NATIONAL TALKING WEEK 2012!

Once again the Academy is raising funds, through National Talking Week!, for BBC Children In Need. Around the country, children, their parents and friends and their teachers are 'putting their money where their mouth is' and talking up a storm!

In Somerset, children as young as three joined in the fun during their Kindy classes. Their current topic is 'The Jungle' and, with the help of finger puppets, the students talked about Pudsey Bear for two whole minutes!

Kindy students talk with their animals and sea creatures to help raise money.

The panda has a great conversation with the crab!

The fish were all talking in big, fat full sentences!

All of the children took home a special Pudsey Bear certificate so parents could see they had mastered the challenge and now the sponsor money will be collected!

Well done to all those Kindy children!

BBC CHILDREN IN NEED 2012

It's that time of year again! Tomorrow sees the start of  NATIONAL TALKING WEEK! in the UK, leading up to the big BBC Children In Need show next Friday, 16th November.

Over the past five years, Academy Principals, teachers and students around the country have raised approximately £85,000 in various ways. Last year, 'Guess the UFOs in the jar', cake sales and special edition T-shirts helped the money roll in.

How many UFOs?

Yummy spotty cakes for sale

'Designer' T-shirts all the rage!

Parents joined in the fun

It was very challenging!

Someone even baked a Pudsey cake!

There will be lots of this going on - and more - and we hope to add to our grand total by the end of November.

Principals at the 2011 show with Pudsey

Watch out for people in spotty Helen O'Grady T-shirts on the late edition of the show on November 16th. If you want to be involved with the Academy fundraising, please contact your local branch or email info@helenogrady.co.uk

NATIONAL TALKING WEEK IN NORTH LEICESTERSHIRE

Principal of North Leicestershire branch, Beth Daniel, had lots of exciting activities going on during the recent National Talking Week for BBC Children In Need.

Many of her students were proud to sport the special edition T-shirts which were available.
They wore them proudly!
Parents came along to hear their children do their National Talking! They were expected to join in with the drama activities too, of course!
The children had been encouraged to write a story about their adventures with Pudsey Bear, so they could read it for National Talking Week!

NATIONAL TALKING WEEK IN OLDHAM

There was definitely a spotty theme going on in Helen O'Grady classes in Oldham last week! Principal, Wendy Orrell, and her team made a huge effort to raise lots of money during National Talking Week!

There was a lot of baking going on and parents paid - sometimes well over the odds! - for her very delicious cakes.

Everyone was encouraged to wear spots.

And parents were more than happy to join in with the talking.

It was all very exciting!

As well as the cakes and the talking, there was also a competition to guess the number of sweeties in the jar.

Everyone shared in the spirit of Pudsey!

As always, parents in the area were very generous with their cash, as Wendy and her staff were with their time and effort. They hope to raise close to £2,000 towards the final total.

Congratulations to them all!

CHILDREN IN NEED IN BRISTOL CLASSES

In Bristol, parents were invited to attend classes during National Talking Week! They joined in with the lessons, they listened to their children talk and they donated a lot of money!

Proud parents bought special edition T-shirts for their children. All proceeds donated to the charity.

Teacher, Kathryn Gregory, puts both children and parents through their paces!

Children found lots to talk about!

Executive Principal, Alison Mazanec said: "We were very proud of all of students for taking part. The atmosphere in class was very exciting and some of the talks were very moving."

The Bristol branch of the Helen O'Grady Drama Academy raised almost £2,000 towards the final total. Congratulations to them all!

NATIONAL TALKING DAY IN KINDY CLASS

Today was National Talking Day at East Harptree Kindy class in Somerset. After their usual lesson, which, appropriately, was on the Teddy Bear Theme, twenty eight pre-school children sat down with a teddy each and talked about an adventure they would like to go on.

Of course, mouths and voices had to be warmed up first!

And the bears had to make themselves comfortable.

Sometimes it was hard to find things to say........

........but then the bear joined in and everything was OK.

There were all sorts of adventures!

It got very noisy with everyone talking at the same time ......

....... but everyone managed to speak for two minutes and everyone received Pudsey certificates.

Sponsor money will be collected in the next few days and added to the grand total to be presented to BBC Children In Need. We are very proud of the pre-school children for taking part and we thank their parents and teachers for all their support.

BBC CHILDREN IN NEED 2011

Once again, this year, the Helen O'Grady Drama Academy is fundraising for BBC Children In Need. Wednesday 9th November sees the start of NATIONAL TALKING WEEK! across the UK, when students will be talking, in their classes, on a given topic, for an allocated amount of time.

Last year, through the sponsored talking, we raised more than £30,000 for the charity and were lucky enough to present a cheque, live on air, to Sir Terry Wogan.

Schools are getting involved too, with drama teachers running special classes to hear the children talk. The Academy's aim is to develop children's confidence and skill in verbal communication so what better way than talking to raise money for other children less fortunate than themselves?

For full information download a leaflet here and print a sponsor form to start raising money now. Full details are on the literature, with instructions of what to do with the money when you have raised it.

Thank you - on behalf of the Academy - for your help and an even bigger THANK YOU on behalf of BBC Children In need.

MORE NATIONAL TALKING DAY! PICTURES

All over the country Principals have been raising money for Children In Need. Many branches of the Academy invited parents into class to join in their childrens' lesson. Lots of them were encouraged to wear something spotty. In Leicestershire, Rebekah Davidson (above) single handedly (well with just a little help from her dad!) raised £260. Well done to her!

The talking - and certainly the fundraising - continues. The academy will be collecting spare change for Pudsey right through this term. You can get involved by visiting our website - http://www.helenogrady.co.uk/ - or send a donation to the address on this blog.

Keeeeep talking!

TALKING FOR BARNARDOS IN N.W.IRELAND

Now the talking is almost over for Children In Need, Academy students in North West Ireland are holding their own Talking Week in aid of Barnardos Ireland. Principal, Angela Gallagher, sent this picture of some of her Manorhamilton class preparing for their talking which will take place all this week.

Good luck and best wishes to them all. Watch out for more pictures!

THE BIG DAY!

Today is the day Children In Need takes over the airwaves. You will see and hear Pudsey on almost every programme through the BBC today and, of course, the big show is on tonight.

A team from Head Office will be there to present the big cheque for £50,000. Principals around the country and their students have worked extremely hard towards the target and the Academy is proud to be representing them tonight. See us on the show in the 'late' spot, from 10.30 to 2am.

A big, big thank you to everyone who has been involved including our printers, Franchise-Connect and a special vote of thanks to The Waldegrave Arms in Chewton Mendip, Somerset, who have taken National Talking Day! to their heart. Tonight their barmaids will be dressed in our special edition tee shirts requesting donations from every customer who speaks in the pub!

It's not too late to be involved. Visit our website to download a sponsor form or send a donation to the address on this blog. We will happily link to your website if you provide details.

MORE NATIONAL TALKING DAY! NEWS

The talking continues in Helen O'Grady classes this week as students head for the target of £50,000 to present to BBC Children In Need at their big show on Friday. From Glasgow to Portsmouth, Belfast to Cambridge, students have put their money where their mouth is and have wonderful stories to tell.

In Northampton (pictured in group below) Principal, Sarah Moloney, invited the local BBC radio station to join join in. Click here to listen to what the children, the parents and the Principal had to say.

It's not too late to be involved. Visit our website http://www.helenogrady.co.uk/ and download a sponsor form or send your donation to the address on this blog.

Our children are really making a difference to children less fortunate than themselves. You can too.

CHILDREN IN SOUTH WALES VISIT THE WELSH ASSEMBLY ON NATIONAL TALKING DAY!

NATIONAL TALKING GETS UNDERWAY!

In drama classes all over the country, children are talking and raising money for BBC Children In Need.