Forum Topic

STAGE SCHOOL NURSERY

Many people send their children to performing arts classes, but have you every thought about sending them to a full time Stage School Nursery. We have the only one in the Country, in our Borough! What are your thoughts?

Barbara Speake ● 4779d11 Comments

Nigel, ALL education is vital imo.I can always tell a well educated person - by the way they address a waiter. And I can spot a poorly educated man, by the way he addresses his wife, mother, sister or aunt.

Gerry Tan ● 4779d

Thanks Tracey, my point exactly. To 'compartmentalise' a child, especially at such an early age as nursery, is simply short-sighted.

Nigel Brooks ● 4779d

At what age does a child decide they want to act ?, my eldest son decided at 9 he wanted to, so I took him off to a childrens agent, there were no signing fees no pressure to join her drama classes etc, just a standard percentage fee for any work she found for him, his first well paid advert followed an audition the day after signing him up, and over the ensuing years work was plentiful, he remained in mainstream schools, took drama at Richmond college, then a degree at uni, and still gets a lot more work at 30 than many actors who went to stage schools, so don't do it, most stage schools will charge you a fortune to tell you what they think you want to hear.

Tracey Mehdizadeh ● 4779d

So Gerry what is your opinion about a broad nursery education - vital or not?

Nigel Brooks ● 4779d

Of course it was Maureen Lipman - I was just testing everyone - ha ha ha, both are fine ladies!

Gerry Tan ● 4779d

That, of course, was Maureen Lipmann but let's not let facts get in the joke eh Gerry?The serious point is that Miriam Margolyes has a BA in English from Cambridge something hardly achievable if she had attended a school focusing solely on acting.As to the others you  mention:Edith Evans - got the acting bug only after serving an apprenticeship as a milliner.Helen Mirren - attended a very well respected girl's High School.Emma Thompson - Cambridge BA (English)Meryl Streep - BA VassarI maintain that a good broad nursery education is VITAL.

Nigel Brooks ● 4779d

Or Miriam Margolis either. She never did an ology at school.

Gerry Tan ● 4779d

It didn't seem to affect Edith Evans, Helen Mirren, Emma Thompson or Meryl Streep much.

Gerry Tan ● 4779d

It is simply that. What happens in those foundation and formative years can shape a child for life hence my comment about a narrow curriculum such as 'stage school nursery'.Those two years should set an expectation for both the child and its parent / carers. A child poorly educated at nursery is always going to have to play catch-up when they get into their next school. A challenge for the child, its parents and the educators who have to pick up the pieces.

Nigel Brooks ● 4779d

Nigel, I love you for calling nursery education - critical stage....Thank you!

Suzan Issa ● 4779d

Not if they have the slightest academic bias where I would look for, at a minimum, a school rated as 'good' if not 'outstanding'. So many actors and actresses are unemployed that to limit a child's horizons to such a narrow brief would be wrong especially at a critical stage like Nursery education.

Nigel Brooks ● 4779d