You can enrol in our courses either from our homepage, by selecting your age group and clicking enrol now. Or if you'd like more information, you can visit our pages specific to each age group and read more. Once you've decided to enrol, you will find yourself at our course screen, where you can select your weekly online class time from the dropdown list. Make sure to choose your time when you enrol to secure your spot - though if you forget, or want to choose your time later, that's fine. You can just let us know via phone or email when you've decided. 

We use Zoom to host our online classes and workshops. You will need to sign up for a free Zoom account before your first class. Zoom is an online video conferencing software with loads of great features, it enables our coaches to really engage with our students and provide a terrific learning environment. You have two options to join our online classes via Zoom. Firstly you can join via our online academy from your browser. You will be sent a reminder each week so you just need to click a link and login and you'll join automatically. If you prefer, you can also join via the Zoom app on your computer, phone or tablet. We will send you a link to join this way in your course confirmation email. 

When you join your class, you will normally find yourself in a virtual "waiting room" for a few minutes before the coaches open the online class. Don't panic if you don't immediately enter the class, we only open our online classes just on time so that nobody is missing out. 

The Zoom app can be downloaded for windows and mac computers, smartphones and tablets. You can head to their download centre for links, or search for Zoom in the Apple App Store, Google Play or Samsung Apps. Click here to head to the Zoom download page.

Zoom offers some great options to check your video and sound ahead of time at this link. When you are joining a meeting Zoom will normally bring up a test window for you before you enter the waiting room or online class. When zoom prompts you to "JOIN USING COMPUTER OR PHONE AUDIO" make sure you press "YES" so that we can hear you. 

It can take a few seconds to join audio and video, so if you can't hear us straight away don't worry.

Most of the time your sound will start automatically, but occasionally you may encounter a technical issue where you either can't hear us, or we can't hear you. If this happens we suggest that you click the small microphone icon in the bottom left corner of the screen (you'll need to tap your screen for this to appear on your phone or tablet). You may notice that the text below it says "join audio". If so it means you haven't automatically connected, and can simply press join audio, and then call in via device audio to join.
Check your sound is turned up as well.

If you are still having issues, we suggest that you let your coaches know via the chat function in Zoom that you are going to leave and rejoin the meeting, this often solves the problem. 

Once you're in our Online Class, here are some handy tips to be aware of.

1) Normally when you join, we will have everyone on MUTE so that you aren't all overwhelmed by too much noise. You should be able to hear us, and we'll unmute you once we start the class. 

2) If you'd like to raise your hand, rather than waving at us you can use Zoom's handy "RAISE HAND" function. On your computer, this will appear on the right hand side once you open the "Participants" and "Chat" section. On your phone or device simple tap the screen and look for the "More" option. When you press this additional functions will appear, you can press "raise hand" through this screen. This will notify your coaches that you have a question, and they will get to you shortly. 

3) Chat: We only activate chat between participants and coaches, so not everyone will see what you type (except in breakout rooms, which we'll cover soon). You can use chat to ask questions or request help at any time through the class. 

4) Your name. Please ensure that when you join our online classes, your name is set to your real name. We need to keep track of our students and it's important for the safety net to work properly that everyone can get to know each other. We know that many students use their parents Zoom account, which is totally fine, we just ask that you change your name once in the class. You can do this in the "Participants" section beside your name.

There are a few tips that we can give you to make sure you get the most out of your class. 

1) Try to choose a quiet place in your house where you won't be distracted, and can focus on the class activities. You will be asked at times to stand up and work through activities, which can be hard to do if you're surrounded by family members. 

2) We want to see you! Many of our classes happen in the late afternoon/evening, so where possible choose a room that you can close curtains or blinds and use the room lighting so that it's consistent. Avoid being lit from behind (eg windows) as it will mean we can't see your face. It's a great idea to have a desk lamp on in front of you, so that your face is clearly visible. 

3) Have a journal and water bottle handy. You may want to take notes through class, and the more often you are getting up to grab things, the more you'll miss. Just like in any class environment, we ask that you avoid leaving unless absolutely necessary and do not eat in class. We have bathroom and drink breaks during our online classes. 

3) Headphones. Where possible, we suggest that you wear headphones during our online classes. They are more reliable in terms of being able to hear us, but can also prevent audio interference if there are any sound lag issues. If you don't have headphones, don't worry, they just help enhance your experience.

Yes, we record our online classes, primarily so that if any students miss out on a class they can watch it later. We also occasionally use materials from classes to keep our website up to date, and to demonstrate certain activities. If you have any concerns about privacy, you can check out our privacy policy or contact us via phone or email. 

One of the best things about our new online academy is that we've been able to create a membership site for ALL Acting Academy Students. This site is an easy place for parents to book you into any courses or workshops that we run at the AAA. Plus it's where you go to view our prerecorded content and resources ahead of class each week. We'll also be sharing special deals, industry tips and news with you. We also want to hear from you! If you have exciting news or questions you'd like answered let us know and we may be able to share on our community noticeboard. 

This is probably what we're most excited about! In addition to our wonderful classes, we can now deliver online content to you ahead of class to really make sure you're getting the most out of the training at the AAA. 

The content will vary depending on your course, and some weeks there may not be any content ahead of class. We will email you each week either way with links to any content, or instructions on how to prepare for your next class. You can also log in to your membership site at any time, and all new content will be available to view through there. 

Through our online platform, payment can now be made via STRIPE, which means you can pay in full or in 2 instalments by credit card. 

Don't worry though! We know that not everybody loves paying via online services. You can still book into any of our courses or workshops via phone or email, and we can send you an invoice. We're all about making this as easy and fun as possible, so contact us if you ever have any concerns or questions. 

Yes we're happy to discuss payment plans with you. We always allow 2 instalments of fees as well. Just call or email and we can make arrangements outside of this. We are working to implement these in our online checkout so watch this space! 

We are all about our community, and would love to hear from you. You are welcome to provide feedback via phone or email at any time. We will also periodically send polls to both parents and students. We're happy to say that we're still new to the online space, and our team are constantly looking for ways to improve our service.