News

NEWS LETTER JAN 2012

2012-01-23T03:20:00.001-08:00

The Manor School of Ballet
NEWSLETTER – JANUARY 2012

Happy New Year and Welcome Back! We hope you have all enjoyed the festive season and are looking forward to the new term ahead.

2011 finished the year with some of our Scholars performing for Children’s Classic Concerts with the Royal Scottish National Orchestra in Glasgow’s Royal Concert Hall and Edinburgh’s Usher Hall with The Royal Scottish National Swing Band. We would like to thank those who took part and for all their hard work. Four of our Scholars also represented the school by performing in the St Serf’s pantomime “Aladdin” in December and our thanks also go to those girls involved.

It was also a busy end of term with exam sessions in UKA Jazz and Tap and RAD Presentations and Exams. Great results were received from everyone who entered.
Congratulations to all the pupils who passed their RAD exams and had to wait all through the holidays for the results. You all did extremely well and there were a lot of very high marks.
The next sessions for Exams and Presentations are as follows:
RAD Graded Exams and Presentations –FEB/MARCH & MAY/JUNE
UKA Tap, Jazz and Highland Exams – FEB and MAY
Classes due for exams and presentations will be notified by letter. Please adhere to the closing dates as late entries cannot be accepted under any circumstances.

Mrs Smith has returned from her maternity leave and looking forward to seeing everyone back in class. We said goodbye to Mrs Brown in our Galashiels branch at the end of last term. She has left to spend more time with her family. Mr Paterson has also left Galashiels on a Saturday but is staying to teach at Belgrave branch. We are delighted to announce that Miss McQuillan has returned to us and we welcome our new teacher Miss Common. Both of them will be at Galashiels on a Saturday.

As you will be aware the Queen’s Jubilee is celebrated this year and the School will be closed on Monday 4th June and Tuesday 5th June. Classes will be replaced on Monday 18th June and Tuesday 19th June at the end of the term.

The Junior Show is quickly approaching and further news will be issued with your tickets after the February break.

OFFICE
During the junior school show preparation the office will be working irregular hours. We would encourage the use of emails if you have difficulty in reaching us by phone.
Please only leave urgent messages on the answering machine and use the website for general information at this time.

TERM DATES
Spring Term commences Monday 9th January 2012.
Spring Term finishes week ending Saturday 31st March 2012.

The School will close for 1 week holiday in February from
Monday 13th – Saturday 18th February 2012 inclusive.

Summer Term commences Monday 16th April 2012.
Summer Term finishes Tuesday 19th June 2012.

NEWSLETTER AUTUMN 2011

2011-08-09T16:51:00.000-07:00

THE MANOR SCHOOL OF BALLET
NEWSLETTER AUTUMN 2011
Welcome back, we hope you have all had a good summer break and are looking forward to the year ahead.
This coming year is very exciting for us as we celebrate our 40th birthday in 2012. Look out for celebrations in the New Year.
First of all we would like to say well done to all our senior pupils who participated in the schools production of Bed knobs and Broomsticks.

In May the Galashiels branch performed in Galashiels Academy followed by the Edinburgh branches in the Churchill Theatre in June. The show was well attended at all performances and it was a great experience for everyone that took part.

Also during the summer some of our pupils were appearing in Glee at the Edinburgh Playhouse and well done to all of you who were successful in auditioning.
More shows are on the horizon for you to look out for Manor pupils and staff. The first is showcase at the Churchill Theatre in September. This is a variety show that raises money for Macmillan Cancer and well worth getting a ticket for.
Also coming up this term some of our students will be performing with the Royal Scottish National Orchestra in the popular Children’s Classic Concerts. These performances are held in the Royal Concert Hall in Glasgow and Edinburgh’s Usher Hall in December. Early booking is advised. Most important of all is our own Junior School show which will take place at Easter. More details will be announced during this term so look out for application forms.

STAFF NEWS
We are delighted to announce the birth of Mrs Smith’s son “Elliott” on the 16th July 2011. Both of them are doing very well. Mrs Smith is now on maternity leave but she hopes to return to teaching some classes in January.

Our congratulations go to Miss Nicholl who was married during the summer to Mr Calum Robertson. Please remember to call her Mrs Robertson.

Finally we welcome Mr Fraser Paterson to the teaching staff. Fraser comes to us with a wealth of dance experience and we are delighted he has come to join us. We welcome Fraser to our Galashiels branch for Jazz and Tap and to Edinburgh for Boys Ballet, Jazz and Tap and Scholars classes. He is looking forward to meeting you all in due course.
EXAMINATIONS

Well done to all the junior school pupils that took part in the UKA award tests at the end of last term. Certificates and Medals will be handed out in classes over the next few weeks. Also congratulations to all pupils who sat their RAD presentations and Examinations in June. More Exams are due before Christmas and those involved will be notified shortly.

SCOLARSHIPS

Due to the high number of returning scholars this year there will be a very limited number of places granted this term. Auditions will be held on Saturday 10th September at Belgrave. These are for Grade 4 (and 10 years) standard and above who study all subjects. It is designed for pupils with a keen interest in dance as a career. Application forms are available from class teachers and the closing date for entry is Thursday 8th September 2011.

OFFICE NEWS
The office will be open Monday, Tuesday and Friday from 9.30am – 12.30pm and Thursday from 12.30pm – 3.30pm. Please note the office is closed on a Wednesday. We do our best to answer the phone during these hours but we do appreciate your patience if your call is not answered straight away. If we don’t pick up the phone you can leave a message and someone will get back to you as soon as possible. We do encourage you to contact us by email at enquiries@manorschoolofballet.co.uk where we can respond to you in some cases out with office hours.

CLASS FEES AND APPLICATION FORMS

We would like to remind all parents that class fees are due before the start of the blocks. Invoices are sent out at least two weeks prior to the start of each block to allow time to pay your fees. As per the school’s terms and conditions fees are paid in advance to secure your child’s place in class. There is a significant cost to the school in chasing unpaid fees and from August 2011 we will be introducing a late payment fee on accounts that have not been paid within a reasonable timescale. (see class charges on the website)
We must also remind parents that closing dates on application forms are not changeable. The date we give as a closing date is the last given time that we can provide to meet our own deadlines. Any late forms will be refused so please read all correspondence carefully.
TERM DATES & BLOCKS

Term 1 – Monday 22nd August 2011 – Saturday 17th December 2011
October Holiday week – Monday 17th October – Saturday 22nd October 2011
Term 2 – Monday 9th January 2012 – Saturday 31st March 2012
February Holiday week – Monday 13th February – Saturday 18th February 2012
Term 3 – Monday 16th April 2012 – Saturday 16th June 2012.
Block Fees are due 22nd August 2011, 21st November 2011 and 12th March 2012

Bed Knobs and Broomsticks

2011-05-18T04:34:00.000-07:00

Looking forward to our up coming production of Bed Knobs and Broomsticks Info packs are now available for Edinburgh and Galashiels.

Edinburgh Info pack ( bedknobs and broomsticks )

Galashiels Info pack ( bed knobs and broomsticks )

NEW YEAR OFFER

2011-01-09T10:53:00.000-08:00

Introduce a friend to the school and receive £10 off your next set of fees.

Terms and Conditions

1. The new student must quote “New year offer” on initial enquiry, and state the pupils name to receive the discount.

2. Offer valid from 10^th January to 12^th February 2011

3. The new student must stay for one full block of classes for discount to apply.

Manor school of ballet - News letter Jan 2011

2010-12-20T07:59:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year and welcome back. We hope you have all enjoyed the festive holidays and are looking forward to the term ahead.
We would like to congratulate Mrs Alison Brown on the safe arrival of her baby boy Timothy born on the 16th December, both mum and baby are doing well. Mrs Brown will be on maternity leave until later in the term. Miss Charlotte Nicholl will be returning from her maternity leave in February and we are looking forward to her return.

The end of last year was extremely busy with exams & Presentations. Congratulations to all pupils who sat their RAD presentations, well done to the RAD exam pupils who all passed with distinction. Any parents days that were cancelled due to the adverse weather conditions will be made up on the second week of term at normal class times.

At the end of last term some of our Scholars took part in the Children’s Classic Concerts in Glasgow’s Royal Concert Hall and Edinburgh’s Usher Hall with the Royal Scottish National Orchestra. They performed to sell out performances and it was a great experience for the girls to dance with a live orchestra. Other scholars performed for us in Aladdin at Goldenacre’s Christmas Panto, despite the snow they managed to make the performances for the end of the run.

On the topic of extreme weather we had to close the school for the first time ever on the week of 29th November - 4th December 2010. This decision was not taken lightly and with safety in mind. We have been fortunate enough to secure staff and hall lettings to replace this week at the end of the summer term from 20th – 25th June 2011. We would like to point out that although we have been lucky enough to replace this week this time we cannot guarantee that this would always be the case if the same situation arose again.
It also proved extremely difficult to contact everyone despite the radio announcements and the message left on the answer machine. This has prompted us to update our website where you can now look at a blog which will contain current up to date information. The new website should be online this week and we hope you will find it more user friendly. There are timetable changes, new photos, up to date information and our new class charges for 2011 which will come into effect for Block 3, this is to incorporate ever increasing costs, rents and the national VAT increase. We would encourage you to visit the new website to view these changes and keep up to date with news in the school and therefore to be more environmentally friendly this will be the last paper Newsletter that we will be issuing unless you request a hard copy from the branch secretary/class teacher.

The senior school show this year has now been announced as Bedknob and Broomsticks. We will shortly be issuing more information and application forms however, dates and average costs are currently available on the website.

Some classes are due for RAD and UKA exams and relevant classes will be notified with dates and times in the next few weeks. Junior school Nursery, Primary 1 and 2 UKA award tests will take place in the summer term. As always with show and exam entries please remember no late entries will be accepted under any circumstances and only if class fees are up to date.

Term dates can now be found on the new website under timetables. We would like to draw to your attention the Easter holiday dates this year which may not run in line with your own region or school holidays. This is due to Easter being so late and every region taking different holidays; we have had to incorporate the Easter weekend and the Royal Wedding.

The current office hours are also available on the school website but we would like to remind you that it is not always possible to man the office during busy times and particularly around the show. We would like to introduce Pamela Phillips who will be helping out in the office on Thursdays but will largely be dealing with our private nurseries.

SHOW NEWSLETTER'S

BEDKNOB AND BROOMSTICKS
Once again in 2011 we will be producing our senior school show at the Churchill Theatre from the 6th – 11th June with a dress rehearsal on the 5th June.
This will be for Grade 2 classes through to advanced ballet and equivalent tap and jazz.
The following information is important and should be read carefully before you make a commitment for your son/daughter to take part in the show.
Each child will be invited to do performances on two nights and must be available from 6pm – 9.30pm (approx timings) on each of these nights and must be available to attend the dress rehearsal.
These attendances are essential and no exceptions for any reason can be made as this is now a health and safety ruling that has to be signed off by the stage manager.
Please think carefully about this before making a commitment as no refunds will be made after you have made your decision. We will try to keep costs to a minimum but as you will realise from your own experiences prices are already increasing on many items and the average costs are likely to be as follows.
Grades 2 + 3 Ballet £35.00
Grades 4 +5 Ballet £45.00
Junior Inter and above Ballet £50.00 – £60.00.
All Jazz and Tap will be between £8.00 - £12.00 (hire and cleaning)
These prices will provide a ballet costume with all accessories for your son/daughter to keep. All prices include administration costs to take part in the show. Any profit made is on ticket sales only and this is donated to local charities. It will be necessary to merge smaller classes to balance out the numbers at the performances and there will be some changes to the timetable to accommodate this and to cover the classes doing exam and presentation work.
Some further rehearsals on Sundays may also be required.
There will however be no cancelled classes for non show pupils until the week leading up to the show.
Can we remind parents that we are not allowed to have any adults that have not been disclosed by the Manor School of Ballet backstage at any time.
Tickets for the show will as always be limited but a DVD will be available to buy.
We would be grateful for any offers of sewing help as we will be trying hard to keep costs down and if you feel able to contribute in this way please email or write to the office and we will get in touch with you.
We hope that this allows you to make a decision about the show, which does of course offer a very special performance opportunity to your son/daughter. Regular attendance at classes will be important and performance and dress rehearsal attendance essential. Further show details are to follow and application forms will be available early in the New Year.

BEDKNOB AND BROOMSTICKS
GALASHIELS

Once again in 2011 we will be producing our senior school show in Galashiels Academy on the 29th May 2011 with a dress rehearsal on the 28th May 2011. This will be for Grade 2 classes through to advanced ballet and equivalent tap and jazz.
The following information is important and should be read carefully before you make a commitment for your son/daughter to take part in the show.
Each child will be invited to do two performances and must be available to attend the dress rehearsal. These attendances are essential and no exceptions for any reason can be made as this is now a health and safety ruling that has to be signed off by the stage manager.
Please think carefully about this before making a commitment as no refunds will be made after you have made your decision.
We will try to keep costs to a minimum but as you will realise from your own experiences prices are already increasing on many items and the average costs are likely to be as follows.
Grades 2 + 3 Ballet £35.00
Grades 4 +5 Ballet £45.00
Junior Inter and above Ballet £50.00 – £60.00.
All Jazz and Tap will be between £8.00 - £12.00 (hire and cleaning)

These prices will provide a ballet costume with all accessories for your son/daughter to keep. All prices include administration costs to take part in the show. Any profit made is on ticket sales only and this is donated to local charities.
It will be necessary to merge smaller classes to balance out the numbers at the performances and there will be some changes to the timetable to accommodate this and to cover the classes doing exam and presentation work. Some further rehearsals on Sundays may also be required. There will however be no cancelled classes for non show pupils until the week leading up to the show.
Can we remind parents that we are not allowed to have any adults that have not been disclosed by the Manor School of Ballet backstage at any time.
Tickets for the show will as always be limited but a DVD will be available to buy.
We would be grateful for any offers of sewing help as we will be trying hard to keep costs down and if you feel able to contribute in this way please email or write to the office and we will get in touch with you.
We hope that this allows you to make a decision about the show, which does of course offer a very special performance opportunity to your son/daughter. Regular attendance at classes will be important and performance and dress rehearsal attendance essential. Further show details are to follow and application forms will be available early in the New Year.