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St Andrews - the missing years?It's a common perception that the advent of children spells the end of normal life, including attendance at the Society Summer School in St Andrews. This has not prevented us from continuing to attend every year, as this article will explain.
The Summer School itself is in no way geared towards children. To attend the course you must be a Society member and therefore over 16. The first thing therefore is that one must attend as a non-resident. Other university halls of residence present one alternative but we have gone for another - the self-catering option - and have found excellent flats to suit our growing family through information from the Fife Tourist Board. The Tourist Board's web-site at http://www.standrews.com/fife/index.htmll contains a wealth of information and even allows you to book accommodation online. As a member of the course one is obliged to attend all classes, so you have to find something for the children to do between 9.30 and 12.30, Monday to Saturday. For very young children there is the University Nursery that caters for children from birth up to age 5. Simply by phoning in advance we have been able to book places. The Rainbow Nursery number is 01334 470642. The University Sports Centre runs Kid's Courses. The main courses are for ages 5 to 11, with a variety of sports and mixed activity days. There are also courses for younger and for older children available. Some sessions are morning or afternoon and others run all day. This year's programme should be available in March and can be obtained from the Centre at St Leonards Road, St Andrews KY16 9DY, telephone: 01334 462160. The morning courses run until 11.30, which leaves a gap for dancers attending classes. For 2003 the Youth Committee has made arrangements in the 4th week of the course (3rd to 10th August) to bridge this gap, through supervision, or possibly, if there is enough interest, a children's dance class. There is also a gap on Saturday, as the Nursery and Sports activities do not operate then. There are plenty of willing and qualified baby-sitters available from the Nursery. However, in this trial year, it is hoped that there will be sufficient Society children to enable some sort of group arrangement for the Saturday morning. The afternoons present the chance to see St Andrews and the surroundings, and there is plenty to do with children- the beaches, Craigtoun Park, The Sea Life Centre and the swimming pool to mention only a few. The Fife Tourist Board has more information. A key part of attending Summer School is, of course, getting to the evening dances. Again, through the Nursery and local branch members we have been able to find several baby-sitters and have got to three or four events each week. This year as an experiment the Society through its Youth Committee is aiming to cover the gaps between sports activities and the classes on the course. We very much hope there will be sufficient interest in this initiative to lead to other activities and opportunities for dancers with young families in future. We hope we have demonstrated that with a bit of preparation parents and their children can come to St Andrews for the Summer School, play an active part and all have a great holiday. Hoping to see you and your children there!
Jeremy, Grace, Joshua and Zoe Hill Document Actions |
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