Victoria takes Helen O’Grady Drama Academy to new heights
“Michael (who has learning difficulties) enjoys the classes so much. Last week he was able to take part in his school assembly, even his teachers had tears in their eyes – all thanks to the Helen O’Grady Drama Academy.” – Jenny Anderson
The Helen O’Grady Drama Academy is undoubtedly familiar to many of you due to its success in South Africa. The school was founded in 1979 by Helen O’Grady in Australia, a lady who, in addition to being a drama teacher, was once a very famous actress on a children’s television channel. After meeting her husband, who convinced her to turn her school into a franchise because of its excellence, Helen can now proudly boast of hugely successful franchises in New Zealand, Korea, USA, UK, Ireland and of course, Australia and South Africa. The academy is Africa’s largest drama school, with over 50,000 students attending classes each week on a global scale, developing confidence, self-esteem, communication and performance skills.
Rhodesian born Victoria Harrison Sparg is one of the reasons that the Helen O’Grady Drama Academy is so successful in South Africa, specifically East London and King Williams Town – Victoria bought the franchise for the Border area in 2004, opened her school in 2005 and has taken it to great heights in and around our city.
A shy student who kept pretty much to herself, playing for the Stirling Jazz Band and avoiding school orals as much as possible, Victoria had no real interest in Drama back then and only began to change and grow in confidence once she attended Varsity. Victoria attained a B Comm in Economics and Management at Varsity and later went on to teach English in South Korea for a while, returning to teach at Master Maths in 2003.
Victoria’s involvement with the Helen O’Grady Drama Academy began when she answered an advertisement that she had seen. Initially reluctant and somewhat doubtful of her own abilities in the Drama field, her interest sparked after speaking at length to the Academy’s South African Director, Vicky Stroud.
Since opening her doors to students, it has been onward and upwards for Victoria. Her classes have grown enormously and she now teaches in Amalinda, Nahoon, Beacon Bay, Gonubie, Kidd’s Beach, Greenfields, Lilyfontein and King Williams Town. Victoria teaches a Kindy class (ages 3 – 5) for which a room is provided at the relevant school, and then classes for 5 – 18 year olds, where she separately hires a school or church hall for her sessions. Victoria teaches positive reinforcement in her classes and believes that something positive can come out of everybody’s performance. Working with very shy children can be challenging but Victoria says that it is so wonderful to see them grow, to see their confidence build through classes. Because Victoria’s drama classes are additional to those that children may participate in through their school, it is an opportunity for them to perhaps create a new person, to be whoever they want to be, without inhibitions.
“This is to let you know how pleased we’ve been with your Drama classes. The benefit to my four children confidence wise, has been amazing. Fleur has really come out of her shell in the last twelve months. She has a lot of problems at school socially, as she’s always looked older than she is. Kids can be so cruel at times. With drama she found her niche and she loves it. Everyone from parents to teachers to family has been amazed at her confidence this year. Fleur performed at the school camp this year and in the school play and really knocked their socks off!
Victoria loves her job and has a great relationship with the kids she teaches. With each session an hour long, children have the opportunity to express themselves through the medium of drama, and classes include introductory activities, group work and snippets. They act out a play every lesson (a small improvisation) and then every third lesson the kids perform a mime. For the younger 3 -5 year olds, Victoria makes use of themes in her classes, something the kids can identify with having been exposed to a similar structure in pre-school.
Each year the students celebrate their hard work with a year-end production held at The Arts Theatre. In this short production, each and every one of the students have at least one line to speak, a crucial aspect with regard to confidence, giving individuals the opportunity to step into the limelight as opposed to regular ‘plays’ where there are leading and support roles. Last year’s production was ‘Macbeth (With Apologies to Shakespeare)’ and was a huge success!
There is a curriculum used for the Academy franchises and students will never repeat a lesson because of its extensive range. Each year, Victoria and the rest of the franchise owners/teachers (there are 16 in South Africa alone) get together for training, always held at a different location. Victoria says that the training is plenty of fun and that having a great relationship with the other teachers definitely helps. The last training was held here in East London and saw Victoria teaching the other teachers as if they were students, a very interesting concept but one which works well because of their closeness.
Victoria absolutely loves teaching the children, this much is evident when she speaks about them, and clearly the feeling is a mutual one because many kids have stayed with her for a number of years and she often receives letters from the ones who have since moved on, lovely letters penned by grateful students.
In addition to expressing her creativity through drama, Victoria has many other passions in life that she pours herself into including candlemaking, photography and Bonsai trees (she is the Secretary for the Border Bonsai Society).
Sending your children to the Helen O’Grady Drama Academy is probably one of the best things you could do for your children. As a parent, I know only too well how important it is to build confidence in your kids, to allow them to express themselves through such a medium.
Victoria is a wonderful and dedicated teacher and we are blessed to have her in East London, providing classes and most importantly, building children up and making them realise that they too can be the star of the show. If you are interested in finding out more about the Academy and to book a trial lesson, you can call Victoria on 082 318 9255.
“We would like to express our appreciation and gratitude of how the program has enhanced Chloe’s confidence and ability to communicate with her peers and adults. Chloe was very quietly spoken but since attending the drama program she has improved her speaking voice and is now confident at addressing school functions and meetings. Recently, one of the teachers at her school commented on how Chloe was able to express her thoughts so clearly and the manner in which she articulated her message to the group.