How it started.
Ffion taught PE at a secondary school in the town for eleven years, and the first Halfpoint pupils came from the lunchtime tap club she started there. She rented a church hall in Fairfield on Saturday mornings and carried a crate of portable tap boards in and out every week. When the upper floor of Thornbury Works came up for rent, it had the one thing the hall never did: room for a proper dance floor that could stay down.
Halfpoint is named after the position between flat feet and full pointe, where most dancers spend most of their time. It is a good place to start, and the school is built around starting: small groups, a teacher who stays with a group all year, and a show each summer for anyone who wants a turn on stage.
There are now 3 teachers and classes five days a week in term time. The studio still has the mill’s brick walls and big windows, and the floor is still the best thing in the building.
Safeguarding and welfare
Looking after children.
Sample school policies, each with the general rule it rests on and the part of the UK that rule covers.
Signed in, signed out
Ffion Royle, our principal, is the school’s safeguarding lead. Children are signed in and out by a parent or carer at every class, and no child leaves with anyone the school has not been told about (sample school policy).
Checked teachers
Every teacher holds an enhanced DBS check (sample claim). General guidance, England and Wales: teaching children once a week or more is regulated activity, so a dance teacher can be asked for an enhanced DBS check with a children’s barred list check. In Scotland the equivalent check comes from Disclosure Scotland through the PVG scheme, and in Northern Ireland from AccessNI.
Photos and filming
We never photograph or film a child for the website or social media without a parent or carer’s written consent, and you can withdraw it at any time. Phones stay away in class; at the summer show the school films one recording for families (sample school policy). General guidance, UK: a photo or video in which a child can be identified is personal data under UK GDPR, so a school needs a lawful basis to use it. For a dance school’s own website and social media that basis is usually consent.
First aid
Every teacher is a trained first aider: Ffion, Lydia and Joel hold first aid certificates (sample claim).
Halfpoint Dance School, sample event
Wyecliffe Hall, Buxton (fictional venue)
Summer show
- Date
- Saturday 10 July
- 2027
- Matinee
- 2:15pm
- Evening
- 6:45pm
- Tickets
- £8
- Under 16s £5
Taking part is up to each pupil and family: some dance in every number, some come to watch, and both are fine. Dress rehearsal on Friday 9 July after school. Tickets go on sale to families in May.
General guidance, England: children who perform in a show may need a performance licence from their local council, unless an exemption applies, such as a Body of Persons Approval for the show, or a child performing on no more than four days in six months where no payment is made and no school is missed (Children and Young Persons Act 1963, section 37). Licensed children are looked after by chaperones approved by the council. Halfpoint checks with the council before every show and tells families what they need to sign (sample school policy).
Running order
- 01Ballet 5 to 7 Paper boats
- 02Tap 7 to 10 and 11 to 16 Station platform
- 03Acro 7 to 11 Ladders
- 04Ballet 8 to 12 and 13 to 17 A garden at night
- 05Street 9 to 13 and 14 to 17 Two crews, one corridor
- 06Adult tap with everyone Last number
What families say (sample reviews)
“Lydia knew Isla’s name before the floor work had finished. The Saturday class means I can do the big shop while she dances, which nobody else had thought of.”
“I last danced at primary school. Tap on a Tuesday night is the only part of the week my phone stays in my coat.”
“Arjun wanted something that was not football. He now talks about Joel’s routines all the way home and has made friends from three different schools.”
Come and try a lesson.
Choose a group below to start a trial request: a lesson from the next fortnight, then a reply from the teacher. Nothing is booked until they confirm it. The trial lesson is free.
- Ballet 5 to 7
- Ballet 8 to 12
- Ballet 13 to 17
- Tap 7 to 10
- Tap 11 to 16
- Adult tap18+
- Street 9 to 13
- Street 14 to 17
- Acro 7 to 11
Rather talk first? Call 01632 960 418