We hope that you are all safe and well.  Firstly, we would like to thank you all for your return to class forms, they have been invaluable to us in the planning of our new timetable.  The last week has been a rollercoaster with new guidelines announced regarding dance classes.  There have been all kinds of interpretation however for the time being Dance classes can only go ahead with 5 students and 1 teacher, this will be reviewed on September 13^th.  We have been in contact with government departments and other dance / stage schools regarding this and the rules are clear, a total of 6 per class.

At Kidkast we have been strictly following all guidelines in the interest of the safety of our students, staff and their families and we will continue to do so.  We are hopeful that dance classes will allow more students to take part again in mid-September and until there is any change we will operate a limited timetable.

We, along with other Performing Arts Educators, feel that classes are a controlled safe environment and measures we have put in place in the studios are as safe as can possibly be, and have had great endorsements from parents who have already attended classes.  We are also conscious that the building is welcoming, fun, and the environment that our students and parents have come to call their second home. We have posted a link to a petition for government to have our voices heard and get clearer guidelines for Stage/Dance Schools and would ask that all parents take a few minutes to complete this on our behalf. Please visit our Kidkast Facebook page to do this.

We are all too aware of the effect Covid has had on our students physical and mental well-being, and we feel it is essential that they get back to training as soon as possible and

• We will commence our classes on September 7^th in Drogheda (Collon to be announced)
• We will run a limited schedule to cater for the new rules of 6 in a class (5 students and 1 teacher).
• Booking will be done through the parent’s portal on sixtechsoftware.com and they will be on a first come first served basis. Sixtech allows for a waiting list to generate which is in chronological order. We will not be taking bookings by email or Facebook.
• We will delay the making available of the classes until Wednesday evening to allow for those parents unfamiliar with the portal to get in touch with us (email to info@kidkast.ie)
• Each class will have 5 students and 1 teacher.
• All classes are set to add you to a waiting list. We will populate each class. This will allow us to see if we need to schedule extra classes.
• The cost is €10 per class and will be €30 per class for the 3 weeks.
• We will run this timetable initially for 3 weeks with a view to returning to our new full timetable once Government guidelines allow. 
• Classes for the next 3 weeks will be limited to 2 hours per week per student and If spaces are available after the initial booking period, they will be offered to students on a first come first served basis.

Please see our updated Covid response document to include details of the 5:1 Ratio.  This is a working document and will be updated with any government guidelines as they happen. kidkast.ie/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/Covid-19-Return-To-Class-Policy.pdf

Regarding our full timetable, this is changed slightly from last year.  Class numbers are limited so extra classes have been arranged to allow us to cater for all returning students.  We will allocate places to students in the classes we feel are appropriate, based on age and level.  You can then access the parent’s portal and check that these classes/times are suitable for you, if not you can contact us to make other arrangements. We ask for your assistance in this and please be aware that some classes may not be on the same day as before. We have tried as best we can to stick as closely to the old timetable, however this has been an impossible task for some classes. We trust you will understand and work with us on this. We hope to publish the new timetable next week.

Please come back to us if you have any difficulty accessing the parent portal and would like to book classes for September.

Looking forward to seeing you soon.