Hibiscus Nursery School

Hibiscus Nursery School put on their Nativity Play - The Littlest Christmas Tree, on Friday 2nd December at Westwood International School in their wonderful hall. The play included children from just over one year all the way up to 5 years old. The children had such a fantastic time practicing over the term and the end product was definitely well worth all the hours of practicing. Fun was had by all and when I looked into the audience at the parent's faces, I believe they also thought their children were wonderful. Thanks go to Roelien and her team of wonderful teachers for all their help with putting the play together.

HELEN O' GRADY BOTSWANA: Northside Drama Kings and Queens

HELEN O' GRADY BOTSWANA: Northside Drama Kings and Queens

Northside Drama Kings and Queens

Our fabulous upper primary - a small class but dynamic!! We manage to accomplish most things - and rope in a few more people to do our exciting improvisations!! Here we have Seetsele, Lebone and Nandita - what a team!

Thornhill Upper Primary students practicing their Mini Scripts on a Friday afternoon in the Infant Hall at Thornhill Primary School. What fun we have putting it all together and acting it out in front of our friends.

Playmates Nursery School

Here we have the Playmates Nursery School children showing off their beautiful puppets they made to use in the My Family lesson, and they had lots of fun singing along to the theme songs for that week

Studios in Gaborone

The term has started at last and we have some great new studios opened.

Children from all over can join these studios even if they are not attending the school in question.

Studio Timetables are as follows:
Lower Primary - Reception to Std 2 Thornhill Primary Every Friday 1.30pm
or Northside Primary every Monday 2 - 3pm

Upper Primary - Std 3 - Std 7 Thornhill Primary every Friday 2.30 or Northside Primary every Monday 3-4pm.

We have a waiting list in construction for Youth Theatre so please contact Kathy on 71607116 if you are interested in joining a class and you are between the ages of 13-18 years old.

Studios opening in Term Three 2011 in Gaborone

Many schools in Gaborone will be opening their doors to the Helen O Grady Drama Academy. These schools will be allowing the Academy to hold afternoon lessons with their upper and lower primary classes for all those interested in attending. The lessons are one hour in duration and packed to the brim with drama and fun!! Our international drama academy covers all ages from 3 years to 18 years of age.

New Principal Training

The new Principal of Helen O'Grady Botswana underwent gruelling (!) training from 25 - 30 July 2011, in the beautiful surrounds of Cape Town. The Principal is now back in Botswana and ready to open up studios and get going with classes. Classes start in Term Three, 2011. Please contact us for any more information regarding venues and times on 3973232 or botswana@dramaafrica.com

Helen O'Grady Drama Botswana Launch

We've a great new Principal, a new international drama curriculum, and have added opportunities with a partnership with the Aardvark casting agency!

Classes will re-start in Term 3 2011 in Gaborone - watch this space!

email us on botswana@dramaafrica.com for more details and discounted pre-enrolment...

Drama Parties

The year is kicking off and we have been very busy trying to build the academy. Slowly but surely the enquiries are starting to pour in. One such enquiry is for a drama birthday party in March. We welcome every opportunity to work with children! Looking forward to planning this event - which will hopefully be the first of many for this year....

Live Radio Interview

This Saturday 23 January 2010 I will have a live radio interview on Yarona FM. Slowly but surely things are starting to happen for the Botswana Academy. I will also be attending a Cocktail Party at Alliance de France on Friday 22 January 2010. The next 10 days I will be doing demo's and assemblies as well as parent evenings at various schools. I am very excited about the year ahead, but I'm taking it one term at a time :-)

Charity Work In Cape Town

Over the Christmas season I represented Cape Town doing a "feed the homeless" charity event as a run up to to Christmas. I helped with entertainment and getting the street children involved. My husband helped with handing out of cupcakes and providing a shoulder to cry on for some of the more emotional guests. This event is held annually in Cape Town City Centre. The lady who organises it pays for food which is made and served by one of the little restaurants. This year the homeless were treated to hamburgers and chips. Thereafter they received the cupcakes and a goodie bag with a present for each person. We also had a leather jacket for a lady which was handed out after they got to sing and the crowd chose the winner. For the gents there were brightly coloured beach towels. This was a very emotional day but I got to represent Helen O'Grady while spreading cheer and goodwill.

New Principal Asked To Direct Show

I have been asked to direct the next Capital Players production for May/June 2010. This is very exciting indeed. Right now I need to find a show to do which will work in Botswana. Comedy normally attracts lots of patrons. Watch this space for further details such as audition times etc. Would love to see you all trying out!

Staff and Students having a blast

We always find new and exciting yet safe ways to move our kids from one area to another.

Making use of the ramp where the kids will be performing their song "My African Dream". Here you see them practising their hand actions while singing.

Nathaniel and Bobo have shown a keen interest in dance. Here you see them having a creative moment expressing their own dance styles. Nathaniel has done the dancing with me at a previous holiday camp and can still remember most of the steps.

Nathaniel has shown a great interest in the guitar. Here you see him sitting on Cedric's lap strumming the guitar.

Posing on stage. Our little Moth Theatre currently still has the set from the Panto set up and the kids are just loving it.

Taking the kids outside to play some games not only has them have a change of area but a little bit of fresh air go a long way.

January 2010 Holiday Camp

Well the holiday camp has started and 2010 is well and truly on its way. Although we have not had a very big response, we did not want to disappoint the children and therefore did not cancel. Working with a really small group of children is not only challenging but very fulfilling. The amount of energy required to keep such a small group going is nothing short of overwhelming and I don't know how we keep it up. Thankfully I have a great support team!

New Principal for Botswana Academy

SNAKES, CAKES AND WITCHES IN PICTURES!

On Friday 30th October the Drama Academy entertained the guests of the Wiegonz family at their wonderful Halloween party.

As you can see, the children came dressed up. They loved the drama activities and a fantastic time was had by all!


Mike, looking like he's seen a ghost!

Two members of the Legae Academy Youth Theatre, Musa and Ore, came along to help. Here they are acting up! They were great.

The snake man, Lawrence Kamodi, came to show us how to overcome our fears on the scariest day of the year!

Go for it Lone!

Moks - why do you look so worried?

Ever seen an audience like this before?

Obviously, a great deal of thought went into the preparation of the costumes. They were extremely convincing and made for a very dramatic atmosphere.

The rain threatened but we cast a spell and it held off, allowing us to do our acting in the garden.

Well done Lone for capturing this lovely moment between mother and son.

Thank you to Ghaddra and Mike Wiegonz (Ghaddra is pictured here with a python). Their energy and creativity meant that everyone had a memorable evening.

Thanks also to my helpers, Shayne, Musa, Ore, Lone and Moks. You were a credit to the Drama Academy!

PRODUCTION TERM!

Term 2 at Helen O'Grady Botswana is being spent preparing our end of term productions. It's the first time I've been through this process and what an interesting and enjoyable experience it is! I'm really looking forward to performance day on Saturday 28th November so these excellent students can showcase their talents.

'WOE, O, WOE'. Students from Rainbow Secondary, one of our newly recruited schools, get into their roles as members of a Greek chorus in 'Jason and the Golden Fleece'.

Seen here rehearsing a scripted piece are members of our newly formed Saturday class. These Youth Theatre students are honing their skills in preparation for next year's performance. As you can see, some are a little older than 18 so we are going to incorporate them into a new adult class that will begin in January 2010. The location of this studio is Moth Hall, a lovely little theatre that is home to Capital Players, the local amateur dramatic society

Another newcomer to Helen O'Grady Botswana is Livingstone Kolobeng College. And what talented students that college has! Again practising their skills are LKC's finest!







That's all for now. Stay tuned for updates from Baobab and Letlhabile Primary Schools!

THE SOUTHERN CROSS HOLIDAY CAMP

Hello campers!

Here are some pics and comments from the most recent Southern Cross Holiday Camp. Thanks to all those who contributed to its success. Children, parents, trainers and teaching assistants - thank you.

The children took part in Mad Science, Helen O'Grady Drama Academy, Monkeynastix, Judo and Gym, Song and Music and Dance. Our teaching assistants, Shayne, Marang, Nako and Neo were brilliant.

We even had a visit from the snake man!

As always, the face painting was popular, although it proved a little tiring for some!

Happy, interested, bright. This is what the camp is all about.

Well done to everyone and a special thanks to our trainers: Terence, Ferdo, Jennifer, Carin, Nadia and Cedric.

See you all at the next camp!