Flipside Circus Alderley – holiday workshops and after school classes for all ages!
What does every parent want for their children? If you listen to what most parents say, it’s for them to be happy, to have fun, to enjoy themselves, to learn, to grow, to make friends, to be safe and to become confident and independent people. And that is exactly what we found happened at the workshop we attended at Flipside Circus.
Flipside Circus provides a yearlong program of circus classes alongside the school terms as well as school holiday workshop programs based at their training centre in Hamilton. Their classes are suitable for everybody; ages from 18 months to adults, all skill levels, and all abilities. Families can take advantage of their sibling discount, where 10% off is offered to two or more family members including adults and children.
We were lucky enough to attend a one day workshop over the school holidays.
‘Learn 15 Tricks in One Day’
The day starts at 9am and goes until 5pm. There is a show at 4pm that parents can attend to see the (amazing) development of the children over the day (and it truly is amazing how much they can do and learn in ONE day!!) The children need to take morning and afternoon tea, lunch and a water bottle (and if you watch the video below… you will see that Master 7 suggests that they will also need a ‘can-do’ attitude!)
The children progress through the day with a number of apparatus – trampoline, balance beam, tissu, trapeze, roller bowler, hoola hoops … they also learned how to juggle, spin plates, do hand stands and cartwheels, walk on the tightrope…
Let your children take risks
However what I personally liked most about Flipside Circus is that our children get to take risks!! Remember those from YOUR childhood – RISKS? How many parents have you heard say that they feel that ‘children today’ are being wrapped in ‘cotton wool’ and not allowed to take risks… cartwheels and handstands are being banned at schools, children are not being allowed to climb trees, bike riding is on the decline! Our recent article ‘True Grit – Building Capacity Not Dependency’ suggests ‘Good parenting, like good education, provides for a caring, ‘secure base’ and a ‘safe haven’ from which children can grow; as well as opportunities that may mean facing risks and disappointments.’ Therefore within the boundaries of a safe environment, Flipside Circus gives our kids the opportunity to take risks, after careful instruction and constant support. I for one LOVE that our children have a safe place to go to test the boundaries of their own bodies…
All the children had the opportunity to try all of the apparatus and tricks that they were shown – everything was demonstrated, and careful and complete instructions were given before the children were encouraged to ‘have a go’. We found the teachers to be truly wonderful – clear in their instructions, supportive, patient and you could tell that they genuinely loved working with children! (And I can say this with certainty as I AM a teacher and I worked for 6 years interviewing and hiring teachers, so I can tell who likes to work with kids, and who is just ‘doing a job’!) 😉
Circus Performance for Parents
At the end of the day, the children performed a show for the families from 4pm – 5pm. I have to confess to getting a bit teary at just how confident such small people can get when given the opportunity and when they are in a supportive environment with enthusiastic teachers! If you are keen for your children to give it a try – keen for them to develop confidence, make friends, take measured ‘risks’ in a safe environment, to stretch themselves beyond what you (or even THEY) think they can do, then UNTHINK THE IMPOSSIBLE and book into a holiday workshop or after school class… you’ll be SO glad you did!
Watch our video to get a taste for what happens at Flipside Circus:
If your child loves to perform, find more technology, TV and performing arts ideas here.
