As Spotlights celebrates its 14th birthday this week it brought into focus my thoughts, feelings (and fears) from when we first started in 2006. Whilst the time has flown I can still remember with total clarity the anxieties about starting out. Would anyone come to our open day. Would anyone want to sign up to our classes. Why were we doing this?
Why do we do anything? According to author Simon Sinek in his book “Start with Why” there is always a set of why’s that drive what you or your business does; what’s the purpose, cause, belief; why does your organisation exist?
Our WHY’s for setting up Spotlights are to provide a fun, nurturing environment for kids to experience the joy of performing arts. We want shy kids to feel that surge of adrenaline as they perform to an audience for the first time and the pride they have when they realise they can do it. Our why is helping kids work as a team. Whether in class, or as part of the cast in a show, teamwork is fundamental. Our why is helping kids learn new skills in an active way. The rehearsal process can be challenging but by actively working together on a show it’s always a delight to see the final result. Our why is about helping kids realise their potential through performing arts. For some this has meant getting onto stage and performing confidently to family and friends. For others they have taken their skills to a whole new level by appearing as a child lead in West End shows or a movie with Emma Thompson. We have held the hand of other children getting a drama scholarship into local private schools such as Royal Russell, Bromley High, Colfe’s and St Dunstan’s.
All our WHYs for setting up Spotlights are neatly summed up in our STAR System (Self-confidence, Teamwork, Active Learning, Realising Potential). The STAR System has always formed the basis of how we plan all our classes and content.
Our WHYs are just the same now as they were in 2006 when we started out.
At the moment we are adapting how we can keep delivering on our WHYs with online classes. We are blown away with the energy your children are putting into this class format. Thank you so much to everyone that is taking part. We know that this format is new for everyone but we have already seen that its possible to deliver these classes and still be true to our whys.
If you have a child age 4-18 that would like to take part in fun performing arts classes from home online we would love to meet them. Further details about our current programme of classes is available using this link.