Manor school of ballet - News letter Jan 2011
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
BEDKNOBS 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.
BEDKNOBS 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.