Corona bulletin for students

30.9.2020

The cities of Helsinki, Espoo and Vantaa recommend that everyone over the age of 15 start using face masks in municipal service situations in which it is difficult to avoid close contact. The recommendation is intended also for indoor sports and fitness centers. Finnish institute for health and welfare has recommended using facemasks in public indoor spaces in which close contact cannot always be avoided.

Helsinki Dance Institute also recommends that students over the age of 15 and parents accompanying children to the classes start using face masks at least in common areas (lounge, stairs, hallways, etc.) as well as changing rooms. We also recommend to use face mask when visiting student office.

The safety instructions given on August 11th (below) are still applied in our classes and studios. When attending our classes, we kindly ask you to stay informed and comply with the face mask and coronavirus guidelines of the Finnish institute of health and welfare.

14.8.2020
During season 2020-21, in the manner of the summer season, we will continue paying special attention to hygiene, cleaning, keeping safety distances as well as using our premises as loosely as possible. We have instructed also our personnel on practices in this exceptional situation caused by corona.

Please, read carefully the following instructions on how to act in class and at our venues. The teacher will guide you further about the lessons themselves on the spot. Pleace, comply with the general guidance by THL (Finnish Institute of Health and Wellfare) and the government on how to act during the coronavirus epidemic.

INSTRUCTIONS FOR STUDENTS:

  • You may attend class only if you are entirely healthy. Please, do not come to class if you have symptoms pointing to coronavirus infection (respiratory symptoms: fever, cough, sore throat, congested nose, shortness of breath, the loss of smell/taste or diarrhea). Also, do not come to class if there is a strong suspicion that your family member has a coronavirus infection.
  • When you arrive at the Dance Institute’s premises as well as after the lesson, wash your hands with soap (minimum of 20 seconds and foaming). We recommend that the students have their own hand sanitizers with them, although hand sanitizer dispensers are available for students’ use in the dance halls.
  • We hope that as many students as possible will come to class already in their training outfit and hair tied to avoid forming crowds in the dressing rooms. Overgarments can be brought in the class. The use of showers is not recommended for the time being.
  • The students should arrive to class just before it starts and leave promptly after class and avoid spending time at our premises. Please, keep a safety distance to others and avoid crowds at the doors. Also prefer stairs instead of elevators when coming to class. Behave politely and considerately towards others at the Institute’s premises.
  • The guardians can escort the children and the youth to the venues but they may not stay and wait in the premises for the time of the lesson. They have to leave and are allowed to return only after the lesson is over. The child may only have one escort. The escort may not come into the hall to bring in the child or sit inside the hall. (Some exceptions are allowed, e.g. if parental support is needed at the beginning of the season. Negotiate about these situations with the teacher.)
  • The students place their water bottles next to the wall or the ballet pole leaving space between the bottles so that safety distances can be kept also during the drinking break. In the case of children’s classes, drinking bottles are not brough to class. The guardians of children should have with them something to drink for the children after class.
  • The Institute’s gym mats have been removed from use. The students will bring their own mats to those classes where they are needed.

ACTIONS TAKEN AT THE DANCE INSTITUTE:

  • Air conditioning is set to the highest level possible at all of our studios.
  • The teachers prepare and design the teaching in a way that there is no unnecessary physical contact between the teacher and the student or between the students themselves. If needed, exercises are done in smaller groups while others wait for their turn aside in a spaced out queue.
  • We have made changes to the maximum student counts in classes, and they will not be exceeded. In the student quotas we have taken into account the size of the hall, the special features of the dance type and the students’ ages and levels. Notice that the teacher can not accept refund students if as a result the student quota exeeds. The full classes have been marked on our website.
  • The teachers will clean the contact surfaces in the halls between the lessons, so this might cause a delay of few minutes. Only after this cleaning will the teacher let the students of the following group to enter the hall.
  • An up-to-date guidance can always be found on the front page of our website.
  • We wish you all rewarding dance classes! Let’s take care of each other!

6.5.2020
Due to the government orders 4.5. concerning the coronavirus, all classes in Helsingin tanssiopisto are cancelled until end of spring semester 31.5.2020. Summer semester 2020 will start as planned on Monday 1.6.2020, enroll for summer classes, courses and camps here! We will send info about safe distances in classes etc. to enrolled students before courses start.

31.3.2020
Due to the government orders concerning the coronavirus, all classes in Helsingin tanssiopisto are cancelled at least until 13.5.2020. We follow closely any changes in the situation and make our decisions based on those changes. Students are advised to keep an eye on our website for any changes in the situation.

Helsinki Dance Institute offers Basic Education in the Arts authorized by city of Helsinki, Kauniainen and Vantaa. Finnish Ministry of Education and Culture has recommended that Basic Education in the Arts would be arranged in alternative ways during these exceptional circumstances. Helsinki Dance Institute has more than 500 weekly classes in the syllabus, which means that there no resources to provide encompassing remote education material for everyone. Dance is also a challenging art form to teach without any contact teaching.

Since remote teaching, due to abovementioned reasons, cannot be arranged in accordance to the syllabus, the cancelled classes in period 8 (13.3.–5.4.2020) will be compensated for our students as compensation classes. Compensation classes can be used until the end of the year 2020 even without registration. Students’ families can use these compensation classes, too. Classes are used by filling in Dance Institute’s make up slip. On the slip is written the date and “compensation” as additional information. For example, if, due to the cancellations, a student missed 60 min classes on Mon 16.3., Mon 23.3. and Mon 30.3., they can go to three compensation classes of the same length or two 90 min classes. The classes should be used before 31.12.2020.

If a student has absences from before 13.3., they can still make up those absences in autumn 2020. Absences can be made up for two months from the start of the autumn semester until 16.10.2020, even if the student has not registered to any classes in summer or autumn.

During the past few weeks Helsinki Dance Institute’s teachers have send bulletins and video material to cheer up students. If these exceptional circumstances continue, we will continue to send you your teachers’ greetings, if possible.

When considering the compensation of cancelled classes and the effect of missed classes to our students, we have taken into account that Basic Education in the Arts is part of Finland’s official educational system. Finnish Ministry of Education and Culture has recommended, that during this Force Majeure situation cancelled Basic Education in the Arts classes should be considered completed. Advanced studies diploma works will be evaluated during the spring semester.

Helsinki Dance Institute, a nonprofit institute, is now working determinedly in a challenging situation to guarantee the continuation of dance education as soon as the current situation allows. We like to say a warm thank you to our students who have sent us touching inspirational messages during this challenging time.

INSTRUCTIONS TO STUDENTS:

Students who pay their classes by period:

  • There are no monetary refunds for the classes in period 8. Cancelled classes between Fri 13.3.–Sun 5.4. can be used as compensation classes before 31.12.2020. Compensation classes can be used even without registration to any classes in summer/autumn 2020 semester.
  • A bill will not be sent for periods 9 and 10 (6.4.-31.5.) unless the classes can be started again during the spring semester.
  • Those students, who have purchased an unlimited training right, will be sent an email later about the compensations for cancelled classes in period 8.
  • For those students who have paid beforehand the classed in period 9 and 10, the payments will be carried over automatically to be deducted from future payments.

Students who pay their classes by semester:

  • There are no monetary refunds for the classes in period 8. Cancelled classes between Fri 13.3 – Sun 5.4. can be used as free classes before 31.12.2020. Free classes can be used even without registration to any classes in autumn 2020 semester.
  • The payments for cancelled classes in period 9 and 10 will be refunded to our students. The processing of refunds can only be started at the end of the spring semester. We will send separate instructions on this when the time comes.
  • Those students, who have purchased an unlimited training right, will be sent an email later about the compensations.
  • Those students, who have paid the classes with employee benefits (e.g. Smartum, Edenred), their payments will be carried over automatically to be deducted from future payments.

We have also cancelled all of our student performances this spring. Those who have already purchased tickets for the Long curriculum performances 25.-26.4., can ask for a refund from this link: https://web.lippu.fi/palautus. There might be some delays due to the large number of refunds.