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Newsletters: 2011 This page features the newsletters we have sent out so far in 2011: Newsletter 56 – September 2011 Term Dates Lessons start on 12th September and end on 9th December with half-term week commencing 24th October. Monday and Wednesday lessons have 11 weeks this term while Tuesday, Thursday and Friday have 12 lessons. Please make a note of the following dates when lessons will not take place: Wednesday 2nd November – no lessons at Cambridge as I am away so cannot teach Monday 14th November – no lessons at Stretham due to RAD exams Achievement Awards The winners for last term were Milli Delaney, Jade Impey, Lily Roberts-Anchor and Mia Fouracre. Well done to all of you and have a look at your photos on this website and also on the Samara Ballet Facebook page. Fees I have kept the fees the same for the coming term (although it’s a long term so bills appear higher as there are more weeks!) but they will rise slightly in January as it will then be 2 years since the last price rise. As some children are now attending extra lessons for ballet, tap and modern, I will be bringing in a new set of fees that allows for more discounts when you sign up for extra classes, which I hope will help to offset the increase for those that attend more than once a week. Exam Results Our exam session in July had some hard won results from a very tough examiner so well done to everyone – you really had to work for those marks! The next RAD exams will be on Monday 14th November and there will also be an IDTA exam session in December when we may even have our first Theatre Craft and Modern entries! Details will follow later in the term. Holiday Photos Thank you for the ‘ballet pose on holiday’ photos that you have sent in over the summer. The photo’s will shortly be loaded onto the website and facebook page but no names will be attached to any photo of any child. Last call for any more photo’s ......? Uniform Due to the rise in cotton prices, the cost of the current plum
leotards and cardigans have risen sharply this month and my supplier cannot guarantee that prices won’t rise
further! I have therefore decided to supply a new style of leotard which is very similar in colour to the existing
plum but a different material. This will be for all classes from age 2 upwards so the one leotard will be
available for all pupils, although seniors may still change to the existing black after grade 4. For boys, I can now supply a black boys ‘unitard’ which has either cycle short length trousers or a full length. The pink ballet cardigans used currently by the preschool children goes very well with the new leotards and is again much cheaper, so I am happy to provide the pink cardigan to all ages or optional black for the older children. I am also looking into some new black polo shirts with our school logo, similar to the current black sweatshirts, which may be preferable to the cardigans for older children. If this is something you may be interested in then please let me know. All existing uniform can be worn for as long as you like – if it takes 2 years to outgrow then that is fine and it will still be acceptable for all exams so please don’t think you need to change, but, I will no longer be supplying the old style. It will also mean I can reduce costs e.g. the old style plum cardigans were going to rise to £15 but the pink knitted type is £9 for all sizes. Sweatshirts are back in stock for the winter but I only have a limited number so if you think you may want one for Christmas presents etc please reserve one early. Modern & Theatre Craft The junior classes will make a start at learning some of the new work this term, alongside their ballet. I may change the timetable slightly in January to allow extra time in lessons but this term will be a trial to see how the children take to the work and how they cope with switching between styles. I think they will find it fun and will soon get used to swapping between ballet and modern, certainly the classes I trialled it with last term all enjoyed the experience! I’d be grateful for any feedback from the children after they get used to it! Christmas Yes I know it’s only September (!) but I do have the new
dancewear and gifts catalogue if anyone wants to order any Christmas presents, fancy dress costumes or gifts.
Also, the web site has a gifts section which has dance books and DVD’s for birthdays and Christmas
ideas. Newsletter 55 – May 2011 Term Dates Lessons start on 3rd May and end on 15th July with half-term week commencing 30th May. Thursday and Friday lessons have 10 weeks this term while Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday have 9 lessons. Please make a note of the following dates when lessons will not take place: Tuesday 14th June – no lessons at Downham } I am away for 2 days so cannot teach Wednesday 15th June – no lessons at Cambridge } Achievement Awards The winners for last term were Georgia Harlow, Abbie Richings, Sarah Lowe, Rachel Gook, Charlotte and Oliver Cunningham. Well done to all of you and have a look at your photos on this website. Fees There are no increases in fees again this term but it is likely that fees will rise slightly in September. My uniform supplier normally increases their prices in July so if you are looking to order new items it may be worth doing so early on in the term! Please could I ask that all fees are paid by the half-term holiday as requested on the invoice. At the end of last term I was still chasing 20 people for payment and I have to pay all my bills for hall hire, insurance etc at the start of term which makes cash flow very difficult! Also, please can you pay for uniform orders at the time of order as I have to pay ‘up front’ to buy the items and was chasing several missing payments over the Easter holidays for items bought in January!! Exam Results WOW is all I can say about the exam results from April. A staggering 81% of all entrants were awarded the top grade possible for their exam and 9 pupils were award individual marks of 90% or over! This was an excellent set of results so soon after the shows so thank you for working so hard. The next exam session will be in July and will be mainly for the senior grades; separate notes to follow to those it concerns. Charlotte’s Bursary Fund Charlotte’s Fund helps to provide financial support to families who need either short or long-term help with ballet fees, uniform or exam entry fees due to sudden loss of income and was set up in memory of Charlotte Walker, a pupil of the school who died aged just 9 years old. I will be organising 2 fundraising opportunities this term to ‘top up’ the fund. Firstly, as from next week, there will be a jar of sweets to ‘guess the number’ at 50p a guess which will continue until half term. In the second half of the term we will be having a ‘pink or purple dress up day’ (who can be the most outrageous ......probably the Friday Grade 5 ballet group?) and the date of this will follow in due course. Holiday Photos The holiday season approaches so here’s another challenge for you! I would like to have a wall of photo’s on the website and the school Facebook page of ballet poses from around the world. Who can come up with a photo of a ballet pose in an unusual setting? One senior is going to attempt a ballet pose on an elephant in Nepal...? But it doesn’t have to be an exotic location, just a fun photo, so an arabesque at the end of Cromer Pier or a balletic leap into the sea at Hunstanton is fine! A new pair of ballet shoes for the sender of the best photo. (Photo’s should be sent in digital format to info@samaraballet.co.uk and it is assumed that parents have given their permission for the photo to be included on the website and Facebook page. No names will be attached to any photo displayed on the website/Facebook and the school Facebook page is a closed page, fully regulated and only accessible by those currently attending the ballet school). I hope everyone enjoys this unusually short summer term and summer will be here before we know it! Half Term Newsletter – February 2011 Next week is half term so there are no lessons for evening classes or the day time Melodies and I would be grateful if any outstanding fees could be paid this week if at all possible please. Show Debrief Now that the final series of shows is over, I thought I would update everyone on the monies raised for the charities. The total cost of putting on all the performances was £5335.50 and the income was £5807.53 which makes a total profit of £472.03 which will be added to the Charlotte Walker Bursary Fund. The total raised at the raffles was £521.50 so RNLI received a cheque for £150 and Shooting Stars Children’s Hospice received £371.50. We have received two lovely letters of thanks which are here on the website if you would like to read them. Photos from the shows have been distributed but I have no further involvement with these beyond handing them out to you so please send any orders direct to the photographer and he will send prints direct to you. If anyone still wishes to order a DVD of either/both shows then please print the form off the website but I would urge you to do it as soon as possible. The DVD will not be ready for some time (although the Downham Market one is almost ready!) as Richard has a full time job to do so can only edit the various camera’s onto one DVD in his spare time. The finished DVD is always worth the wait and it would cost us twice the price to hire in a professional company to do the job for us. So far, it looks like a £98 profit will be generated from the
sale of DVD’s which will also go into the Charlotte Fund. Exams I have provisionally booked a day of exams for Monday 4th April at Littleport Village Hall with dress rehearsal on Sunday 27th March. This exam session is mainly for the younger children and festival competitors who may wish use their dances for medal tests as the higher grades have not yet had time to get back into grades work since the shows. I will send out details to possible exam candidates asap. I am looking for help on the exam days for anyone who is able to give up a few hours to work the music. No experience necessary, training will be given and £8 per hour paid for anyone who is available to help! Competitions and scholarships Congratulations to all the pupils who did such a fantastic job at the recent Anglian Festival. We won 6 firsts, 3 seconds, 3 thirds and a host of trophies so very proud of you all. We also did very well at the Sudbury Festival, winning another 6 firsts, 2 seconds and 2 thirds. You can see the winners' details here. Congratulations also to Freya Ahern who has been awarded the Samara Scholarship for 2011. Easter Holidays After Easter, some of the times of classes will be changing following the exam session but more details will follow in due course. The Easter holiday is a bit long this year due to the Royal Wedding, bank holidays etc. The final day of this term is 1st April and the new term will not start until Tuesday 3rd May. Newsletter 54 – January 2011 Welcome back and best wishes for the New Year! Term Dates Lessons start on 7th January and end on 1st April with half term week commencing 21st February. Stretham and Wicken have 10 weeks, Downham, Burwell, Ely and Cambridge branches have 11 weeks. Please make a note of the following dates when lessons will not take place: Friday 28th January – no lessons at Wicken due to stage
rehearsal at Bottisham It’s possible there may be a small exam session at the end of March which may mean another day cancelled but more details will follow. Achievement Awards The winners for last term were Laura Smith, Holly Marsden, Lauren Stanbridge, Hannah Frew, Yasmin Banks and Ellie Biswell. Well done to all of you and have a look at your photos on the website Fees There are no increases in fees again this term however some children have moved up from 15 minute to 30 minute tap classes and similarly some have moved to 45 or 60 minute ballet classes so this does increase your individual fees if you were in a shorter class last term. The Show By the time you are reading this, the Downham show will be a distant memory and the Bottisham show is looming up fast! Thank you again to everyone who worked so hard to put on the Downham Shows before Christmas. I do think it was one of the best we have done and from the comments I’ve received I think it was enjoyed by all. The parents were fantastic at bringing all the costumes back in the right bags which was a great help when I was sorting them out at home! The Bottisham shows take place in a few weeks and I do have plenty of tickets left for the 3rd show (5.30 pm on 30th January) and limited tickets for the other two so if you still need tickets please let me know asap. I’m afraid I still have a lot of blank spaces on my helpers’ board and this will mean that your children will not have the level of supervision that I really need to make the show run smoothly. Please can you try and sign up (or sign up grannie, big sister or dad!) as I do need the full number of helpers if possible. It is vitally important that everyone attends the Friday night rehearsal on the stage as this is the only chance to work on the dances prior to the dress rehearsal. I have slightly amended the times for the Friday rehearsal so please see the separate note attached. Show DVD / Photos The Downham show DVD will be available soon and a separate DVD will be available for the Bottisham shows as well as a discounted ‘double DVD’ for those in both shows. Order forms can be downloaded here; all DVDs must be pre-ordered as Richard only makes the exact number required. I will have spare copies of the order form with me in lessons for the next week or so. Proof photos will be handed out in lessons and any group photos will be circulated to those concerned. Please order any prints directly with the photographer as this keeps costs to a minimum. Changes! A new timetable for Wicken, Stretham and Cambridge will come
into effect in February and I’ll let you have the times by next week if at all possible. After some 18 years
it looks like we will be moving from Stretham Hall to Stretham Primary School in February as the floor at the hall
has just become too dangerous to dance on. I’m still in talks with Stretham School so can’t confirm details
for another week or so but the changes will really only affect Monday pupils as the response from my questionnaire
to the Wicken pupils was that 95% wanted to keep classes as they were on Fridays! I may be introducing a new
beginners tap class at Wicken in February and if you are interested them please let me know this week so I can plan
accordingly!
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