Saturday 27th February 2016 was the opening day of Kayleigh Carina Performing Arts School and it was time to put these big ideas into action and not only work on providing good, quality tuition, but to also start thinking about how we could spread the word and build our reputation. We needed structure and planning to work out where we wanted to take the school and I started to come up with schedules and lesson plans so we knew the exact route we were heading down.
Structuring and Class Content
Classes List
| Class | Duration | Price |
| Intermediate Ballet | 1 hour | £4.50 |
| Intermediate Tap | 1 hour | £4.50 |
| Cheerleading | 1 hour | £4.50 |
| Street | 1 hour | £4.50 |
| Acting | 1 hour | £5 |
| Mini Performers | 30 minutes | £3 |
| Primary Ballet | 30 minutes | £3 |
| Baby Ballet | 30 minutes | £3 |
| Theatre School | 3 hours | £12 |
We continued the same layout of classes from the previously run theatre school as this was something that all of the staff we used to. It was nice to keep consistency with the classes as all of the students from the previous school were transferring over and themselves and their parents already had their routine, as well as us, so the easiest thing was to keep the structure exactly the same as before.
Term Overview 2016
Saturday Theatre School
Term 1 - Storytelling - Learning what theatre is and how we tell a story through various theatrical mediums.
Term 2 - Rehearsing - Learning how to rehearse a full youth musical production.
Term 3 - Performing - Learning how to perform a full youth musical production.
Wednesday Acting Classes
Term 1 - Body Language, Emotions and Facial Expressions - Learning how to use our bodies, faces and emotions to convey what we are feeling to an audience.
Term 2- Character - Learning how to use body language, emotions and facial expressions to convey a character to an audience.
Term 3 - Scene Work and Script Writing - learning about what is important in a scene, what we need to include in a scene and how to write our very own scripts.
Termly lesson plan Example
Theatre School Rehearsal Schedules
I decided to implement a weekly rehearsal schedule for the Theatre School on a Saturday, beleiving this tool to be useful in preparing and building up a school. It is:
- Important for the teachers to know exactly what we are doing with the children and when.
- Important to create a journey of learning for the pupils and to aid progression.
- Important for the pupils to know what they will be learning about.
- Important for the parents to see what their child is being tutored in.
Structure of the schedule
Theatre School Schedule
The schedule includes:
The Kayleigh Carina banner as a heading.
The date next to the title to keep track of what we did and when
The topic of what we will be learning about and focusing on that term.
A lesson Objective so that we aim to achieve certain things and learn particular things by the end of the lesson.
A step by step lesson plan of what will be covered in order to see a prgression throughout the lesson and throughout the term. This includes the basic structure of a physical and vocal warm up, group games, break, main topic of the lesson and finally a theatre school drama pot which is a tool used to share something each individual has learnt that lesson and to throw it into an imaginary pot that we all throw up into the sky at the end.
An inspirational quote that relates to the topic. For example, Storytelling was the theme of Term 1 and below the schedule I included a quote from Walt Disney in Saving Mr Banks that says, "That's what stroytellers do. We restore order with imagination. We instil hope again and again."
Building Reputation
Creating a leaflet
The team had a meeting and discussed that we would create a starter leaflet for the school that we could distribute to anyone in the Leisure Centre who may be interested. I decided to use a theme of the Kayleigh Carina colours; Pink, Black and Blue. Over the terms it proved to be of great use, as there were a good number of interested parents who wanted some information.
The very first flyer
Community Learning Festival
Meant that we could speak to people about the school in the Leisure Centre itself and perform ourselves so that people could see the standard of professionals that could potentially teach their children. This was a great opportunity to hand out flyers to people and to speak to them about all that we offer. We had a chance to show our faces to the public and show our passion for the school in person.
Community Learning Flyer
Uniform
We were starting to create a brand and now we had the brand new logo and font we could begin to impliment a uniform which would not only show us as a professional school but would also enable us to make some profit for the school. It would also enable us to spread awareness of the brand and to truly present ourselves as a professional school.
The shirt with the logo with a name stitched underneath
End of Term Production
When Kayleigh told me we planned to complete a musical in three months I had a heart attack. How on earth can we do this?! I had never seen Joseph the musical before and I wasn't sure what it would be like to direct. There was alot of work to do. I couldn't believe how many songs were in Act Two to block and we had Act One to get through...and get through VERY speedily.
Rehearsals
Staff took turns to come up with blocking and would use the time in our own classes to put things together. eg. Go, Go Joseph became a cheerleading dance that people in the Cheerleading class would work on each week.
Would prepare blocking for the scenes every single week so that we were able to come in and stage straight away.
We would use this time to give notes and feeback so that the pupils could improve and think about their skills as performers.
We would take the time to play warm up games and undertake group exercises so that the company could bond and laugh together.
Performance
Inspection
- Kent County Council inspection gave us a GOOD rating for our first inspection. They had previously attended when the theatre school was run under the other name but the outcome of that inspection wasn't as successful. Now Kayleigh was incharge she co-operated with the children's entertainment team to ensure every safe guarding procedure was in place and that we were meeting all of the criteria. As specified in the report itself, we did incredibly well to gain a GOOD rating and plan to keep working with the Kent County Council in the future to make sure we progress even further and potentially acheive an OUTSTANDING level.
The Kent County Council report
Technical Aspects
- Made sure the children had a walk behind area to travel from one side of the stage to another.
- Making sure all the chaperones were in the right places and the right time.
- Making sure we discussed with the lighting and sound team at the Oasis Academy where all of the scene changes were and that we wanted certain points to have the multicoloured lighting to match the technicolour dreamcoat.
Radio Appearances
Kayleigh at BRFM
Kayleigh discussed the school and the staff unit as well as the show. She went into more detail about where the staff had come from and their performeing backgrounds, seeing as one of the big strengths of the school is having a set of staff that are all either trained or working professionals who know a great deal about their creative industry. This was the first radio appearance for the school so it was improtant that we worked as hard as we could in order to create a good impression. Kayleigh thought it would be useful to bring students, Abi and Ellie, along with her, so that they could talk about Joseph and their roles within the musical. Nothing speaks more than the student's opinions on the school so it was a great way of letting them speak and express why they like being taught at
Kayleigh Carina.
Myself at SheppeyFM
Julie from SheppeyFM had apparently asked for some leaflets from the Leisure Centre and seeing as the radio station was located right next door, I went round with some to give her. I ended up having a fabulous chat with her about potentially advertising Joseph and the school on the radio and spoke briefly to her about even having our very own show!! A week later I then took the opportunity to spontaneously make an appearance on the radio to advertise Joseph and the school itself on the radio to get us out there so much more. Bill, (the radio host), and I discussed the classes and prices and the event of Joseph which was happening that very weekend! It was a great last attempt at putting Joseph out there as well as encouraging people of all abilities to join us. In particular we talked about the ages we take, how we would love more boys to join and how we accept everyone including young people with disabilities. Speaking with Bill on the radio was such a great experience that myself and Kayleigh very much hope to go back and make regular radio appearances, giving regular updates about what's been happening and what other shows are coming up!
Myself with Bill from SheppeyFM
Newspaper Appearances
The newpaper article
By bringing in the newspaper, we were able to allow ourselves a great opporunity to access the entire Sheppey area and present ourselves as a new and vibrant school. It was not only a great advertisement for the show, but was the perfect opportunity to gain some exposure and a school that takes both boys and girls.
Rewards and End of Term/Show Presentation
Our end of show presentation awards were broken down into two specfic main awards; Star Awards and Teacher's Awards.
Star Card Awards
We brought in star cards in the second term, which were given to each individual child. This personal card provided them with an opportunity to earn and fill the card with star stickers for attendance and good behaviour and to build on how many stars they have.
Bronze, Silver and Gold for two pupils this encourages good attitude and worth ethic and for the children who did not receive an award, a chance for them to work on their development and develop an aspiration to improve and do better.
Teacher's Awards
For a particular pupil who has really stood out amongst the others in each teacher's class whether that be for great attitude, big improvements or just general hard work. Again, this rewards outstanding effort and behaviour at the school and pushes the children and ecouranges them to aim to gain their very own trophy!
Termly Newsletter
At the end of each term, Kayleigh compiled a newsletter to address the audience and update them about what has been happening and what we plan to happen for the upcoming term. This allows regular contact with parents and always shows that we will put ourselves out in informing them of everything important and consequently building great bonds.
All of these things have been so vital in building our reputation and have spurred us on to continue promoting ourselves in any was we can!
Instagram
