A dance school question.

[Dancerr]

Teenage DD has been asked along with another teenager to teach a couple dance classes at their dance school per week. They'd be taking the classes but an adult would be 'around'. Apparently it will take 2 years to qualify so she wouldn't get paid for at least 2 years she's been told but she has to be commited everyweek.
Can anyone tell me how this works as far as Safeguarding? Also, I don't know if I'm right here but if my dd is teaching the class then I would have expected her to get a little bit of money or a free class in exchange? Not sure if anyone has any experience of dance schools but it would be nice to hear people's views.

That doesn’t seem right at all. We have some of the older girls helping out in my daughter’s girls classes but they are absolutely not teaching the class. One of the older girls was doing a proper teaching qualification but she still very much seemed to be supervised with the class. Letting a 13 year old take a class is not on at all.

She isn't really taking on any responsibility if the dance teacher is always there tk step in if necessary and therefore they aren't saving money either.
Presumably the dance school are paying for her training and giving her experience, so that is her 'quid pro quo'.
They also probably do not want so set up and employment relationship with a 14vyear old

The dance teacher isn't always there to step in though, the studio owner will be "around" which means she will be in reception dealing with all the admin stuff, taking payments registering children etc.

If you ask someone to teach a class, you pay them - end of. I even paid my teaching assistants whose job it was to hold the hand of the shy children, take them to the toilet and help demonstrate the dances, not actually teach.

I would not have been happy with a 14 year old teaching my daughter ballet. Would she be able to recognise that someone is executing an exercise correctly and not damaging themselves? They may look like they are executing it correctly but they could be using the wrong muscles. Very young bodies that need nurturing.

If your DD really wants to teach then she needs to get accreditation with either
RAD, BBO, ISTD or IDTA - not in any order of preference I hasten to add. If you want to put your pupils through exams you need to be affiliated with one of these. I am a bit out of touch so I hadn't realised RAD were offering the course mentioned above. Perhaps the others will follow suit

I would recommend that you also visit the Balletcoforum board, you will receive very valuable advice and help here

https://www.balletcoforum.com/forum/9-doing-dance/

I was told that usually people who want to become dance teachers are charged by dance schools for the privilege of getting experience by teaching/helping with classes...

That is awful and I have never heard of this before at all.

DD is a dance teacher and has always been paid by the schools she works for but she was an adult when she started teaching

From what I've found none are paid until they've completed the full qualifications.

My DD is a now dance teacher and before she went away to full time performing arts college she did used to do some teaching under the direct supervision of one of the qualified teachers. She learned a lot from it but she was never responsible for the class. I would not be happy about an unqualified teenager taking sole control of any class, from both the perspective of the teenager and the pupils. I'd also be concerned about the judgement of the Principal of any school who thinks this is ok.
It is possible to do some teaching qualifications whilst you are still at school - my DD did the ISTD Diploma in Dance Education when she was in 6th form and I think the IDTA have teaching qualifications you can start at 16 too. But whilst on the course a student should be supervised. It's the same in sports. My DS is qualified to coach his sport when he was 15 but until he was 18 he didn't need a DBS check or first aid certificate but had to be under the direct supervision of another qualified coach who did have those things at all times.
There's nothing wrong with young people learning to teach or coach in my opinion. It's good for them as they learn more about their activity and develop transferable skills, and they can be very good role models for younger children, but it has to be done correctly, to keep everyone involved safe. And whilst it is not unreasonable to expect students to demonstrate a good degree of commitment they should always be supernumary and obviously there's going to be times when school exams etc have to be their priority. This sounds worryingly like a dance school where the Principal is looking to run classes on the cheap.

Wrong. Not only that, but illegal.