September 2009

Welcome back

I hope everybody enjoyed their summer holidays.  First of all a massive congratulations to those brainy superstars who excelled in their GCSEs.  It was lovely to hear how well you had all done.

Sorry about the lack of summer classes.  In the future we will plan things a lot better and all classes will have to be prebooked, instead of the ad hoc turn up if you like process we had going on this year.  The workshops which did go ahead were a tremendous success, so if you attended one spread the word and get your friends on the next one.

Planning for success

Your teachers have been busy planning lessons for this next term, and generally planning what needs to be done over the whole academic year.  We have never gone into so much detail, and are looking forward to seeing how the changes we have made affect your School. 

I have sent out an email showing what I wish to achieve with my classes this year, and this will be displayed at the Centres in which I teach.  Jenny, Sophie & Jemma will provide me with their objectives for the year shortly and these will also be displayed.

It may be we are too ambitious, or it may be that we have got it right, who knows, the approaching academic year will soon show us what we are doing right and what we need to tweak.  The list is merely a guideline and will be adapted throughout the year. 

Ch ch ch changes

Lots of them.  We always listen to what you say, and as a result of feedback forms, miscellaneous conversations with parents, and discussions with staff and assistants we have implemented lots of changes.  Those that affect you are highlighted below :-

Discipline

Our School has always been a very friendly place to be, but last year saw a few of the lines becoming blurred, and a lot of low level disruptive behaviour occurring in class.  This was as seemingly insignificant as answering the teacher back, talking behind her back, moaning if asked to perform a specific task, lateness, lack of attention to uniform, “clickiness” etc, however, when clubbed together these seemingly small things become huge.  I was left with the distinct impression that standards had slipped, and our School was becoming perceived as being unprofessional. 

So to bring things back in line we have amended our Rules and Regulations as follows :-

• Lateness,

Will not be tolerated at all, by either students or teachers.  Late students will not be permitted in class.  We are aware that sometimes it is impossible to get to class on time, i.e. car breaks down, traffic, doctors appt etc.  Please make sure you take your teacher’s mobile phone number and advise her if you are unavoidably delayed.  Teachers will run their classes on time.  Parents, we always want to hear from you, but would be grateful if you could arrange to speak to the teacher at a time which will not interfere with the general running of classes.

•  School/Home Agreement

We have taken advice over how we can mitigate our behavioural issues, and have decided to adapt some of the systems which currently happen in mainstream schools.  You will all be sent a copy of our Home/School Agreement.  All three parties must sign and adhere to its contents.

For all children under high school age, we must insist on adult to adult handover.  All children will be kept in class, or in the cloakroom with a teaching assistant until their parent signs them out.  This practise is in line with current child protection guidelines, and although may be cumbersome to start with, will ensure that your child is accounted for at all times.  Parents please do not just drop your child off in the car park…….although we love your children, we are not a child minding facility.

•  “See me” stickers

There are times when we need to bring matters to your attention.  For this purpose we will use a sticker system.  Good or bad you will know about it immediately. 

•  New Health & Safety policy

Unfortunately we do not have our own premises, and are generally at the mercy of third party property committees.  We have to ensure that our children are in as safe an environment as possible.  All children will be made aware of any potential immoveable hazards (tables, chairs in the room) and we will expect them to adhere to the guidelines given to them on the day.  If any child is seen deliberately creating a health & safety hazard (i.e. spilling water on the floor, climbing on windowsills, un supervised handstands), then the teacher has the right to immediately telephone that child’s parent and ask them to remove the child from the classroom.  The child concerned will be excluded from the class activities until the parent arrives.  Accidents do happen and nobody will be excluded if they create a hazard accidentally. 

This may seem a little extreme, but our insurers insist upon such measures being in place, and will ultimately benefit the overall welfare of your children whilst they are in our care.

•  Uniform

At last we have Street Level t-shirts and DCDS t-shirts available.  Also we have the new pre-primary and primary ballet uniforms.  Specific order forms will be sent out/made available on the first week of term.  We do have a uniform policy operating in the School and would be grateful if you could kindly adhere to it. 

NB. All the changes are designed to make our School a lovely place to be, and one which can deliver an excellent standard of tuition for your children.

New Classes

Don’t forget there are new classes springing up.

• Alwoodley
• Keep Fit Class, Tuesday 6.30pm.  Open to parents and students alike
• Musical Theatre/Cheer Dance, Saturday 2.30pm.  Open to all ages at the moment.
• Toddler Dance Class, Saturday 9.30am.  Suitable for babies and toddlers from 1 yr.

•  Drighlington

• Street Level 1 class, Wednesday 4.30pm.  Open to children aged between 5-7.
• The other classes are now 15 minutes later than last year. For details see here.
  

• Morley

• All classes now at St Peters Morley and All saints Churwell (opp Nelson pub). For details see here
  
• New cheer dance class, 6pm - 7pm.  Open to students from SL2/3/4 and new pupils aged 12 to 17.
  

• East Ardsley

• Toddler Dance Class, Saturday 9.30am.  Suitable for babies and toddlers from 1 yr.

Competitions/Festivals

We are committed to doing more competitions this year.  Some more of you have already signed up for the prospect and we will sort out your dances in the next few weeks.  Competition dances need to be done in a separate session, and can be done by any of your teachers.  I have several slots available to work on competition dances and these are as follows :-

Saturday 4.30pm EACC
Monday 7.45pm AMC
Tuesday 5.30pm AMC

As well as these times, there are certain times when I can offer half hour classes before or after a timetabled session. 

All classes will be on a private lesson basis and will cost £20 per hour, such cost to be shared amongst those attending it.  All lessons must be prebooked and paid for on the day, and do not form part of the capped fee.

Fees

These are obviously due week commncing 7th September.  We struggled all of last year to get the fees in on time.  I have no idea why this is.  Clearly if you start a program of learning, it needs to be paid for on the first day, not six weeks in.  So, all fees must be paid at the first lesson.  Payment arrangements can still be entered into, but this can only be in the form of post dated cheques, all of which must be handed over at the first lesson.  Lessons will not start until all payments have been collected.

Tell a Friend

Links

There will be an exam session every term, culminating with an RAD exam session at the end of the year.

I look forward to working with you all again.

Deborah