Perform was launched in 2000 as a new kind of drama school – one that has child development at its very heart. The founders, Will Barnett and Lucy Quick, both had a passion for the performing arts and wanted to create a unique organisation to help build children’s self-esteem and life skills. The aim of Perform was to use performing arts games, exercises and materials to help boost child development. Rather than teaching rigorous techniques and requiring the endless memorisation of lines or steps, the sessions would use specially devised activities, each with the aim of developing a specific life skill or social attribute. With smaller classes and lots of individual attention, Lucy believed that children would be able to grow and develop at their own pace while Perform focused on the 4 Cs – confidence, concentration, communication and coordination. Starting with two schools in Primrose Hill and Islington, Perform has grown to over 400 venues across London and the South and West of England. It now encompasses hundreds of weekly classes for 4-7s and 7-12s, holiday courses and Perform for Schools – a thriving programme of workshops in primary schools.