limelight news from elmhurst APRIL 2015

Patron HRH The Duchess of Cornwall highlights EXCELLENT top class! INSPECTION Independent School’s Inspectorate REPORT finds Elmhurst is achieving excellence in learning and dance. page 03 ANNUAL CHOREOGRAPHY COMPETITION

page 06 REP SUMMER SHOWS

page 07 GRADUATE SHOWCASE live dance learn

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limelight APRIL 2015 01 message from the Principal Jessica Wheeler

Welcome, this term has been wonderfully busy Our Summer Shows at the REP and 10th Anniversary with good news at every turn. Gala Performance are swiftly coming up and tickets are selling fast so please don’t miss out on what promises We are delighted with our recent ISI inspection to be a wonderful variety of performances, you can read report. The inspection was a huge success more about our upcoming performances on page 4 and 7. with inspectors finding the quality of the Artistically and academically this term has been highly students’ achievements and learning to be successful with students performing at the Spring excellent, their achievement in dance to be Celebration Showcase, page 5, and Matthew Bourne’s exceptional with talents reaching levels of Edward Scissorhands Curtain Raiser, page 8, topped achievement far above their age group with fantastic maths results, page 12 and English trips, page 11. expectations. It was found that the school achieved a level of excellence in all aspects. I really hope you enjoy reading our latest news and, last I would like to take this opportunity to but not least, wish you all a very Happy Easter! express my gratitude to the students for their continuous hard work, commitment and maturity; to the staff for their diligence and to Jessica Wheeler you, the parents, for your on-going support. Principal

Year 4 students from Colmore School visited Elmhurst for the Graduate Showcase

limelight APRIL 2015 02 elmhurst10 CELEBRATING 10 YEARS IN BIRMINGHAM excellentElmhurst is Not only is Birmingham home to a world class company but it is now firmly established as the place for young dancers to come for their training and education. Elmhurst School for Dance’s innovative programme of top class dance training combined with the development of a robust and resilient approach to a dance career has been acclaimed by ISI, the body that inspects independent schools.

Inspectors who recently visited the school highlighted Continuous hard work and the school’s success in promoting its ‘Live, Dance, commitment Learn’ holistic approach to the education and training has resulted of young dancers. They found not only that that the in a fantastic students’ achievement in dance was “exceptional” but inspection that they also demonstrated “excellent knowledge, skills report for Elmhurst and understanding in their academic studies”. A winning combination for the stars of the future! As our 10th Anniversary year of being located in “I am delighted that inspectors have noted Birmingham and with such successful inspection that Elmhurst is not only a school full of outcomes we have a lot to celebrate! exceptionally talented young dancers but a school that is forging ahead with excellent progress in all aspects of the student’s lives. We aim to be at the forefront of modern approaches to preparing dancers for their future careers; where exceptional dance training is matched with excellence { in academic rigour and bespoke dance- { related health and wellbeing programmes.” Jessica Wheeler Principal limelight APRIL 2015 03 elmhurst10 CELEBRATING 10 YEARS IN BIRMINGHAM 10th anniversary campaign

Elmhurst is the only purpose-built vocational We are forging ahead with the Health and Wellbeing dance school in Europe. However, we have been Centre plans and anticipate that building works will at our present site for ten years and we need to commence on site in July 2015. The build phase develop our facilities in line with current thinking is estimated to take approximately 4 months and regarding health, well-being and injury prevention. therefore plans will be in place for interim medical care to support Elmhurst students on their return in We have, therefore, decided to expand the Medical Centre September. Further information will follow later in the and to create an outdoor space where students can summer term. play sports and games. In addition, we will develop an Elmhurst Investment in Excellence Fund to support our bursary programme. The total cost of these initiatives will be £1,000,000, of which we have raised over £200,000 for the Health and Well-Being Centre and £100,000 for the Investment in Excellence Fund, while the Friends of Elmhurst have kindly raised £25,000 towards an outdoor Multi-Use Games Area. If you would like any further information or if you would like to support any of these initiatives, please contact Guy Oddy, Fundraising and Development Officer: Elmhurst Health and Well-Being Centre [email protected]

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10 fundraising gala performance Don’t forget as part of the 10th Anniversary Celebrations Of course, no Gala performance would be complete without at Elmhurst, the 10th Anniversary Fundraising Gala Elmhurst’s trade mark Grand Défilé featuring the entire performance will be held on Thursday 9th July in Elmhurst’s student body. theatre. The performance will include the first two acts of Elmhurst’s Principal, Jessica Wheeler, and Artistic Director, the REP Summer Show Programme and a special farewell Robert Parker, would be delighted if you could join us. performance by our Graduate students, followed by a Tickets are going fast - it is a night not to miss! performance featuring two Principal Dancers, accompanied by Elmhurst students. For booking details please contact Jennifer Sharp at [email protected] limelight APRIL 2015 04 SPRING CELEBRATION SHOWCASE REVIEW dance Elmhurst School for Dance was privileged to join School, Central School of Ballet and School to celebrate the very best of British Ballet training on the stage of the Linbury Theatre. The students came together to demonstrate to the audience highlights from their onstage masterclass led by special guest Patrick Armand, Associate Director of School, teacher and coach of the Prix de Lausanne and ex- Principal dancer at English National Ballet and . Each of the schools then performed two or three pieces showcasing the distinctive repertoire of their training and their school’s profile. Elmhurst’s Sixth Form students demonstrated versatility and a breadth of dance styles including; an energetic, dynamic rendition of Dance of the Argonauts the opening section from David Bintley’s Orpheus Suite; William Forsythe’s Second Detail which they performed with passion and maturity; and finallyTransito a first creation byAna Garcia combining and Flamenco. The conclusion of the evening saw all four schools perform in an exclusive joint new choreography by Mikaela Polley, Rehearsal Director at Rambert and former dancer with Birmingham Royal Ballet, set to a specially commissioned score by renowned composer and pianist Philip Feeney. It was a memorable evening and enjoyment was had by all. Many thanks to all involved and congratulations to all students who performed.

a passion for dance... costume fittings with brb for the graduate showcase

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limelight APRIL 2015 05 annual ballet appraisals dance Guest adjudicators for this year’s annual ballet appraisals were Desmond Kelly OBE, Artistic Advisor, Brandon Lawrence, Birmingham Royal Ballet, First Artist, Ana Albutashvili, Birmingham Royal Ballet Artist. The students did very well and adjudicators were impressed by the standard of the school.

annual choreography competition

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This year’s Choreographic Competition was an evening progression and musicality. The Upper School Judges’ to remember, enjoyed enthusiastically by the Friends Award and Audience Award went to the particularly of Elmhurst and other guests. Guest adjudicators Lisa striking Der Platz choreographed by Katya Gray, Year 12. Hood, International Dance Artist and Choreographic Unfortunately David Bintley was unable to attend due to Assistant for numerous companies in the UK and Europe, work commitments and sent his apologies however in his and Daniela Cardim, Company Manager and Resident place; the prestigious David Bintley Choreographic Prize Choreographer of New English Ballet Theatre, London, was presented by Denis Bonner, Dance Notator and had a tough job on their hands. The Lower School Répétiteur of Birmingham Royal Ballet, to Jade Wallace, Judges’ Award and Audience Award went to Insanity Year 12, for her beautiful classical piece Accentus. All the choreographed by Abbi-Mae Nielson, Year 9, it was Judges thoroughly enjoyed the competition remarking on noted for its strong development. The piece Alone by how talented the Students are and encouraged them to Darcey Allen, Year 8, received a commendation for its seize every choreographic opportunity they can.

limelight APRIL 2015 06 10th anniversary summer shows

Thursday 2nd July 2015 Friday 3rd July 2015 Saturday 4th July 2015 The REP, Birmingham Tickets £12.50 – £25

Our Summer Show performances at the REP theatre Professionally staged by the Birmingham Royal Ballet Birmingham are coming up! Join Elmhurst at an exciting time production team in partnership with the REP; the programme in its history; celebrating 10 successful years in Birmingham. is an exciting amalgamation of tradition and innovation mirroring the message of the School’s 10th Anniversary; Showcasing the vast talents of students aged 11-19 years, reflecting the past, celebrating the present and looking including final year students who are about to graduate into forward to the future. These are nights not to be missed! dance companies around the world and children aged 8-11 years from the Elmhurst Associate Programme in Birmingham. General Sale: 23rd March Performances will include specially commissioned works by For more information visit Birmingham based contemporary Choreographer/Director Corey Baker, Carlos Pons Guerra and Birmingham Royal birmingham-rep.co.uk Ballet’s Ruth Brill. To purchase tickets call The performances, which embrace everything from The REP box office on 0121 236 4455 Flamenco to Jazz and Ballet; include the exceptional Act 3 of Sir Peter Wright’s celebrated production of Coppélia. The REP Box Office: Broad Street, Birmingham B1 2EP limelight APRIL 2015 07 curtain raiser at dance edward scizzorhands birmingham hippodrome

Matthew Bourne’s magical production of Edward Scissorhands came to the stage of Birmingham Hippodrome earlier this year “The experience of dancing on the with a few of our Year 7 and 8 Students performing at the Curtain Hippodrome stage was exhilarating. The Raiser. Performing on the main stage to a packed Hippodrome production meant a lot to me as this was theatre, working with a variety of choreographers and dancers it my first time dancing on a big stage. was a fantastic opportunity for our Students who embraced it whole Performing with a large company and heartedly and we couldn’t be prouder. seeing some of the dancers warming up on stage gave me an insight into the life of a dancer. Working with other “Firstly, I would just like to say a huge thank dancers a little bit older than me made you for giving me this amazing experience. me feel at ease; they were easy to talk Working in the company was exhilarating! I to and became great friends. The young particularly enjoyed working with Laura, my choreographers gave a whole new vibe choreographer, and how we could put out to the curtain raiser as they added some own little twist on the character. 21st Century moves and some modern The Hippodrome was an amazing theatre to day features as well as contemporary perform at and the satisfaction of finishing dance instead of ballet. Claire and Paul the performance and hearing the applause of were amazing directors and they were { the audience was just incredible. The whole { both great to work with. I wish I could do experience has made me want to become a the whole experience all over again.” professional dancer even more!” Lauren Goodwin Cameron-James Bailey Year 8 Student Year 8 Student elmhurst associates The Elmhurst Associate Programme provides classical ballet training for young people (aged 8-11 years) in Birmingham, Manchester, Sunderland and Plymouth. We are happy to announce that, after another successful year under the direction of Denise Whiteman, we have secured funding for this programme to develop further next year. limelight APRIL 2015 08 Year 4 students from Colmore School visited Elmhurst dance graduate for the Graduate Showcase showcase Our Graduate Students impressed again with their Graduate Showcase proving their diverse talents with passion and maturity, not only as dancers but also with the organisation and administrative aspects of the show, the performances were a great success. They performed for a range of audiences from parents and fellow students to visiting Artistic Directors to Year 4 students from Colmore Junior School but always with incredibly positive feedback. The Year 4 students were even spotted twirling round Elmhurst’s foyer trying to copy our students! Congratulations to our Graduate Year for another brilliant showcase.

bbc young dancer competition BBC Young Dancer Competition is a wonderful chance to Young Dancer Ballet finals. Hamish had been working celebrate the many good things that young dancers bring with David Bintley, Artistic Director of Birmingham Royal with them as they approach the professional dance world: Ballet, Robert Parker, Artistic Director at Elmhurst, and drive, talent, hard work, perseverance and most of all, a giving interviews for the BBC on top of his regular dance fresh and enquiring approach to dance. Elmhurst School and academic classes. He worked incredibly hard and we for Dance is proud of Sixth Form student Hamish Scott, wish him many congratulations for reaching the finals. a very talented, passionate dancer who reached the BBC

limelight APRIL 2015 09 “Wonderful day watching the graduates at Elmhurst School for Dance, everyone artistic should be very proud of themselves. Thank you so much for inviting us – always a pleasure to visit Elmhurst. The director’s day { work the school is doing is wonderful.” { Due to the success of previous years, the school once Chantry Dance Company again hosted an Artistic Director’s Day at the school and invited prominent directors from ballet companies to adjudicate the Graduate Contemporary and Ballet appraisals. The following directors attended; Sharon Watson, Phoenix Dance Company; Ronald Savkovic, National Ballet of Croatia; Marco Batti, Balletto di Siena; Darius James, Ballet Cymru; Ruth Till MBE, Ballet Cymru; Cassa Pancho MBE, Ballet Black; Paul Chantry, Chantry Dance Company; Rae Piper, Chantry Dance Company. They were all highly impressed with the standards of the school and we are extremely grateful to them for giving up their precious time to be here. As a thank you, they were invited by the graduates to watch a condensed version of Artistic Directors Sharon Watson and Ronald Savkovic their Showcase performance. unveil plaques to celebrate 10

fundraising and new term development arrangements Elmhurst would like to thank all our funders and Dear Parents & Guardians, supporters for their support during the first two terms of the 2014/15 academic year. During this time, we have Please see the schedule below for the return of students raised £100,000 for a number of large projects, such as: at the start of the summer term on Sunday 12th April student bursaries; the Elmhurst Associate Programme; 2015. We would be grateful if you would keep to the and initiatives to celebrate the tenth anniversary of published times to ease congestion with our limited Elmhurst in Birmingham. parking. lower school – sunday 12th april 2015 Years 8 and 10 please return to your Boarding Houses between 2.30pm and 3.30pm bursary fund Years 7, 9 and 11 please return to your Boarding Elmhurst’s bursary fund presently helps a number of Houses between 4.00pm and 5.00pm Sixth Form students who struggle with the costs of their training. Securing financial support for our students the elms – sunday 12th april 2015 has always been a priority for Elmhurst and funding Please return between 2.00pm and 6.00pm from grant-making trusts and foundations has become If you are travelling long distance and arriving later please essential, as we have been told to expect further cuts in let the house staff know. Department for Education funding and this is a trend that will continue. Please note that supper will be provided for all students in the Bistro between 6pm and 6.30pm.

limelight APRIL 2015 10 a horrifying day out! learn At the beginning of March the Year 11 students were treated to a horrific day out in London; but it was as expected since the English department had arranged a trip to see the West End production of Susan Hill’s The Woman in Black, a GCSE Literature examination text. The experience was fantastic – truly frightening in places leading to several students crying out in startled fear at various points, and the denouement was genuinely chilling. For those few students who hadn’t quite got round to finishing the book, it served as a very useful means of comprehending Hill’s use of ominous signs and foreshadowing; for all the others, who had actually done their homework, it was a highly effective performance that reinforced their understanding. We hope to see the full benefits of this excursion when the Literature results come out in August. Well done to the Year 11 students for their impeccable behaviour and to Mrs Lester for organising the trip.

drop everything and read On Friday 13th March Elmhurst held what is known as a ‘Drop Everything And Read’ (DEAR) session across the school. Pupils and teachers were asked to bring in a reading book and spend at least 10 minutes in silent communal reading, whether in a classroom or studio. This was in LEARNING at elmhurst... recognition of the recent World Book Day and also to stress STUDENTS WATCH THE SOLAR ECLIPSE ON PAPER the importance of reading generally: for example, reading widely and often is proven to increase exam performance in all subjects. As well, of course, as aiding so much else – things like mindfulness, emotional wellbeing and general happiness, too. This event will also be part of a wider campaign to promote reading. Teachers and students are being asked to come up with suggestions for new Library titles and members of staff are also writing short pieces on the books they are currently reading to foster more discussion about reading habits. For further information about suggested titles for different year groups or advice on how to develop good readers, please contact Mr Puzey. limelight APRIL 2015 11 mr sambhi’s half termly Maths challenge learn easter PUZZLE: Mr Sambhi celebrated ‘The only Pi Day of our lives’ on March 14th according to the American date system 3/14/15 at 9:26 53s. In celebration of this day here is a problem for you to try involving pi. If a piece of rope is laid around the equator of the earth, and another piece held exactly 1 metre above it all the way round, how much longer is the second piece? Solutions from Parents and Guardians are more than welcome. Please hand your solutions to Mr Sambhi at school or email at: [email protected] The winner will be announced in the next newsletter and will receive a mystery prize. solution to FEBRUARY puzzle Thank you to all the parents and students that entered the February Challenge. Congratulations to Bethany Waterhouse in Year 8 who won! Please collect your mystery prize from Mr Sambhi. solution: Since Mr Sambhi won 4 games, Mrs Howard lost 4 cooking at elmhurst... games for which she was awarded 4 points. STUDENTS learn how to make sushi So the number of games she won is (10 – 4) ÷ 2 = 3. Therefore, they played 7 games in total.

MATHS CHAMPIONS Huge congratulations to our Year nine and ten students, all of whom sat the mathematics Edexcel Award in Number and Measure with some of them also taking the Edexcel Award in Statistics. As small stand-alone qualifications, designed to help students develop proficiency in these areas of maths and roughly half the size of a GCSE, they fit around the existing mathematics programme to help students progress to GCSE and A-level standards. Split into a pass or fail result, our students’ marks were incredibly impressive with over 90% achieving passes. Well done to all our students and Mr Sambhi, teacher in charge of mathematics, for these outstanding results.

limelight APRIL 2015 12 staff news leadership update Farewell... Anya Goodman has successfully been appointed to We are delighted to inform you that Sarah Evans OBE will become a teaching assistant at St George Atherton’s become Acting Principal covering the Principal’s maternity Primary School to embark on her Graduate Teacher leave from September 2015. Programme starting on 13th April 2015. As you may know she will be marrying this summer and so this is a wonderful Former Head of King Edward V1 High School for Girls, start to married life relocating near to Manchester. We a leading independent school in Birmingham and before will be very sad to see Anya leave as she has been a that, Head of a co-educational boarding school in dedicated colleague working in the pastoral team in Saffron Walden, Sarah Evans has chaired a number of boarding and in the med centre for the past 8 years. We national education committees including establishing as wish her every success for the future in work and marriage! an independent company and chairing the Independent Schools’ Teacher Induction Panel. She now chairs the John SireShuk, Pianist, took the decision to leave National Induction Panel for Teachers in Academies and Elmhurst to pursue other opportunities this term after nine Free Schools and works as an educational consultant years of working as a pianist at Elmhurst. I know you will advising governing bodies on senior leadership join us in wishing him every success. appointments and leadership training. Sarah has been a governor at Elmhurst for about seven welcome... years and is passionate about its work and the experiences Lee Jones joined the Elmhurst Support Team in March of its students. 2015 as IT & Facilities Technician. Lee has an IT CertHE ‘It will be wonderful to help steer the school along the in IT and has worked as an IT/AV technician in IT Client exciting channels that Jessica has set it’, Sarah says.‘I am Services at Halesowen College for the past two years. very much looking forward to getting to know the students Nola Mardenborough will be working in Hetherington and parents and really hope my experience in the field of House as Assistant House Parent and as Medical Centre education can be of value to Elmhurst’. Administrator for the summer term 2015. Nola has Sarah has been awarded the Tatler Award for Best experience of working at Elmhurst as she worked in Park Headmistress of a Public School, an IoD Midlands House in 2013. Leadership Award and an OBE for Services to Education in Through our partnership with Professor Matt Wyon and the January 2014 Honours List. Wolverhampton University we are very pleased that as of We feel lucky that we will have someone so experienced September 2015 Nico Kolokythas will join the Elmhurst looking after the school alongside the Senior Leadership Health & Wellbeing Team as a Strength and Conditioning Team during Jessica Wheeler’s maternity leave. Coach PHD Fellow. Nico will work closely with the Health and Wellbeing and Dance teams. This is a great There has been a further leadership development and we opportunity to enhance the fitness provision for students are very pleased to let you know that Peter Hawksworth, at Elmhurst to devise bespoke programmes in conjunction Vice Principal, has recently been appointed as the Head with dance and physio colleagues and continue our Teacher at Queen’s Croft High School, Lichfield. He will excellent injury prevention work. This development will add take up this post in September 2015. I am sure you will, further to our already established centre of excellence for like us, have mixed feelings about this. We are sad to lose Health and Wellbeing for developing dancers. Peter from Elmhurst as he has had such a positive impact in the short time he has been at the school, but delighted Barney Griffin is working in the Science department until that he has secured his first Headship and will be working June 2015 as a trainee Science teacher from Newman much closer to home. We will be working hard to make University. appropriate arrangements for covering the Vice Principal We wish all of our new colleagues a very warm welcome to role in the interim period from September 2015 whilst we the Elmhurst community. look to make a permanent appointment. limelight APRIL 2015 13 forthcoming events spring April Friday 24 Performance at Lichfield Cathedral summer May Sunday 10 CDET Dance Careers Day June Wednesday 3 Official Opening of the Elms Saturday 13 New student induction day Monday 22 Art exhibition July Thursday 2 – Friday 3 Summer Shows at The REP Thursday 9 Fundraising Gala at Elmhurst August Sunday 2 – Saturday 8 Upper School Summer School Wednesday 26 – Thursday 28 Lower School Summer School

Look out for the next edition of limelight in MAY

elmhurst www.elmhurstdance.co.uk IN ASSOCIATION WITH BIRMINGHAM ROYAL BALLET 14