Another epic week has ended, and another begins! Term 2 is certainly keeping us on our toes. Firstly, a big thank you to all those who read our newsletter as it is our main source of weekly info, so we appreciate you all for taking the time to read it.

Happy Mother’s Day! To all of our mums, aunties, grandmas, we hope you had a fabulous day and were spoilt by your loved ones. Our thoughts also go out to those whose mums are no longer with us. They live on in our hearts.

Another busy week is ready to begin! The weather has certainly changed and it’s getting cooler at night, so it’s time to order those winter uniforms! Our winter range has been secured and we are excited to have some new items added to our selection for 2024. We have sourced quality items, made to last, and keep our cherubs nice and warm.

It’s been another week of successful stories from our students with news of our cherubs having success at auditions, in workshops and in their school performing arts communities. If you have any success stories, we’d love to feature them in our newsletter so don’t forget to send them in!

First and foremost, I must say thank you to everyone who has reached out with kind words and support as I take over as the sole owner of NAPA. After being partners for 18 years it will certainly be a big change for me, but I know I am not alone, as the NAPA family has always been such a great support. I must thank our amazing staff who have been fabulous throughout the transition and of course to my partner in crime Lynn, who started as my teacher and then became my business partner and most importantly my friend. We have created an amazing space that I am so proud of and I can’t wait to continue our legacy. Big shout out to Laurie who has always been such an amazing part of NAPA. From building sets to working on admin to everything else in between. I know you will be missed by many! We are sending all our love to you both for retirement and can’t wait to see all your travel updates!

WOW this is my last newsletter, it’s hard to believe! This is also the last newsletter for the term, so Kim will be taking on this task next term. I am feeling very sad to say goodbye to you all, but I will always be part of the NAPA family and support NAPA in any way I can. I look forward to attending as many of our shows as possible to continue to see our students’ development throughout their training here at NAPA and seeing where this journey takes them. Laurie and I wish to thank you all for the continued beautiful messages and gifts that have been sent to us since our retirement announcement, we feel very blessed to have you in our lives.

A big thank you to all who sent Laurie and I such heartfelt messages in response to our retirement email. Your words mean so much to us and we are extremely grateful to have received them. It is so hard to retire but we will never leave the NAPA family completely as we will continue to support our students and staff in any way we can.

This has been a big week of auditions for our Musical Theatre classes. This can be a stressful time for the students and often for parents in handling this part of a performance journey for their child. You may need to give a few pep talks to keep them positive, so I will include a few helpful hints in this newsletter.

We hope all of our cherubs have settled in well to their classes and our newbies are now feeling familiar with our procedures.  Only a few news items this week and a few reminders.

We hope you have had a great week. We have lots of congratulations this week. I would like to start off by wishing our wonderful creative media and publicity designer, Trina Power, all our best wishes as she ventures off to Uganda to photograph an orphanage and school over there for the next 2 weeks. She will also be going on a 3-day safari up the Nile River.  We all wish Trina a fabulous experience and congratulate her in being selected to do this incredible work. We’ll miss you Trina.

A fairly short news week this week now that students and parents are starting to get into class routines and operational procedures. Once again, we cannot stress enough that it’s so important for families to read the newsletter each week to ensure you are on top of things. This is our main form of communication.

We hope your child has had another great week at NAPA and that our new students are starting to settle in well. Parents, for all your support and sacrifices you make for your child to attend NAPA classes, rest assured you will be well rewarded when you see the development your child will make over the year. In the past, many parents have been so overwhelmed at the improvements made by their child, as seen in their performance on stage, it has brought tears to their eyes. We all love seeing those happy tears and the joy it brings families at the end of a show. Exciting times ahead. This newsletter is filled with achievements and opportunities you may want to also embrace.

I hope your children have had a fabulous first week of NAPA classes. Thank you to those of you who gave wonderful feedback on their child’s NAPA experience; it’s great to hear so many have found their happy place. First week can be very daunting for new students, especially the younger ones, but once they get into class routines, they can relax and embrace this amazing experience.

We are NAPA READY to start off on Monday for another year of incredible training and performances! May your child enjoy the NAPA experience that will bring them an abundance of joy and development in so many ways.

Happy 2024!

Our last week was a great week of celebrating all of our students’ accomplishments over the year and farewelling our 2023 graduates. We can’t thank our teachers enough for going above and beyond to ensure our children get the best teaching strategies to suit their needs and support them in productions, concerts and competitions. Thank you teachers for your talent, time and energy. Thank you parents for all your support of your children and NAPA. Your assistance in helping in so many areas in the work required to provide the experiences we do for our students, is greatly appreciated.

What a spectacular finish to our year of performances, with the magnificent performance of our Dance Concert, On Broadway! This upcoming week is all about celebrating and recognising our students’ for their great work over the year through our Awards evenings. All classes are now finished for the year.

We may be drawing close to the end of the year but there is still a lot happening here at NAPA. I will endeavour to make sure every detail is communicated clearly so no one misses out on anything – unless you don’t read the newsletter. Please also remember that events, dates, information etc are on our website. You can always refer to that. These final weeks are a time for our students to shine and sparkle, so this will be our theme for our awards ceremonies this year.

I am sure you are all very busy with your various end of the year functions and celebrations at work and with your family and friends. Of course, NAPA events will be on your calendars and a lot of information has been sent out in emails and the newsletter for you to get your head around. Although this is a busy time of the year, please take some time to ensure you read the information given to you, so that your child does not miss out on any of the requirements for the upcoming events.

It is with great sadness and a heavy heart that I need to inform you of the loss of our amazing NAPA Nan - Colleen Reynolds. Colleen, Miss Kim’s loving mum, has been an ever-present member of our NAPA family since our inception, 16 years ago. Her support has been incredible, not only for all the beautiful costumes she has made for our shows, raffle prizes and concerts, but for her love and support of all our staff and children. She has touched so many lives here at NAPA and her beautiful soul will always be remembered. Our condolences goes out to her husband Keith, her children, Robbie, David and Kim, and her grandchildren, Ethan, Evabella, Harrison and Claramina. Colleen, you will forever remain in our hearts, rest in peace dear friend.

So much joy and excitement is happening here at NAPA this week as everyone is preparing for the last performances and events for 2023.