Dear Parents
Dear Parents
Thanks for helping your dancer get set up on Zoom for our classes. Our first zoom social and training information sessions have been wonderful. It has helped the Teachers feel so happy to see their students smiling faces and be able to share our excitement of continuing to teach them online. Our actual online dance classes will commence in Term 2 (presuming we are still isolated) and continue for as long as necessary until we can return to the studio.
In anticipation of Term 2 being online, we will be sending out an online booklet closer to Easter that will include
* Tips and “How to” for the best ways to view your teacher and online classes on Zoom
* Tips on Finding a safe dance place at home
* Child protection policies for online classes
* Online timetable and meeting links - you will also be able to access these from your customer portal
The ADV Teaching team are so passionate about keeping our students engaged, moving and creative during this time of isolation that we have prepared a huge amount to of bonus content for your dancer. These activities are totally optional but we hope it will give our students an idea of how much their teachers care about them! Don’t forget to keep an eye on our private Facebook group for ADV families https://www.facebook.com/groups/academyofdancevictoria/
TERM 2 AT ACADEMY OF DANCE VICTORIA
Term 2 will see one of the below options occur as we are set up and prepared for ALL options listed. We will confirm with all enrolled families by email in before the Easter weekend as to which option we are taking based on the rules in Victoria at that time and the consideration of everyone’s health.
Option 1. All our classes be live online via Zoom and can continue as long as needed that way. A new online dance class timetable will be emailed out to all enrolled students before Term 2. We are trying to keep the majority of online classes running after school hours.
Option 2. Our classes can re-open onsite if schools are open and there is no lockdown.
Option 3. Our classes can be both onsite AND live online if there is a mix of schools open and closed. We are keen to support parents decisions for either option.
If dance classes are online in Term 2 what will my dancer need?
Some classes will need the following
* Tap students will need a square piece of wood approx 2 meters by 1 metre ie chipboard or cheap wood from Bunnings (approx $20). They can then lay this wood on any surface such as carpet or tiles or wood to practise on and do class on so
* Ballet Extension students need the following items from Kmart: Fit ball (approx $10), Small ball ie from toy section that fits between their ankles.
* Ballet studnets grade 2 ballet and above - just need a chair they can use told onto as a barre
PLANNING FOR TERM 2 is ongoing. We are totally ready to go completely online IF NECESSARY
WHY ONLINE CLASSES?
* The online classes will give all children and teens the ability to continue their learning - we all feel this is really important to provide them with a sense of normalcy, security and routine.
* Fight home boredom, or inactivity with dance classes!
* Live and interactive means the children and teens can continue to socialise with their class and teacher in this time of isolation, great for mental health of all our students!
* ALL the ADV teachers want to keep the studio going and keep their contact with their students and keep the learning happening
* We don’t know how long this social isolation will go for - this way we are set up to run for however long we need to rather than the students having a long break
* In ADDITION to our live online classes - we will also be providing extra content to add value to all our students including
- Home practise tools, included pre-recorded videos,
- Recorded interviews with industry specialists dancers and choreographers and more for your students to access
- Home competitions
HOW ONLINE CLASSES WILL WORK
*A new revised class timetable will be sent to all families by email. Classes are being kept as close to after school as possible and all high school aged students are always after school hours. Pre-school students classes remain in the morning weekdays and Saturdays
* Families will also be sent an email with the links to their classes.
* Families will need to download the Free Zoom app on their computer (Microsoft or Mac), smart phone, iPad or television
* When it’s time for your class just enter the meeting link into Zoom and you will be given access to the class
* ALL classes will continue online. The only adjustment will be with two class styles and they are
- acrobatics classes: These will either not run or will run in a different format where content will be modified as we do not want students attempting unsafe skills at home without a teacher. Pointe work classes are also being discussed with staff regarding safety - but students will certainly continue their pointe preparation work given before they started pointe.
* Our live Preschool classes are very interactive and will keep our youngest students engaged and excited with LOTS of dancing, singing, stories and more! . Parents can join in or can take the time to do something else! We also totally understand if siblings that are not ADV students join on a pre-school class given that a home situation is different to our classroom enclosed space!
* Private singing lessons will continue also online with both Miss Eloise and Miss Taylah. We welcome Miss Eloise back after maternity leave and she has already started teaching again this week. There are additional private singing lessons class times available online
* In all classes Students can talk to the teacher and the teacher is able to focus on individual students for corrections as well as class corrections. And yes students can talk to each other although teachers can mute them where necessary
* A roll will be taken at the start of each class just like in our normal classes, however if a student misses class we can send them the recording as every class is automatically recorded on our studio iCloud.
* New students are also welcome and will be paying the same term fees to access our classes. Class sizes will continue to be capped.
* Parents of students who undertake private dance lessons will be contacted this week regarding those arrangements as there are a few options to consider.
* Tech support will be available from the ADV admin team for as much as we can offer during class times, we also have an IT consultant for ADV. The system is easy and simple to use and we have been trialling it for a few weeks now with no issues. Many parents may already be familiar with Zoom through their work places. On our end ADV is also using a paid subscription for the account so we have use of all their facilities and content rather than the simplified free version.
* Term 2 fees will need to be paid to receive access to online classes and studio classes.
Important to note - ADV Term 3 Events continue
* Our ADV movie will still go ahead and will be filmed at the end of term 2 or can be delayed into filming in early Term 3 if necessary. All content will be taught during term 2 either online or in the studio (which ever way we are operating). It is very fortunate we are doing a movie as our event as we can actually prepare for it very well with online classes!
* Ballet exams will still take place in the middle of Term 3 so it is very important that ballet students continue to train as there is still a huge amount of learning and perfecting to do. July holidays ballet exam training will still take place
* Tap exams will still take place in term 3 and again it’s very important for tap students to continue their training for these.
* Our solo students and competition teams will sill compete in the 2nd half of the year from July onward but must continue their term 2 training to do this
A SPECIAL NOTE FOR PARENTS
All the teachers and staff at ADV are fully aware of what a hard time this is for all our ADV families. Many of us are parents as well and trying to make the best decisions for our own children while still needing to work financially. We are hoping everyone can band together and continue to support ADV by continuing to send your students in Term 2 for both the online classes or in person as soon as we are able to. That way we will be supporting our teachers through this time and ADV as a small business. I also truly believe that our online classes really will be a hugely positive thing during this time of isolation for our children and teens and a great assistance and stimulator for their own mental health.
Can I help? A few super lovely parens have asked if they can help in anyway and my answer is YES - share our social media announcement of online classes to your friends and community groups. We are always able to start additional online classes if there is children stuck at home needing to be active and engaged.
Thank you for reading this full email!
We remain excited and positive about the future of at ADV - we can do so much together!