Project information

YATI Tots Programme

YATI has been piloting a programme for pre-school children, YATI Tots, which has a focus on guided and creative play, offering a taste of the YATI experience. Having developed the focus, we are now seeking to establish the pilot as part of the core programme at the theatre.

September 2012 - July 2015

Charity information: Young Actors' Theatre Islington

Young Actors' Theatre Islington logo
  • Need

    Need

    Our experience working with young people has shown a need to address social skills from the under 5's and upwards.

    Our classes have traditionally started from age 6 upwards and we have now recognised that some children would benefit from interaction much earlier on.

    This interaction, we believe helps towards overall articulation and communication - key aims throughout all of our work at YATI.

    Solution

    We will be running a series of classes for under 5's that introduce creative play from a young age.

    The classes will encourage youngsters to increase their confidence with other children, stimulate their imagination and build on their ability and desire to communicate their ideas.

    These classes will be all about having fun, building confidence, coordination, social skills, creativity and imagination through drama, art, music and games.

  • Aims

    Aim 1

    To run classes that are professional and lead to other YATI activity

    Activities

    » Employ professional staff to lead the programme and establish a course outline
    » Create further evaluation of the programme and involve with other YATI classes, including creating a YATI Tots show

    Success will be...measured by feedback from members and parents who attend classes. Questionnaires will be created to assess quality and desire to continue.

    Aim 2

    To be an inclusive and accessible programme

    Activities

    » To market these classes to a broad range of people - through local surgeries, shops
    » Seek funding in order to offer select places for underprivileged families

    Success will be...to offer 15% of places at a free or reduced rate to those from underprivileged backgrounds.

    Aim 3

    To be sustainable

    Activities

    » Monitor financial progress and ensure all classes are full to break even

    Success will be...to assess our accounts quarterly and ensure we are self reliant and after 12 months, considering increasing class numbers.

  • Impact

    Impact

    We will be providing young people with needed social and confidence building skills at an earlier age.

    Instilling the key communication tools to either later pursue a performing arts career, or use these transferable skills at home, school and onto working life is important to be brought in at these early stages.

    Risk

    We are aware that provision may also be taken up in nurseries themselves acting as major competition to this programme. Our research has shown that YATI's long standing experience and professionalism is a point of difference and we are also keen to outreach and collaborate with other organisations so can only see this as a positive.

    Reporting

    We produce quarterly reports for all our programmes which monitor progress of tutors and members as well as financials.

  • Budget

    Budget - Project Cost: £5,150

    Loading graph....
      Amount Heading Description
      £3,600 YATI Classes Cost of 15% of annual places
      £350 Props/Toys For end of term shows
      £1,200 Tutors Additional tutoring in first year
  • Background

    Location

    YATI Tots classes will be based at our theatre. The building itself is a historic piece of architecture and classes run in the theatre with access to a range of equipment.

    We are based in the borough of Islington, with over 55% of our members based locally. We have helped a range of young people in the area who have had no other outlet and also welcome those who would like to join from other areas in Londons and beyond.

    Beneficiaries

    Beneficiaries from the project will be those attending the classes who will experience the transformative power of interaction skills. In addition, parents who participate in some of the classes will also benefit from the guided play with their children as well as the social element that has been requested between parents themselves.

  • Why Us?

    Why Us?

    We have over 30 years experience working with young people and an established reputation in the field. Our knowledge will be able to grow in this newer territory of a younger age group with professional guidance from experts in this area.

    We feel that we have good links with many other local businesses and organisations where the programme will be marketed to bring in a new audience to the theatre.

    Read more about the Charity running this project.

    People

    Andrew Harries

    Artistic Director - Leading the overall vision of the theatre and implementing new artistic strategies into the programme.

    Laura Strachan

    YATI Tots Lead Tutor - Developing the course outline

    Olivia Bellas

    Development Manager - Assessing viability of the programme, producing quarterly reports, maketing support