A School Built on Experience and Expertise

When Hazel founded Glasgow Dance Academy 10 years ago, her motivation was simple: she missed the world of dance and was keen to pass on everything she had learned as a professional performer and school teacher. What started as a small school with just 7 students has grown into a multi-location academy supporting over 250 young dancers. Glasgow Dance Academy is now well-known for the quality of its teaching and its strong sense of community.

Hazel brings a unique combination of professional and educational expertise to Glasgow Dance Academy. After training and working as a professional dancer for ten years, she moved into education, becoming a primary school teacher, a secondary dance teacher and completing a Master’s degree in Learning and Teaching in the Performing Arts. Her background helps to shape everything the academy does:

"Both of those things gave me a real holistic view of the performing arts and dance and also within the educational setting of how children learn and thrive. I bring all of that to the school.”

Fast-paced Growth Supported by the Right System

As Hazel's business took off, she became more and more aware of the extra admin involved to keep the academy going. Multiple classes, expanding timetables, payments and launching in new locations meant Hazel needed a system that could grow with her.

"As the school grew, we needed a booking software that could support us for all of our systems and processes, streamline everything and just let us focus more on the teaching side in the dance school."

Now operating across five locations, Glasgow Dance Academy uses ClassForKids to manage everything from timetables and registers to payments and parent communication, all within one easy-to-use central system.

Managing Five Locations with Ease

For Hazel, one of the biggest advantages of using ClassForKids is how effortlessly it supports her business as it grows and evolves. With a large teaching team working at different venues across Glasgow, having one management system makes a huge difference. Everyone in Hazel's team has eyes on the same live timetables and registers, making it easy for them to switch classes, manage students and stay aligned.

From a management perspective, ClassForKids provides full visibility, giving Hazel a bird's eye view of her entire business.

Cutting Admin Time and Managing Demand

Unsurprisingly, admin used to peak and become overwhelming at the worst possible times, especially when starting a new term at the academy. Now, tasks that once took hours can be completed in minutes with ClassForKids.

"New term used to be a really big admin task for us, but now it's almost just like a copy and paste."

By easily duplicating terms and updating dates, Hazel can move the academy forward to the next term seamlessly, even during high-pressure periods like Christmas shows and enrolment season. The same simple process applies when launching new locations or running holiday camps, with everything kept organised and camps managed separately, without getting in the way of standard term classes.

As the academy’s reputation has grown, so has demand for classes and camps. ClassForKids' waitlist feature lets Hazel stay in control of bookings while building momentum and excitement around classes.

"I love the waitlist feature. It creates a bit of excitement about the classes, I notice that people really book onto the waitlist because they don't want to miss out. And then as soon as parents get that automatic email when we open up the classes, we find that we get really good bookings coming through straight away."

Automatic notifications allow parents to book as soon as spaces open, while Hazel can forecast class numbers before enrolment even begins, allowing her to plan ahead with confidence.

Scaling With Confidence

Since using ClassForKids, Glasgow Dance Academy has almost doubled its student numbers and added two additional locations, all without admin becoming overwhelming.

“You can just add, change and grow with the system.”

Parents feel the benefits too, with quick and intuitive booking whether families find the academy through referrals, social media or Google. Glasgow Dance Academy has also benefited from the ability to offer trial classes, allowing students to experience the academy before committing and helping to build trust and confidence from the very first interaction.

Looking Forward to the Future

Ten years on, Hazel is proud of the growth and community they’ve built at Glasgow Dance Academy.

With ClassForKids handling the admin, Hazel and her team can stay focused on what matters most. Glasgow Dance Academy is continuing to grow carefully, offer more opportunities and deliver engaging teaching experiences for every student.

Ready to Transform Your Admin?

See how ClassForKids can streamline bookings, payments, registers and communication, so you can spend more time nurturing your students and growing your club.