MOST children love to show-off, and like nothing better than singing, dancing or performing for their family.

The youngest son of David and Victoria Beckham, Cruz, went a step further when he stole the show with an impromptu breakdancing routine at a recent Spice Girls concert.

The three-year-old's obvious love of the limelight could, if his famous parents fancy it, take him in the direction of stage school - attended full time by Posh in her teens.

Increasing numbers of British children are applying to such schools, and while there are many new stage schools around, some, like the Barbara Speake Theatre school in London, have been established for decades.

The Speake school, which boasts past pupils including Phil Collins, Naomi Campbell and Keith Chegwin, began as a dance school more than 60 years ago.

The £1,600 a term school, which has 135 pupils aged between three-and-a-half and 16, follows the National Curriculum and offers academic GCSEs as well as drama, expressive arts, and dance.

The school's founder, Barbara Speake, says 70 per cent of the curriculum is academic and 30 per cent performing arts, with dance replacing games.

She says: "The beauty of coming to a stage school is that it gives children the grounding to get in front of an audience. "

So young

She says children start at schools like hers so young - instead, perhaps, of going to a normal school and then drama college at 16 - because children are often needed on TV and in the theatre, and stage school helps pupils secure such roles.

She insists the education is of a high standard, and points out: "The world is their oyster when they leave."

While acknowledging that there are some pushy parents, she said: "There's no need to be a pushy parent if a child has talent," adding that most of the children go into further education when they leave, as opposed to going straight into a career in showbusiness.

"What they gain most from coming here is confidence," she says.

However, stage schools have their critics - including some actors themselves.

Howard's End star Sam West has said that many stage schools are little more than `glorified modelling agencies', while Julian Glover, whose acting credits include Harry Potter And The Chamber of Secrets, said: "At best, they produce a precocity and instil a need in the children to be famous."

And Margaret Morrissey, spokesperson for the National Confederation of Parent Teacher Associations, warns that stage schools might give children hope that they can be actors, instead of fully preparing them for any career.

She said: "The kids perhaps don't get the same broad view they would at a state school of the sort of jobs they could have.

"Their horizons are going to be definitely narrowed by all the work they're doing in the performing arts.

"And there aren't that many children who make it anyway."

Tweet