Classes for ages three to five

What ages three to five actually gets

First Steps classes are forty-five minutes long and capped at twelve, which is lower than the room would hold. A class of three-to-five-year-olds is not limited by floor space, it is limited by how many children one adult can actually see.

• Parents wait in the corridor rather than in the room. There is a window into Studio A and it is usually full of people looking through it.
• The first two or three weeks of a child's first term are often difficult. That is normal, it is not a sign that the class is wrong, and we will tell you honestly if we think it is.
• No uniform at this age beyond something to move in and the right shoes.
• There is no recital obligation for First Steps. Those who want to be in it are on stage for about ninety seconds.

What a class here is actually like

In the room: A First Steps room is kept small on purpose — well below what the floor space would otherwise hold, because the limit is how many children one adult can actually watch rather than how much room there is. Forty-five minutes covers one idea at a time: hearing a phrase of music and stopping when it stops, taking a turn in a small space, and being in a room with an adult who is not a parent.

The first term: The first two or three weeks are often difficult, and that is ordinary rather than a sign the class or the child is wrong. Some children spend a first class or two standing at the side and watching, which is a normal way to spend forty-five minutes and not a wasted fee. We will tell you honestly if we think a different day, or a different age, would suit better.

What it costs: The fee for every First Steps class is in the table above, worked the same way as every fee on this site: a per-session rate multiplied by the sessions that class actually meets this term. There is also a once-a-school-year registration fee, set out in full on the fees page.