Has your child been dancing around the house during the holidays and discovered a love for dance?  Why not harness this great energy and enroll your little prince or ballerina into a ballet class?

Centre Stage, based in Penn Hill (Poole), has an outstanding reputation for its specialist training in ballet - especially for the younger years - and offers a perfect introduction to ballet!

It’s really important that your child’s first experience is of a REAL ballet class.  What sets Centre Stage apart from other early ‘ballet’ classes is that the school teaches Royal Academy of Dance (RAD) ballet – a world renowned and inspiring syllabus.

You don’t want to be taught by any ballet teacher – you want the best – and ALL classes are taught by RAD trained teachers only, with over 20 years of experience.  School Principal, Miss Zoe, is also an ‘Approved Mentor’ for the Royal Academy of Dance.

Centre Stage offers a magical introduction to classical ballet.  Children learn through imaginative play and storytelling and classes are creative - encouraging engagement using enchanting themes and stories and using fun props.

Whilst the core focus is having fun, children learn the technical aspects of ballet, enhance their sense of musicality, improve spatial awareness and learn how to express themselves with confidence and individuality.  Children are inspired to love ballet as much as their teachers!

Established in 2011, Centre Stage is an Award-winning school, is OFSTED Registered (meaning it can accept childcare vouchers) and CDMT Recognised.  The school has also been International Dance School of the Year Finalists for 2 years running and currently has 350 wonderful children attending the school.

The school believes its structured but kind and caring atmosphere means your child will feel at ease from the moment they enter class.  It offers a safe and secure space where they can flourish as individuals at their own pace.  However, the school also recognises the importance of trying before committing.

For its younger ballet classes, the first session is free and then they offer the flexible option of PAYG for a further two weeks.  This gives your child the opportunity to really experience the class and a chance for you to observe your child (and teachers) over several sessions.  It is important that your child is fully settled and happy before you fully commit.  To help further, as well as accepting childcare vouchers (a benefit of being Ofsted registered), the school also offers family discounts.

Places are currently available for children aged 2-6yrs in Pre-school, Pre-Primary and Primary classes.
 
Classes take place at Saint Luke’s Church Hall, 37 Birchwood Road, Lower Parkstone, Poole BH14 9NW and there is free parking at the venue.

Class times are:
Pre-school Tuesday 3.30 - 4pm and *new* Wednesday 3.30 - 4pm
Pre-Primary (reception) Wednesday 4.00 - 4.30pm
Primary (year 1) Wednesday 4.30 - 5.00pm

What do other parents say?

“This class offers a perfect balance between fun and technical learning of ballet - it was so refreshing to not see my child run around with a wand for the whole lesson!”

“The teachers are so kind and patient and approached my little shy girl just beautifully - now ballet is the highlight of the week”

“The experience of the teachers shone through and having come from a dance background myself, I was super observant of how the class was run. I have to say, that I was blown away - experience and the right qualifications go a long way.”

“The amount of props used was so refreshing - my little boy loved being a superhero!"

The school also offers an inspiring spectrum of classes for young people aged 2 to 19, including Royal Academy of Dance (RAD) Classical Ballet, Pointe Work, ISTD Tap & Modern Theatre, Acrobatic Arts, LCM one-to-one vocal tuition, Performing Arts (singing, dancing, acting and musical theatre) and Dance Fusion.

Book your FREE trial today and give your child the best training in their first ballet class!

Find out more about the school by visiting Centre Stage Dance online or contact the school on 01202 733231 or [email protected].

Cosmo restaurant in Bournemouth opened this summer and I've been looking forward to visiting, not only because I like a nice variety of food but also because I knew the kids would enjoy the desserts and robots who can show you to your table, take away plates and even sing Happy Birthday!

We had pre-booked and were kindly shown to our table straight away.  The beauty of an all you can eat restaurant is that you don't have to wait ages for the chef to prepare your food so once we’d ordered our drinks and paid, the waitress let us know where the plates were and said to enjoy our meal.

You can enjoy an unlimited buffet of world cuisine (apparently over 150 dishes!) however our children love beefburgers so they were over the moon to spot them.  Before they grabbed one I encouraged them to have a good look around first to see what else was on offer.  My son ended up having a beefburger, sushi, salad and margareta pizza while his sister had a beefburger, Chinese noodles, lots of cucumber slices and pizza.  Both were in heaven eating all of their favourite foods and then waited patiently for desserts.

My husband and I took it in turns to stay with the children and we both had a good look at all of the dishes before committing.  There’s so much to choose from in the Asian section with starters, crispy duck and pancakes, Mongolian stir-fried lamb, traditional dishes like beef in black pepper sauce, sweet and sour chicken, plus noodles and rice.

In the Indian section I saw naan breads, nibbles like mini onion bhajis and samosas, pilau rice and dishes which included chicken tikka masala and lamb rogan josh.  The pizza was especially nice when fresh out of the oven with various topping to please everyone.  I also saw a salad and sushi counter, roast dinner from the carvery with all the trimmings, pasta dishes like macaroni cheese, penne verde, lasagna and spaghetti bolognese and kids favourites like sausages, chicken nuggets, chips and onion rings.

My husband definitely enjoyed the Teppanyaki the most.  The word derives from the Japanese words teppan (which means iron plate) and yaki (which means grilled, broiled or pan fried).  You can choose from fresh salmon, scallops, squid, big tiger prawns and meat and the chef will cook it right in front of you.  For me, I really enjoyed the Asian section and had a little bit of all my favourite dishes.  Because they were quite busy the chefs were refilling the hot plates regularly so everything was lovely and fresh.

The dessert counter was quite spectacular and the kids were desperate to dip whatever they were allowed in the chocolate fountain.  They ended up with an array of sweet treats on their plates including fruit, jelly, ice cream, bananas and custard, chocolate cake and a few fizzy sweets.  I like to try something I’ve never had before aswell as my favourites so I had a little caramel cheesecake, gateaux, and chocolate profiteroles with extra melted chocolate on top.  There was also carrot cake, Eton mess, caramel short cake, tiramisu, white chocolate raspberry red velvet cake, hot cherry rhubarb cake and churros.

It really is a great restaurant for families who all love different cuisines and if you are celebrating they even have signature cocktails including a passion fruit martini which is my all time favourite.

The decor in the restaurant is really stylish, clean and modern with high ceilings and comfy seating. They have everything you’d expect from a family friendly restaurant with high chairs and a baby change room and there’s even a separate room downstairs for private hire.

We had such a nice evening and the staff were friendly and quick to take away your empty plate so you can try something else.  We’ll definitely be going back again.

Good to note if this applies to you - NHS, armed forces or emergency services currently receive 10% off their food bill and also students with valid student ID card.*

For further information and booking, please visit Cosmo Bournemouth.

*Information was correct at the time of writing.