Stagecoach

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My dds friend has asked her to go to stagecoach with her, they're doing a 2 week taster thing at the moment, so wouldn't cost massively, however if she likes it I can see it is really expensive, she's massively into dancing, singing or drama but heard it's good for confidence.

So is it worth doing if? Large reviews seem good but it is very expensive, anyone got an views?

Way too expensive, our DD did it for a year and begged not to go back.

Depends on the franchisee, I think. DS2 went for a few years and loved it, expensive yes but worth it as the owner was fantastic, ex-West End performer, as were several of the teachers, and so invested in all the kids.

My DD goes and really enjoys it. It’s been fab for her confidence, spacial awareness and team player qualities. I ask her every term whether she wants to carry on and it’s a resounding yes every time. The franchisee is good though, I have heard that can make a difference.

Cost per hour ( DS did 3 hours) is not too bad, if they aren’t doing multiple other extra-curricular activities.
I liked that there were no additional costs (show tickets, costumes etc) unlike many other dance schools.

My ds has gone for 3 years and loves it. It is expensive but it’s his thing and apart from swimming it’s the only costly activity he does. I agree that it does depend on the franchise though. Ours is great and they do loads with the kids, lots of performance opportunities.

Dd1 started a year ago - just turned 14 at the time so quite late to start. It has done wonders for her self confidence and she has made a lovely set of friends. As a pp said cost per hour is actually ok. Teachers have been great and when she had a wobble, they were fab.

DD went for 6 years, totally loved it. She had so many opportunities, dancing at the NIA, performing on a West End stage, performing at Disneyland Paris ..
DD is still in contact with many of ex-students and the staff there. Plus they gave her the confidence and helped her prepare for an audition at a specialist PA school at 16.
I look in astonishment at DD now, given that she joined to help build her confidence as she was being bullied at primary school. She’s now auditioning for drama school!

But as previously mentioned, they are run as franchises and the owner makes a massive difference to the whole experience.

The franchise near us seems to have good reviews, I guess my main concern is that she's not that bothered by the acting, performing part but could do with confidence boost.

DDs have done their summer holiday show-in-a-week workshops for years and really enjoy them.
But we haven't done the termly stuff as time consuming, pricey, and a 30min drive away which means killing time as not worth going home and out again.

It agree about cost per hour. Although it's over £1k per year, it works out at about £2 or £3 per hour, which is an absolute bargain.

Just be aware that they require a term's notice when you leave.

Agree about the opportunities too. But we did have to pay for uniform and shoes

I think the fees seem steep, but it works out at £11.00 an hour, so I think it's reasonable. And DS loves it, and his confidence has confidence has exploded, which is brilliant!

freshly washed how many hours do your kid(s) do?!

Both of mine love it. Has helped confidence hugely.
Yes it's expensive but for us has been worth it. Also is Ofsted registered so if you have any childcare vouchers spare you can use them.
Periodically I ask the kids if they want to continue, just in case they have other things they want to do, but they haven't asked to stop yet and have been going for 4 years!

Dd did Stagecoach for a while. The franchisee was good but I used to get really pissed off because every term despite having paid well before term started this woman would corner me infront of everyone and say she needed payment.

I would reply I had paid and then she would go off saying well someone hasn’t.

Don’t know why she thought it was me every time.

Another thing I found was she had her favourites and dd wasn’t one of them.

We eventually left, mainly because at the end of year show dd had been given a speaking part for the first time and at the last minute she pulled her.

Joined a small new drama, singing and dancing group at half the price and it was far better.

DD does it. She comes bouncing out loving it but we've had tears this holiday about going back so I'm not sure what she thinks about it really. She's only 5yo so maybe we just need to leave it until she's bigger.

It's not too bad price wise (£9 per hour.) Most of the franchises include everything in this (costumes/exams/shows) so fairly OK. A lot of branches do extra classes too for things like Christmas gigs, so if you take advantage of them, it's better still.

Fuckwheresitgone she's given it up now, but she did 8 years. It was 3 hours per week. One hour each of acting/singing/dancing. It was about £300 and something for each term and each term was about 14 or 15 weeks as they ran over half term

My DD didn't like it at age 5. I don't know if it was the staff or kids or what, but she absolutely hated it and begged not to go.

Thanks everyone, think will give the 2 week test a go and see what she thinks of it.