music

Dance/drama/music/arts, Beeston, Tuesday afternoons

Date: Tuesday afternoons from September 2017.

Time: 1.30pm to 2.30pm, with possibility of dividing the older ones into a separate group at 2.30pm if/when the group gets big.

Venue: Manor Arts at The Manor House, 2 Middle Street, Beeston, NG9 1FX.

Area: Near the main Beeston tram & bus stop interchange.

Organiser: Catherine Chivers, catherinechivers at gmail dot com.

Age range: 5 to 12 approx (6 to 10 at time of writing) for this group, which is specifically for home edders. Catherine also runs other drama groups for young people, to which a few home ed children aged around 10 to 12 are already going.

Price: £5 per session.

Booking: Pay as you go. Probably best to email first if you’re new, so Catherine knows to expect you.

Manor Arts web page.

Manor Arts Facebook page.

Dance, Drama, Art, Music, Literacy – script writing, performance poetry etc.

I am a very experienced Primary teacher with specialist expertise in Dance and Drama. I have worked a lot with children and adults with learning disabilities, ASD and confidence issues. I am very calm and caring teacher and always endeavour to bring out the best in people.

If parents would like this session to run in conjunction with a support group for them I am happy for Manor Arts to provide the venue for this and you would be welcome to make use of tea/coffee making facilities and meet together whilst your children enjoy their time together being creative! I can very easily incorporate Science/History themes into creative sessions too! If there is enough interest I can run a group for older children 2.30-3.30.

I have an enhanced DBS and Public Liability Insurance.

Do get in touch if you would be interested in this exciting new venture.

Access info:

Wheelchair accessible and large toilet. There is gravel on the drive but I have a lot of people with pushchairs using the venue and they are fine. I can arrange parking at Falcon House Nursing Home next door for wheelchair users. Children with autism or learning disabilities most welcome.

Map showing Manor Arts:

Bigger view of map showing Manor Arts

Nearest tram stop: “Beeston centre” tram stop is only about 100-200 yards away round the corner. This is on the Toton branch of the tram line. Tram information.

Nearest bus stop: “Beeston Interchange“, on the 36 route, Orange Line. Trent Barton buses which stop there are the Indigo and 20. Sometimes cheaper, but not valid on most pre-paid bus cards, is the YourBus Y36, usually a dark red colour, which follows the same route as the NCT orange 36.

Parking: Tesco is about 250 yards away and allows 3 hours’ free parking. Off street parking nearby, but not right outside the venue. Contact Catherine if you need somewhere nearer; see access info above, “I can arrange parking at Falcon House Nursing Home next door for wheelchair users.”

Dance/drama/music/arts, Beeston, Tuesday afternoons

Date: Tuesday afternoons, beginning 6 June 2017.

Time: 1.30pm to 2.30pm.

Venue: Manor Arts at The Manor House, 2 Middle Street, Beeston, NG9 1FX.

Area: Near the main Beeston tram & bus stop interchange.

Age range: “Primary age (or Primary ability level if SEN)”.

Price: £5 per session.

Booking: Pay as you go, initially; “ideally a regular commitment so projects can develop week by week”.

Organiser: Catherine Chivers, catherinechivers at gmail dot com.

Manor Arts web page.

Manor Arts Facebook page.

Daytime Creative Arts Group- new class specifically for home schoolers involving dance, drama, music, games, choreography, creating sketches and plays, films around topics to start on Tuesday 6th June. To develop confidence, social skills and friendships.

Catherine explains:

I am a very experienced Primary teacher and dance/drama specialist. I have set up and run Manor Arts for a year now. I have a beautiful purpose built dance studio and games room in the grounds of The Manor House in Beeston. I run pre-school and after school dance and drama sessions (no exams – it’s all about nurturing creativity and developing confidence.) I also teach adults Fitsteps (Latin and Ballroom based dance fitness class) and run a Mums and Kids version on Friday evenings plus adults Tap. I have a lot of SEN experience and interest and also teach an adults with learning disabilities class. I am hoping there will be enough interest in my setting up a Creative Arts Daytime Group for home schoolers after half term. If parents wish they would be most welcome to use the venue as a support group with other like minded people whilst the children get creative!

Access info:

Wheelchair accessible and large toilet. There is gravel on the drive but I have a lot of people with pushchairs using the venue and they are fine. I can arrange parking at Falcon House Nursing Home next door for wheelchair users. Children with autism or learning disabilities most welcome.

Map showing Manor Arts:

Bigger view of map showing Manor Arts

Nearest tram stop: “Beeston centre” tram stop is only about 100-200 yards away round the corner. This is on the Toton branch of the tram line. Tram information.

Fun Club, Stapleford, first Tuesday in the month

Fun Club is the main regular meet up of East Midlands Christian Home Educators Group. “Membership is open to all who are willing to respect the aims of the group and its Christian ethos.”

Date: First Tuesday in the month. No formal meeting in August, although a “park meet” is usually planned.

Time: 10am to 2pm, inc lunch break.

Area: Stapleford, west of Nottingham, close to the A52. (Exact venue intentionally not listed here.)

Age range: “An all age family event, with an upper age range of about 13 years in terms of activities planned but all are welcome. (Young people must be accompanied by an adult who remains responsible for them.)”

Price: First visit free, then membership subscription if you decide you want to join. Annual subscription is currently £40 per year per family, paid as two instalments of £20 – or check the membership details page for any updates.

Booking: Send email to express an interest. There may be a waiting list. When there’s space, you’ll be invited to visit.

Email: tuesdayfunclub at gmail dot com.

Web site: East Midlands Christian Home Educators main web site.

A monthly “hall meet” with a variety of activities planned by members through the year to meet the needs of the age range. Sometimes a “main” activity altogether, maybe with an outside provider (eg: mobile planetarium). Other times a variety of different activities, perhaps around a theme, run by members of the group. Usually start with a games session (2 age groups). Bring a picnic for lunch which we eat together. Afternoon tends to be more of a free play/self directed activities time – and a chat/cup of tea time for parents/carers! Christmas and Easter are celebrated. In summer we have a Sports Day at a local park.

More info here about a typical Tuesday meetup.

Travel info:

Easy access from A52 and M1.

On the i4 bus route from Nottingham and Derby.
On My15 bus route from Long Eaton/Ilkeston.

1/2 hour walk from the Toton Lane Tram Stop/park and ride.

Parking is unfortunately tricky: Best to examine google maps and look for possible “on-street” parking in the vicinity. A small amount of long stay parking in the council car parks – pay and display.

Access info:

The building is accessible on the ground floor where most activities take place. There is no lift to the upstairs rooms. The toilet for those with extra needs is a little small.

When everyone attends the group it is very “busy” and can be quite noisy: walking straight in could be quite daunting.

However we are very flexible and have ways of providing quiet spaces and alternative activities for children who need them.

Drumming, free taster session, Sherwood, Friday 12 August

Date: Friday 12 August 2016.

Time: 11.30am for up to an hour.

Venue: Pirate’s Play Centre, 41 Rowley Drive, Sherwood, Nottingham, NG5 1GD.

Area: off the Hucknall Road about 2 miles north of the city centre, on the western side of Sherwood, towards Basford. Brown Line buses go nearby.

Age range: All welcome at taster. In future, possibility of multiple groups for different age ranges.

Price: This taster is FREE. Please email to book, as places are limited.

Price for the possible future sessions is not yet set, but could be about £6 per person.

Bookings and enquiries: Katy is the parent who’s putting this together. To make the email address, put “Katywwebb” in front of “hotmail.com” with the “at” sign in between. Please do still put your name down if you’re interested in later sessions but can’t get to the taster, so that Katy can assess the level of interest.

I am a home ed mum with 2 boys. We did a workshop with “beatfeet” African drumming which was amazing so I’m now trying to organise weekly classes.

Taster is free, but email to book a place, as space is limited.

From September a weekly advanced booking system will be in place, amount tbc, around £6pp.

I’m hoping to get enough interest to split into age groups of around 4-7, 8-11 and 11+.

BeatFeet homepage – this is who’ll be running the drumming session(s).

OpenStreetMap showing Pirate’s Play Centre.

Pirate’s Play Centre web site – the page with maps on.

Nearest bus stop coming from the north: “Leonard Avenue“.

Nearest bus stop coming from the south: “Perry Road” – but there’s not much in it. Leonard Avenue is nearly as close.

Both are on the Brown Line along Hucknall Road. There are frequent buses throughout the day; the 15, 16, 16C or 17 all go there. In town, these buses go from stops T1 and T2 on Milton Road just north of Trinity Square, opposite the Victoria Centre.

Alternatively, if you’re coming from out of town along the Yellow Line along Nottingham Road, your nearest bus stop is called “Haydn Road”. Or if you’re coming from out of town along the Purple or Lime lines, your nearest stop would be a different one called “Haydn Road”. Compared to getting a Brown Line bus, these options mean a bit more walking.

On the map, it looks as though if you’re walking up from the west (e.g. from a yellow line bus), you might be able to turn down some kind of footpath just before the Free School, to take a shortcut to Pirate’s. However, it has gates, so if they’re locked, maybe not. Updates welcome if you’ve been there!

Cars & parking: Note that vehicle access is only along Kelham Drive. There is usually plenty of parking at Pirate’s.

Free tap dance workshop with live music, Wednesday 10 August, New Art Exchange

Date: Wednesday 10 August 2016.

Time: 6.30pm to 7.30pm.

Venue: New Art Exchange, 39-41 Gregory Boulevard, Nottingham, NG7 6BE.

Area: Forest Fields / Hyson Green. It’s just round the corner from the Forest tram stop / Forest park & ride / Goose Fair site. By tram, 10 mins north of city centre.

Age range: All ages and standards, including beginners, including adults. Tap shoes available to borrow, from child size 10 to adult size 13. Smaller children can wear their own shoes – ideally with a hard sole.

Price: FREE! because it ties in with the Dissonance exhibition, with Beverley Bennett’s art, which is currently on at the NAE.

Booking: via event info page at the NAE site, or by ringing NAE reception on 0115 924 8630… or just by going there before the day and talking to the reception people. Places limited.

This isn’t a non-schoolers’ event as such – it’s open to anyone – but Jess and Stickman are the same people who did some workshops for us earlier in the year. They’re great at the kind of relaxed, flexible leadership style which home ed families tend to like 🙂

Later that same evening, 8pm-9pm, they’ll be playing at NAE in their trio “Untold Rhythm”, a combination of tap dance, spoken word and melody. This performance is not really aimed at children, but children who are old enough to sit still and listen for an hour are very welcome. Again, free and please book tickets in advance, same link & phone number.

This workshop ties in with the “Dissonance” exhibition, where Nottingham-based artists (dance, spoken word etc) take inspiration from Beverley Bennett’s beautiful abstract drawings.

As part of the exhibition, artist Chiara Dellerba created the “tangram floor” and Jessica Murray of Untold Rhythm improvised dances upon it, at three different locations around Hyson Green. A video of the dance expedition forms part of the exhibition, along with a spoken word video from Dave “Stickman” Higgins of Untold Rhythm.

At this workshop, Jess will introduce you to some tap dance moves, Stickman will provide live music, and the tangram floor will be out for everyone to explore its various subtly different sounds!

To get the most out of the workshop, you might like to visit the exhibition first. But if you don’t, that’s fine too – the workshop will still make sense without the rest of the exhibition.

Parents may like to note that as part of a parallel exhibition, there’s currently a lovely “children’s art” room at the NAE, with paper, pens, stickers, dressing-up clothes, electronic screens with a drawing app, etc. Access to the children’s art room is free and no need to book.

Aimed at: everyone who enjoys exploring dance, of any age or standard! Children must be accompanied by an adult.

(Tap shoes will be available to borrow, from child size 10 up to adult size 13. Children with smaller feet can wear any shoes of their own, ideally with a hard sole.)

Map showing New Art Exchange.

Nearest tram stop: “The Forest“. All trams going north out of the city pass through this stop. Tram information.

Nearest bus stops: Coming from town, the tram is more convenient than any of the buses. However, if you want buses anyway…

The L14 runs every half hour to “Hyson Green Asda” stop.

Turquoise Line buses (77 78 79) head west from town to “Player Street” bus stop. From there, you can cross the road, walk down Oldknow Street (with Bridlington Street playground on your left), turn left into Birkin Avenue, turn right onto Gregory Boulevard, for a total of about 600 yards’ walk.

Yellow, Brown, Purple and Lime line buses head north out of town and stop by the Forest, at stops named “Forest Recreation Ground” or “ncn Clarendon College“. From there, you can walk west along Gregory Boulevard or across the Forest, around half a mile.

Parking: There is usually parking at the Park and Ride site at that time of day.

Access: The New Art Exchange has flat access, proper wheelchair-accessible toilets, and lifts to all floors. The only inaccessible space is the actual staircase; this sometimes has artwork on display, but isn’t the location of the Dissonance exhibition. There are two “Blue Badge” spaces next to the building. For more info, see the New Art Exchange access statement (PDF), or contact info@nae.org.uk or 0115 924 8630.

Tap & percussion, three sessions FREE, Meadows, Thursdays

Date: Thursday afternoons 16, 23 and 30 June 2016. It’s up to you how many of them to come to.

Each person can choose between tap and percussion, or do a bit of both.

Time: Take note, the time is not the same every week!

Date	Start	Finish
16 June	2pm	3.30pm
23 June	12.30pm	2pm
30 June	2pm	3.30pm

(We asked for timing preferences: some families were busy earlier, and some later, so this timing is to give as many people as possible the chance to join in and try it.)

As these free sessions are drop-in, we don’t know exactly how many people will come. If it turns out there’s more than about 30 to 40 of us, then some people might have to wait a little while before they get a go, depending on space and available tap shoes. Info below on likely timing plan, plus soft play area and café.

Venue: St Saviour’s Church Hall, Arkwright Walk, Nottingham NG2 2JU. Update: Apparently that postcode doesn’t work very well in satnavs, so maybe click through to the map, or have a look at the church’s “how to find us” page – see below.

Area: The Meadows, on the Navy and Green bus lines. Portland Leisure Centre is about 200 yards away.

Age range: All ages! including parents!

Price: FREE for these three sessions, supported by National Lottery funding.

These sessions have been specially set up for non-school families. Those considering non-school education for the future are also welcome!

(If enough of us wanted it, we might subsequently set up a regular group where we chip in to pay session leaders.)

There will be tap shoes available to borrow, starting at around a child size 13 and going up to adult size. For children with feet much smaller than size 13, maybe see if there are some shoes with a hard sole that you could bring.

Booking: There’s no need to book, just turn up. However, if this is your first visit to a home ed event and you won’t know anyone, do drop us a line via email first, so we know to look out for you and say hello!

Enquiries/contact: tapdance at non-school-nottingham dot org dot uk.

Nearby Soft Play and café: Eden Soft Play is in the church itself, in the same group of buildings, along with a community café.

The 4-tier soft play area is open to children under a height limit of 5 feet / 148cm, as measured by their sign, and has a separate toddler area. (It’s advertised as “under-10s”, but in fact that’s a guideline; the real cut-off, for insurance & safety reasons, is the height limit.)

At the soft play area, accompanying adults and under-1s go free. For the children in the paying age ranges, we will have some vouchers to get into soft play for half price. We plan to give out these vouchers when people arrive. This allows for parents to collaborate and take some children into the soft play area if they’re not interested in the tap and percussion, or if they have to wait a little while for their turn.

More on what will happen at the tap and percussion…

Leading the tap session, we have Jess Murray, “a leading artist in the UK’s rhythm tap community… musicality, improvisation and self-expression at the heart of the tap dancer’s craft”.

On percussion, we have Stickman, “world class, multi-disciplined, drummer and percussionist, also a poet, actor, educator, conceptual artist and father”.

The flavour will be informal and there will be a fair bit of “see what everyone wants to do on the day” – perhaps especially at the first session when the group is new.

We shall have two rooms, so that it’s possible for the tappers to go in one space and the percussionists to go in another.

What we might do is have three stages: a first go, a break, a second go which gives priority to anyone who hasn’t yet tried what they wanted, another break, then come together for the last part.

Or we might just be all together all the way through.

Map showing St Saviour’s Church Halls.

St Saviour’s “How to find us” page.

Nearest bus stop: “Ryehill Street“, on the Navy and Green Lines. All the bus numbers from 1 to 10 stop here. It’s about 250 yards from the venue.

Nearest tram stop: “Queens Walk”, about 650 yards from the venue (i.e. the bus stop is closer). You’d need to be on a Clifton tram. Tram information.

Parking: some by the venue, lots at Portland Leisure Centre about 200 yards away.