Brighton & Hove Gymnastics Club??

[rockinhippy]

Does anyone know this well???

I've taken DD for her first session apart from the fact its more expensive & more money upfront than we were lead to believe on the phone & a separate annual insurance on top never mentioned there were a few things we were unsure about so wondering if anyone can enlighten me :)

I'm no helicopter Mum & love DD to go off & try stuff new, climb trees or whatever, but it was VERY busy, & fast moving, felt more like circuit training than a gym.

No questions were asked about which kids had any experience out of a small handfuls of newbies & they were put in age groups not level groups & then pretty much left to get on with it, - queue up & it's your turn to do X,Y,Z now - IYSWIM -

I only once saw an instructor demonstrate what he wanted the DCs to do, other than that the kids were just following each others lead - vaults, forward roll onto vaults etc etc - several things seemed a bit dangerous & on asking DD, she says she didn't feel she knew what she was doing & just followed other kids - who a lot of, also didn't know what they were doing - I twice saw DD run & do stuff she'd not done before that was potentially dangerous & the instructor that was meant to be supervising her looking else where & didn't even notice she'd taken her turn - in short, IMHO it seemed pretty slack & also VERY money orientated - signs everywhere about pay up now, you'll be charged if you don't do this etc etc etc

Now of course DD is keen to go back, but we just aren't so sure, so as you can imagine its caused upset :(

So I'm hoping anyone with DCs who've attended recently, or still go, can put our minds at rest ??

What has your experience of it been ??

Thanks

We have used them a couple of times but only drop in sessions and council run things in the summer. After the drop in sessions I asked about the prices and was rather taken aback.

They do seem rather bossy but I think as the sessions we went to were tasters they had to keep an eye on them all but yes I got the impression that it would be a sink or swim attitude at the classes.

DS2 did really enjoy it.

The thing I couldn't manage though was the smell!

Thanks - thats interesting, because we felt they weren't really keeping an eye on them enough -

I might of thought we were a bit jumpy as we've had DD on crutches most of last year, another new parent I was speaking with said the same thing - this wasn't a taster, but they did have a handful of new starters, so I thought they might have kept a better eye on them & actually instructed/shown the DCs on how to do it properly, rather than let them just follow other DCs lead

& yes, more expensive than I was lead to believe over the phone, which I'm none to happy about as DD did enjoy it & really wants to go again - mind you when asked if she felt she learnt anything, she said - NO & asked if funplex was better - she said yes

& yes the smell is a bit of a shocker - I dread to think how bad it could get in summer

Think I might have found another - bit harder to get to, but not impossible & cheaper too - waiting to hear back - fingers crossed :)

DS has been going for about 9 months; he loves it. I think it's very good for him to have to listen to quite strict instruction, and wait in line etc etc. I would say it took 8 weeks maybe for DS to get the hang of the routine and what was expected, so after only one session I'm not surprised you may be a bit unsure.

I think some of the coaches are more small-person-focused than others, and I think there could be more practical demonstration when kids are new or trying new moves. Having said that he's come on loads in the time we've been going, and I have no plans to stop. It's about sixish quid for an hour, which I think is ok tbh.

I haven't had any safety concerns though, but I accept sometimes the coaches will be distracted by one child, when another could just as much need help.

I know about 8 other mums/children who go to various classes and all are happy with it. Quite a lot who have put more than one sibling through etc.

And I think the money reminders are more about trying to make sure they are able to focus more on running the sessions than chasing people paying late IMHO.

XP... yeah the smell's not great

Do you mind sharing? DS2 love his gym club at school but it is very limited and he's rather keen to try more than just floor work.

It's a few years ago now but all 3 of mine went, only till age 6 or so, and I liked it, always seemed well run and 'solid'. The circuit feel does mean they're mostly doing something, rather than sending half the class standing about waiting, and I actually think it's quite nice for children to learn in that 'here it is, now you do it' way, not too much space for panicking or self consciousness. And I had one dc who was very unsporty, one who was very able indeed and one with an ( who actually didn't last as long there).

But you know what suits you and your child, and there's bound to be something out there that is more what you're looking for.

SN not an!

I'll pm you later when I have details if thats okay Melody

Thanks post & jollister for your replies - wondering now if we did just see them on a bad day then - my own DD is usually sporty & doesn't hold back - she wasn't holding back, the just go for it attitude would suit her to a tee - probably too much so - she keeps us on out toes :) - but we were cringing a bit watching her throw herself head first over vaults & the likes when the staff weren't looking & she'd never been shown how & hadn't done it before, it just seemed a bit too unsafe

not sure what to do now - think I'll wait to hear back from the other place & take it from there - it looks similar, but is twice the lesson time for less money & I'm hoping it won't have the smell - think I might really struggle with that in the summer

Well, just a little update - I've now got DDs name on a couple of other lists & have decided not to go back to the one above & look into Circus Skills for the time being - turns out there's one very local to us & its something DD has done with School & loved

Having had a chat with one of the other owners , it seems there are actually strict rules for the number of DCs per instructor, which definitely weren't followed that day - from some of the positive comments on here, I suspect thats probably not a frequent happening, but it has put me off & we'll go elsewhere.

Thanks again for everyones input :)

Hi rockinhippy- how did the other places work out? Could you hint / share details? I can't find any other gymnastics groups do an of your sleuthing skills