SAYarts creates and dreams with young people on the land of the Kaurna people
Our Mission
Why theatre and drama classes? Because they are FUN and because they skill our young people!
According to the Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning, there are 5 core areas of competency in social/emotional learning; self-awareness; self management; social awareness; relationship skills, and responsible decision-making. Theatre offers the ideal playground for children and youth to practice and strengthen these competencies. (Lynn P Johnson)
We work with professional creative artists and actors to nurture, inspire and train young people to develop theatre craft that enriches them and changes their lives for the better through weekly acting classes and the development of performances and regular arts sessions.
Our Values
Artistic Integrity – Professionalism – Fun
Friendship – Excellence – Respect
Drama classes are great for your child’s development – You need only speak to our parents and our students to understand the importance of what we do for our students. Acting classes help children in many roles in life – not just in theatre and film. Imaginative play is at the core of what we do with our youngest students – to ignite imagination and develop confidence. These skills create strong and flexible humans able to navigate the world better. Our aim is to
- Give a child a sense of belonging that they haven’t found anywhere else
- Teach them how to interact with others, even when they disagree
- Build their confidence through practice and hard work
- Help them to make friends
- Give them a sense of achievement
- Teach them about disappointment (they didn’t get the lead role…)
- Help them to feel “normal” when the rest of the time they feel that they don’t ‘fit in’
- Give them a creative outlet for all of that energy that they might usually get into trouble for – set their imaginations on fire
- Accept and celebrate their difference and cultural diversity
- Celebrate their humour and their passion
- Make them happy
- Give them skills for life
Many drama schools focus on the performance or job outcome. At SAYarts we focus on the development of the whole person, in particular:
- Building resilience and confidence through making and surviving mistakes and through “having a go”
- Developing emotional literacy (EQ) – about themselves and others
- Teaching empathy and theory of mind – putting yourself in someone else’s shoes
- Theatre craft and stage craft – listening, moving, reacting, thinking, contributing, creating, giving, understanding
- Ensemble work (teamwork) – negotiating the spotlight, helping others shine, stepping up when needed, working in sync with others
- Public speaking and leadership skills – presence, confidence, timing, articulation
- Social skills and interactions – accepting feedback and direction, praising others, working with people who think and act differently
- Collaborative Problem solving – in our classes there is no wrong answer, just a better one or a better way
- Performance as a result of theatre-making and creativity