Thank you so much for your interest in our new Home Ed classes at Jazzy J’s. This has been a bit of a dream for a few years now and the time is right to give it a go now. I feel there is an increasing number of children who just can’t manage mainstream school and there is very little else available for them. These children deserve so much more than they are currently getting, they deserve to have the opportunity to learn independently away from home with peers of their own age, and they deserve to have the reasonable adjustments they need to make learning accessible to them. And they really really deserve to feel they can achieve, dream big and just go for it!!
About me and my background:
I have danced for as long as I can remember and at 18 attended The London College of Dance. I graduated in 2002 with a BA Hons degree, ISTD Teaching qualifications as well as 2 awards for outstanding teaching practice. I have since been a dance teacher for over 20 years and taught in many different settings. I am a mum to 3 girls aged 14,12 and 9 who (luckily for me) all love dancing. In 2012 when my children were tiny, I decided to go for my lifelong dream of opening my own dance school. We started lessons at Bilbrough village hall with about 8 children coming to our first ever lesson, fast forward 12 years and we have our own premises in Acomb with 2 purpose-built studios and over 240 children attending our lessons and a whole team of amazing teachers. We are all qualified members of the ISTD (Imperial society of teachers of dance) which means we can enter children for Dance exams.
Home Education Sessions at Jazzy J’s
Our home education sessions are designed for learning in small groups of about 5 or 6 children. Each group will rotate through different dance genres with 45-minute sessions per genre, with breaks in between. Sessions are planned from 10am-1pm, and the children can have lunch together if they wish. All classes will take place at our purpose-designed studio in Acomb.
Optional extras at Jazzy J’s
All of the below are optional and will be available to our home ed groups if they wish.
- Dance Exams and Performances: We conduct dance exams when students are ready and interested. Every two years, we host full-scale school shows – our most recent being ‘Mary Poppins’ in March. On alternate years, we organise a choreography competition where students create and perform their own dances. We are not a competitive school and we very much encourage the students to support each other and be there for each other. We use the choreography competition to also celebrate success over the year whether that be exam results or if someone has overcome massive barriers in their class or someone has supported their fellow students etc. We also share work we have done in our non-exam classes including commercial, musical theatre, acro and contemporary.
- Can You Dance Convention: Every October we go to the can you dance Convention in Liverpool… an absolute highlight every year – it’s so much fun!! The children get to perform on the main stage. Last year we took 7 children with additional needs, 3 of whom are currently unable to attend school – so we had 15 children go to the event and just under half have additional needs. We took ear defenders, we made exit plans we scheduled in breaks and basically did whatever was needed so all the kids could enjoy the day. We had such a blast!
- Holiday Activities: We organise summer schools, fun days, workshops with industry professionals, and social events. We also have end of term disco’s movie nights etc. The kids tend to make really lovely friendship groups because a lot of them are here so much, it’s like a 2nd home!
Practical Details for Home Ed sessions:
We understand that some weeks will be easier to attend than others for the children, however we need to make sure we cover costs on our side to make sure we can have the same staffing levels and continuity week in week out.
Cost: Sessions are priced at £40 each, spread over 12 months at £140 per month, with a one-month notice.
The price would be £40 per session – to help keep this more manageable we would spread the cost out over the year so you could pay £140 a month over 12 months with a month’s notice to be given if your child no longer wants to attend. We would not have any lessons during the school holidays. We will need a minimum number of students to make this work and to assure we can provide the right amount of teaching staff and support.
Trial lessons: We would like to offer a few trial sessions before we officially begin in September but we will be holding our trial sessions on Wednesday 12th June and Wednesday 17th July. 10:00 – 11:30. This will allow time for a class and to get to know the teachers and each other.
Planned start date for Home Ed Sessions:
As long as we have the right number of people signed up, we aim to start our Jazzy J’s Home Ed Sessions in September 2024.
Lessons we plan to offer
Ballet, Tap, Modern, Acro, Contemporary, Commercial, Drama and Singing. Our teachers are all highly qualified and members of the ISTD (Imperial Society of Teachers of Dance)
We would also like to offer art as well to go in between the practical lessons if the children wanted this. As an add on we plan to have a maths and English tutor – This would be an additional charge – price TBC.
Adult lessons: We are also able to offer classes for parents/carers at the same time as the Home Ed sessions. So for anyone interested in ballet, tap, contemporary, Dancefit, Stretch and Relax, and more, please let us know.
Trial sessions – how to sign up
If you would like to book onto our trial sessions on Wednesday 12th June and Wednesdsay 17th July from 10-11.30am please email us at hello@jazzyjs.co.uk to book your place.
We are excited about this new venture and look forward to welcoming you and your child into our dance community. Please don’t hesitate to reach out if you have any questions or wish to discuss further.
