to also start thinking about how we could spread the word and build our reputation. We needed structure and planning to work out where we wanted to take the school and I started to come up with schedules and lesson plans so we knew the exact route we were heading down.

 

Structuring and Class Content

Classes List

Class	Duration	Price
Intermediate Ballet	1 hour	£4.50
Intermediate Tap	1 hour	£4.50
Cheerleading	1 hour	£4.50
Street	1 hour	£4.50
Acting	1 hour	£5
Mini Performers	30 minutes	£3
Primary Ballet	30 minutes	£3
Baby Ballet	30 minutes	£3
Theatre School	3 hours	£12

We continued the same layout of classes from the previously run theatre school as this was something that all of the staff we used to. It was nice to keep consistency with the classes as all of the students from the previous school were transferring over and themselves and their parents already had their routine, as well as us, so the easiest thing was to keep the structure exactly the same as before.

Term Overview 2016

Saturday Theatre School

Term 1 - Storytelling - Learning what theatre is and how we tell a story through various theatrical mediums.

Term 2 - Rehearsing - Learning how to rehearse a full youth musical production.

Term 3 - Performing - Learning how to perform a full youth musical production.

Wednesday Acting Classes

Term 1 - Body Language, Emotions and Facial Expressions - Learning how to use our bodies, faces and emotions to convey what we are feeling to an audience.

Term 2- Character - Learning how to use body language, emotions and facial expressions to convey a character to an audience.

Term 3 - Scene Work and Script Writing - learning about what is important in a scene, what we need to include in a scene and how to write our very own scripts.

 

Termly lesson plan Example

 Theatre School Rehearsal Schedules

I decided to implement a weekly rehearsal schedule for the Theatre School on a Saturday, beleiving this tool to be useful in preparing and building up a school. It is:

• Important for the teachers to know exactly what we are doing with the children and when.
• Important to create a journey of learning for the pupils and to aid progression.
• Important for the pupils to know what they will be learning about.
• Important for the parents to see what their child is being tutored in. 

Structure of the schedule

Theatre School Schedule

 

The schedule includes:

• The Kayleigh Carina banner as a heading.
• The date next to the title to keep track of what we did and when
• The topic of what we will be learning about and focusing on that term.
• A lesson Objective so that we aim to achieve certain things and learn particular things by the end of the lesson.
• A step by step lesson plan of what will be covered in order to see a prgression throughout the lesson and throughout the term. This includes the basic structure of a physical and vocal warm up, group games, break, main topic of the lesson and finally a theatre school drama pot which is a tool used to share something each individual has learnt that lesson and to throw it into an imaginary pot that we all throw up into the sky at the end.
• An inspirational quote that relates to the topic. For example, Storytelling was the theme of Term 1 and below the schedule I included a quote from Walt Disney in Saving Mr Banks that says, "That's what stroytellers do. We restore order with imagination. We instil hope again and again."                                                      

Building Reputation 



Creating a leaflet

The team had a meeting and discussed that we would create a starter leaflet for the school that we could distribute to anyone in the Leisure Centre who may be interested. I decided to use a theme of the Kayleigh Carina colours; Pink, Black and Blue. Over the terms it proved to be of great use, as there were a good number of interested parents who wanted some information.

  The very first flyer

 

Community Learning Festival

Meant that we could speak to people about the school in the Leisure Centre itself and perform ourselves so that people could see the standard of professionals that could potentially teach their children. This was a great opportunity to hand out flyers to people and to speak to them about all that we offer. We had a chance to show our faces to the public and show our passion for the school in person.

Community Learning Flyer

Uniform

We were starting to create a brand and now we had the brand new logo and font we could begin to impliment a uniform which would not only show us as a professional school but would also enable us to make some profit for the school. It would also enable us to spread awareness of the brand and to truly present ourselves as a professional school.

 

The shirt with the logo with a name stitched underneath
 

End of Term Production

 

When Kayleigh told me we planned to complete a musical in three months I had a heart attack. How on earth can we do this?! I had never seen Joseph the musical before and I wasn't sure what it would be like to direct. There was alot of work to do. I couldn't believe how many songs were in Act Two to block and we had Act One to get through...and get through VERY speedily.

Rehearsals

• Staff took turns to come up with blocking and would use the time in our own classes to put things together. eg. Go, Go Joseph became a cheerleading dance that people in the Cheerleading class would work on each week.
• Would prepare blocking for the scenes every single week so that we were able to come in and stage straight away.
• We would use this time to give notes and feeback so that the pupils could improve and think about their skills as performers.
• We would take the time to play warm up games and undertake group exercises so that the company could bond and laugh together.

Performance

Inspection

• Kent County Council inspection gave us a GOOD rating for our first inspection. They had previously attended when the theatre school was run under the other name but the outcome of that inspection wasn't as successful. Now Kayleigh was incharge she co-operated with the children's entertainment team to ensure every safe guarding procedure was in place and that we were meeting all of the criteria. As specified in the report itself, we did incredibly well to gain a GOOD rating and plan to keep working with the Kent County Council in the future to make sure we progress even further and potentially acheive an OUTSTANDING level.

The Kent County Council report

Technical Aspects

• Made sure the children had a walk behind area to travel from one side of the stage to another.
• Making sure all the chaperones were in the right places and the right time.
• Making sure we discussed with the lighting and sound team at the Oasis Academy where all of the scene changes were and that we wanted certain points to have the multicoloured lighting to match the technicolour dreamcoat.

Radio Appearances

Kayleigh at BRFM

Kayleigh discussed the school and the staff unit as well as the show. She went into more detail about where the staff had come from and their performeing backgrounds, seeing as one of the big strengths of the school is having a set of staff that are all either trained or working professionals who know a great deal about their creative industry. This was the first radio appearance for the school so it was improtant that we worked as hard as we could in order to create a good impression. Kayleigh thought it would be useful to bring students, Abi and Ellie, along with her, so that they could talk about Joseph and their roles within the musical. Nothing speaks more than the student's opinions on the school so it was a great way of letting them speak and express why they like being taught at Kayleigh Carina.



Myself at SheppeyFM

Julie from SheppeyFM had apparently asked for some leaflets from the Leisure Centre and seeing as the radio station was located right next door, I went round with some to give her. I ended up having a fabulous chat with her about potentially advertising Joseph and the school on the radio and spoke briefly to her about even having our very own show!! A week later I then took the opportunity to spontaneously make an appearance on the radio to advertise Joseph and the school itself on the radio to get us out there so much more. Bill, (the radio host), and I discussed the classes and prices and the event of Joseph which was happening that very weekend! It was a great last attempt at putting Joseph out there as well as encouraging people of all abilities to join us. In particular we talked about the ages we take, how we would love more boys to join and how we accept everyone including young people with disabilities. Speaking with Bill on the radio was such a great experience that myself and Kayleigh very much hope to go back and make regular radio appearances, giving regular updates about what's been happening and what other shows are coming up!

Myself with Bill from SheppeyFM

 

Newspaper Appearances

The newpaper article

By bringing in the newspaper, we were able to allow ourselves a great opporunity to access the entire Sheppey area and present ourselves as a new and vibrant school. It was not only a great advertisement for the show, but was the perfect opportunity to gain some exposure and a school that takes both boys and girls.

Rewards and End of Term/Show Presentation

Our end of show presentation awards were broken down into two specfic main awards; Star Awards and Teacher's Awards.



Star Card Awards

We brought in star cards in the second term, which were given to each individual child. This personal card provided them with an opportunity to earn and fill the card with star stickers for attendance and good behaviour and to build on how many stars they have.
Bronze, Silver and Gold for two pupils this encourages good attitude and worth ethic and for the children who did not receive an award, a chance for them to work on their development and develop an aspiration to improve and do better.

Teacher's Awards

For a particular pupil who has really stood out amongst the others in each teacher's class whether that be for great attitude, big improvements or just general hard work. Again, this rewards outstanding effort and behaviour at the school and pushes the children and ecouranges them to aim to gain their very own trophy!

Termly Newsletter

At the end of each term, Kayleigh compiled a newsletter to address the audience and update them about what has been happening and what we plan to happen for the upcoming term. This allows regular contact with parents and always shows that we will put ourselves out in informing them of everything important and consequently building great bonds.

All of these things have been so vital in building our reputation and have spurred us on to continue promoting ourselves in any was we can!