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Local entrepreneur, Hana Voyce, is swapping her life treading the boards to running her own business. After working for 10 years as a professional actress Hana has turned to teaching early phonics skills to children aged 1-4. After a difficult pregnancy and then the birth of her little boy, Hana knew it was time to find a career that would fit perfectly around her family. “Life as an actress is unpredictable. Once my little boy arrived I just knew I needed a change from the long shoot hours or evening shows. This time seemed as good as any to set up my own business”.
Hana trained as an actress at Arts Educational Schools London, one of the top drama schools in the country, and has worked with the likes of Ricky Gervais and Warwick Davis. After 10 fabulous years as a working actress, Hana had the exciting news that her husband and herself were expecting a baby.
She wondered if she would be able to return to work following the birth of her son Max and then she found; Sounds Right Phonics Classes for Kids, a new business set up by two sisters who had created classes in order to open children to a world of literacy! This appealed to actress Hana as it offered flexible working for parents, so Hana would be able to work around her little boy and have a great work life balance.
So she went to train as a ‘Sounds Right Phonics’ teacher and she instantly fell in love with the concept and the company. Alex Burnside the Founder of Sounds Right Phonics says: ‘Hana is so passionate and enthusiastic, she is a fantastic addition to our team, her background in drama means that she teaches our classes with such energy and is always making the children laugh and entertaining them, we are so excited that Hana has taken our classes to St Albans’
Hana says ‘I think Sounds Right Phonics Classes for Kids are a brilliant way to introduce letters and sounds to children and help prepare them for school. I am passionate about making learning fun and I strive to make the classes like one big party. With my performance side I entertain the children for the full 45 minutes and what I love is that the children are having so much fun, they don’t even realise they are learning.’
The classes, which are suitable for ages one to four, introduce a different letter sound each week, they also work on fine and gross motor skills, which are essential for reading and writing as well as oral blending and segmenting, whilst opening children up to a world of literacy. Alex Burnside, an ex-primary school teacher who wrote the syllabus says; ‘I saw a gap in the children’s knowledge as they came up to reception and thought it would be great to have a high energy, fun class that also taught early phonics. The main focus of the class is fun, but there is also a reason behind why we do each exercise.’
Emily Summerfield, parent of one of Hana’s Sounds Right Phonics pupils says; ‘This is currently my daughter's favourite class. Hana is absolutely brilliant with my little girl. She is engaging and interactive with all the children in the session. It is very well thought out and structured class. My child's speech has progressed to above age appropriate.’
The Education Secretary has said that parents need extra support and advice when it comes to supporting their children at school and Sounds Right Phonics Classes completely agrees. The classes ensure that parents have a good understanding of phonics and the way that children learn.
If you want to find out more about Hana’s classes, which take place all over St Albans, then check out the website; www.soundsrightphonicsclasses.co.uk or email [email protected]. Or why not join her on Facebook and Instagram.
