Dear NAPA Families,

Another great week of seeing happy faces around the studio with our cherubs loving their classes and learning new skills. We have had fantastic feedback from the teachers on how well their students are settling in. To all students who have started this week, a BIG WELCOME!

Respecting our Studio

At NAPA we like to create a family atmosphere as you can see by our games and lounge room in our pictures. Our students love to enjoy games and activity books while they wait for their classes to begin. The NAPA P&F are integral in helping to provide some of the comforts of home and we work hard to ensure the environment they train in, is well resourced, clean, comfortable and enjoyable. Our Studio Spirit encompasses the ethos we try to create. Respect is a big part of that, so I am seeking your help in getting the message out to all of our students that they respect their studio and the work we do in making it their home away from home. We have signage around the place that gives them indicators as to how to respect the studio but recently we have seen food scraps and empty containers left in the Lounge/Games room (even though food is banned in there), toilet paper left on the floor, chewing gum in the carpet that needed to be cut out, hand prints all over the mirrors, and sadly we just bought a new sofa for the area outside the dance room and someone has jumped on the back of it and broken it – it wasn’t even a week old. To keep fees low, Laurie, Kim and I do the cleaning every week, so it is disheartening to see first-hand the lack of respect for the work we do in creating such a comfortable environment. I am sure as parents you often experience the same at home, but we would appreciate it if you can remind your child to show respect for our studio by doing the following:

No food or drinks (except water) in studios or in the games/lounge room
All bags to be kept on the shelves provided, do not block access pathways
All games to be packed away when finished and stored neatly in the games cupboard
No feet on furniture, which includes jumping on lounges
Pick up anything dropped and put in bins provided
Keep toilets clean (cleaning items are in bathrooms to use when required)
Chewing gum is banned
Hands off mirrors and windows

NAPA College students are off to camp!

Our College students will be going camping this week to participate in a program run by the Tallebudgera Outdoor and Environmental Education Centre. As performers, it is just as important to be mentally prepared as to be well trained technically. This camp experience is designed to create positive change in the lives of young people, so we see this is an integral part of their training and a great way to prepare them for their year of challenges.

Circus Rio Spectacular - Leadership Rewards

This group has kindly provided us with Certificates to give to our students who have displayed excellent leadership skills. The certificate comes with a free ticket to the circus being held between the 26 March and 25 April. As we only have a few to give out, we are going to be observing and selecting these students from our Acro and Broadway Kids classes as this prize will particularly align with their training.

Grooming requirements for all students

Thank you for the uniform orders, these have been processed. I will inform you when they arrive for pick up. The Dance Wear will probably be the beginning of April but the Basic Range should only take a couple of weeks. As well as uniforms, good grooming forms a strong part of the etiquette for dancers and actors. Messy hair can greatly affect your child’s participation in class. For actors we want to see every expression on their face and for dancers it is hard to concentrate on a tricky turning step whilst your hair is flicking across your face and eyes! Good grooming also allows the teacher to observe the line of the head and neck, all important aspects of good training in posture and alignment. Teachers have been a bit frustrated with the amount of children attending classes with their hair falling all over their faces and have asked me to remind you all that hair must be off the face (including boys) for all classes. For dance, hair should be in a neat ponytail, braids, plaits, bun etc.

For Ballet, hair must be in a neat bun at all times. Please use bobby pins and a hairnet to secure - no messy buns. If your child has several classes on one day, including ballet, their hair needs to be done at the beginning of the day for ballet. Navy velvet bun ribbon optional for class but compulsory for exams. See picture below.