the nitty gritty

The Instructor Bible

  • Safety is a core human need. Above all, we want to offer a service which people feel physically safe to attend, express themselves and try new and sometimes scary things with their body. 

    • We take extra care of newbies.
      Anyone who is new or nervous should have an extra bit of your attention. Check in with them.

    • We know our students.
      Watch for “Kamikazes” and adjust your teaching accordingly. Individually progress those who are able and be prepared to give regressions for those you know will struggle.

    • We check for injuries.
      Try to do this before class or at least before teaching certain moves that may aggravate certain body parts that are weak, injured or sore.

    • We follow videoing rules.
      Not everyone wants to be filmed and have their face on the internet and sometimes it is genuinely a safety issue. If you wish to post something on social media and people are in the background of your video, blur them out, sticker their faces or ask for their permission to post. We expect instructors to follow these rules and to remind students of them as well.

  • Aerials are for everyone! We want every person who walks through our doors to feel as if they belong here. Never underestimate the power of a friendly smile and greeting! 

    • We make sure new people are acknowledged. New people are incredibly important. Make sure you welcome new people personally. This doesn’t have to be a long process of 20 questions, but acknowledging them and taking the time to welcome them into your coaching space is so important because they will be nervous and unsure. If you get the chance, following up with new students after class is a great way to do this if you miss welcoming them at the start. Ask them how they found it, tell them it was great to have them and that you hope to see them next week.

    • We use people's names when teaching. Encouragement when you call across a room is often going to get lost if you don’t use a person's name, particularly in a large or noisy class. Also, there is a psychological aspect to hearing your name, in that you feel SEEN. If we make an effort to teach using people's names in our aerial spaces as much as possible, people will automatically begin to sense that they belong here. Use peoples preferred pronouns too if applicable.

    • We endevour to work with each student individually. This is not easy in a very large class, but as many students as possible should leave feeling as if you have touched base with them at least once during the class. Ask questions about how they are going with certain moves, give quick pointers or corrections and if they’re smashing it, give lots of encouraging words! As an instructor never forget the power of your praise to make someones day!

    • We make small talk. Talk about upcoming events both in the studio and in our wider Chch community. This is easy to do during stretching or warm up time. Ask people about their weekends. Try to follow up on details about students' lives outside the studio eg...”How did moving house go?” Our aim is to make them feel valued, seen and welcome. Never forget that people come to work out and learn, but they also come to connect.

  • Having the best teaching content in the world is going to mean nothing if students don’t have fun in your class.

    Fun First. Delivery of excellent aerial content second. 

    • We celebrate student wins.
      Watch and notice. Know who is struggling, with what and why so that the day they hit that goal you can celebrate with them - clap, holla make a big deal about it! If you think they’d be ok with it, point out their win to the rest of the class. We want students to start encouraging each other too. Life in this world is hard enough as it is, students give up their precious time to come and try super hard physical things. Sometimes we forget that aerials ARE HARD - in reality, small wins are actually big wins! Make use of The Group Chat waiting room board to advertise your students' wins!

    • We create a fun class atmosphere.
      Everyone has their own flavour and teaching style, but please make sure you create a warm environment that is vibrant and inviting. Bring confidence, smiles, laughter and jokes, be vulnerable, relatable and if you like, a little bit silly! The nature of this job means there will be times you will need to put your own real world issues aside and put on a brave face for your students. Students also often put a brave face on to come to class, we owe to them to give it back too.

    • We foster community by example.
      We want to encourage community, friendliness and small talk amongst our students too! Anytime you are in the studio, you are representing Aerial Academy, even if you are popping in quickly or just training by yourself. Remember, that we are relying on you to help us create the atmosphere and environment we are all proud to be a part of.

  • We want to be a studio that encourages excellence and growth.
     

    • We present excellent content.
      We want to be proud of the content we are producing, making sure we are up to date with international trends, following on along with students' areas of interest and curiosities and seeking ways to be creative and interesting with our teaching. Changing up warmups, introducing new ways to do conditioning, moves/transitions or progression or regressions you have discovered in your own training. Please do your own research and educate yourself on things you don’t understand or want to know more about and implement it in your teaching methods.

    • We continue to seek personal growth.
      As Aerial Academy instructors, we expect you to push yourself to continue to learn new things in your own training - again, we lead our students by example in this way. We want to be known as a studio who is always pushing towards excellence, more, better, stronger, faster. Create goals! Get ambitious!

    • We encourage students towards growth.
      Do this in strength, knowledge and flexibility but particularly towards the goal of performing - either in Showcase or competitions.

Your teaching guide

teaching ethos

teaching guidelines

    • Take a moment at the start of the class to introduce yourself, particularly if you are taking an Intro or Beginner class or you know you have new students present. 

    • It is often nice to check if this is anyone's first time and briefly welcome them personally if so.

    • Check no one is nursing any injuries you need to be aware of before the session starts.

    • Ask everyone to remove any jewelry if you are using Silks or Hammocks.

    • Check everyone has logged in properly on the app, note any absences or no-shows

  • Warmups are made up of three parts:

    • Dynamic full body movement (5mins)

    • Stretching (5mins)

    • Conditioning (5-10mins)

    The whole warmup should take no more than 20mins, but no less than 15.

    Each class with a curriculum class has list of suggested conditioning. Unlike the curriculum skills, curriculum conditioning are just suggestions and not compulsory to work through. You may set your own conditioning if you want to, so long as it is level appropriate. 

    • Dynamic full body movement
      Make it fun, use music to set the mood, take crazy song requests, jump around, run around the room, roll around, be as silly and as energetic as you like! Some ideas are: side skips, star jumps, jumping twists, kick boxing, high knees. Initially, do whatever you’d like to do to get the heart rate up.

    • Stretching
      - Don’t skip too fast over stretching, as this can encourage injuries
      - Always offer mats to protect knees
      - Don’t push students further than their regular range of motion during class stretching
      - Stretch as many muscles here as possible, but pay special attention to stretching out the hamstrings, activating the core and warming up the shoulders.
      - Make sure to tailor your stretching to whatever you are practicing in class that day.

    • Conditioning
      - Conditioning is a crucial part of every aerial warmup
      - Choose two or three appropriate conditioning exercises
      - One conditioning exercise should always involve arms/shoulders. The other can be either core AND/OR legs
      - Do be careful not to tire your students out before the lesson has begun, read the room.

  • Explain
    Verbally explain what you will be showing, doing or trying to achieve and its name if necessary. Explain why this move is important if necessary (ie if it is a foundational move for learning something harder in the future etc).

    Demo
    Demo the whole thing first to show the end goal. Do this with confidence and clarity of movement, but bear in mind you want the skill to seem achievable and not intimidating. If you are teaching a combo you may choose whether or not you want to demo the entirety of the combo at the start of the class, or if you want to stick to only showing small chunks.

    Breakdown
    - Demo again very slowly, breaking down the parts of the move or sequence into easy to absorb chunks. 
    - Give slow, concise and clear verbal instruction to each part of the movement.
    - Take care not to overwhelm them with a long explanation, or too many words.
    - Remember to include any relevant safety tips. (e.g “bear in mind this knee is the only thing keeping me on the bar so keep squeezing tightly!”)
    - Always ask if they want to see it again

    Additional Tips
    It is good to finish with a tip or reminder of what you consider to be the most important takeaway before they start trying. Sometimes this is a safety tip but can also just be a helpful cue such as “So, remember that after you’ve threaded your leg, you need to hook your knee ABOVE the post.” or “So, make sure to pay attention the whole time you’re doing this, to where your hands are going.”

    Repeat
    Be prepared and happy to repeat the above steps as many times as students need.

    Regress & Progress
    Have regressions at the ready to offer struggling students. Progressions can also be helpful for those who are excelling, but are never as important as knowing your appropriate regressions.

  • You can never offer too much praise. Be generous! Each student should leave class feeling personally encouraged by you as an instructor. A simple but enthusiastic “Yesss Emma!” when a student completes a skill, goes a long way. Even if a student is not doing something correctly, you can offer praise alongside a correction. Watch and be attentive. Celebrate every little win. As competent aerialists, we sometimes forget that what we do is actually really hard!

    • Please don’t take personal texts or calls during a class.

    • Don’t leave your class unattended unless there is an emergency.

    • Make sure you can be heard! Speak confidently and clearly and don’t compete with music. Turn it down if you need to be heard, especially if delivering safety instructions. Be mindful that some students are hard of hearing or have english as a second language.

    • Please choose “crowdpleaser music” ie music that is inoffensive and generically enjoyed by the majority of people.

    • Please use peoples names as much as possible.

    • Use any stretch time sitting on the floor to make small talk and connect with your class.

    • Follow up and encourage struggling or frustrated students after class if possible.

    • Follow up and encourage brand new students after class if possible.

    • Advertise any Aerial Academy events to your class so they can get hooked into our community happenings.

  • YOU are responsible for the safety of your class during the time that you are teaching. This means we expect you to briefly look over the apparatuses you (or they) are rigging, to check they are fit for use, and to make sure each apparatus is correctly and safely rigged.


    • Check for large holes in silks/hammocks (larger than a 10c coin) 

    • Check hammock knots are done tight with a small amount of tail 

    • Check Rescue 8s where carabiner connects 

    • Sticky mats underneath black crash mats

    • Look at ropes to check for fraying (fraying will look like white fibres coming through the black rope) 

    • Check all knots look secure

    • Check carabiners screwgate is CLOSED 

    • Carabiner screwgate should be facing DOWN

  • Opening
    We expect instructors to be present in the classroom at least 10 minutes before the class is about to start. This gives you time to set up space, sort your music, rig your equipment and be ready to welcome students.

    Closing up the Studio (instructions for the last person present)

    • All apparatuses to be returned to their proper place in the storage room

    • Mats to be stacked as per instructions detailed on the wall in each studio room

    • If you are teaching the last class of the day, it is your responsibility to check every room (including toilets) before leaving to check there are no persons left in the building. 

    • Turn off all heat pumps 

    • Turn off all stereo systems

    • Turn off all lights

    • Check all studio doors are locked


    All classes to be no more than 1 hour long
    The final 5 mins to be used for cooldown (this can be instructor or student-led depending on what is appropriate), instructor toilet breaks, following up with new or struggling students before they leave class, and for the next instructor to take down and/or set up aerial equipment.

    All classes run as follows (and in this order):
    Warmup (5 mins)
    Stretch (5 mins)
    Conditioning (5-10 mins approx)
    Presentation of Content/Curriculum (35 mins approx)
    Cool down (5 mins)

  • Our current curriculum classes are:

    Intro to Lyra/Hoop
    Intro to Silks
    Beginner Hoop
    Beginner Silks
    Beginner Hammock
    Intermediate Hoop
    Intermediate Silks

    These classes are designed to ease the burden for instructors teaching multiple classes and for beginner and intermediate students to feel as though they are becoming familiar and competent with movement on their apparatus.

    It provides a measure with which students can use to tell they are ready to move up to the next level. It also makes sure that students are not graduating to the next level too early and have adequate stretch and flexibility and attempting to perform more difficult or strenuous content that their body is not ready or properly conditioned for. 

    Each curriculum class will have a master list of moves and skills you can teach from. Choose a collection of skills to teach before you start your class. You can create an 8 week plan, or freestyle it week to week, it is up to you and how you like to work. It is the instructor’s responsibility to keep track of what they teach each week, ensuring they are adequately and regularly covering and presenting the whole curriculum. Keeping track of what you have taught previously is helpful too if someone covers your class.

    Instructors taking a Intro or Beginner curriculum class may add relevant level-appropriate skills at their discretion from time to time, but the bulk (90-95%) of what they teach each week must follow what is dictated in the curriculum.

    There is more lee-way for curriculum additions to Intermediate classes as the skill level gets closer to Advanced (no curriculum).

    It may seem repetitive, but for lower level classes it is important to repeat skills frequently in order to build confidence, proficiency and strength. And equally, we want students to move through the levels and on to the next class when they are ready to level up.

  • Our current Content Classes are:
    Hammock (Mixed Level)
    Trapeze (Mixed Level)
    Advanced Trapeze
    Creative
    Advanced Lyra/Hoop
    Advanced Silks
    Rope
    Aerial Yoga
    Stretch
    Kids & Teens Aerials
    Aerial Strength & Conditioning

    The rest of our classes that do not currently have a curriculum are known as “Content Classes” which are open for you to customise and curate content for, depending on what you deem appropriate to teach and depending on the skill level of your students and what they are interested in learning. 

    There may be a time in the future some of these classes will also become curriculum classes.

  • Open Play classes are a space for students to bring things they are struggling with, ask questions, prep for routines or stage work and train in a smaller, safer and more intimate setting than that of Open Training. Open Play gives students a supervised environment to learn and try new things that might be scary or moves they may want spotting or extra direction and reassurance for. This class doesn’t require you to prepare any content, content will be dictated by requests of students that attend on that particular day, who may want one-on-one help or may just want to train in a supervised environment.

    Your only teaching requirement as an instructor is that you warmup your class appropriately and remind them to cool themselves down at the end (or take them through a quick cool down if necessary). Additionally, please take the time to move around the room and ask each student individually what they have come to work on that day and whether you can be of any assistance to them. 

    If no one wants assistance, you are free to move around the room watching students as they work, making small talk, giving praise, asking questions, offering encouragement, giving suggestions where appropriate. If a student is trying something interesting, ask if you can join in and give it a try too. And if you spot a student looking bored it is the perfect time to jump in and give them an interesting and fun challenge to try.

    These classes are about building community and relationships with our students just as much as they are about giving students a chance to ask questions and try things at a slower pace outside of a regular class setting.

  • Safety is extremely important in kids classes as this requires eyes on everyone - all at once! Safety practises:

    • Count the kids several times - start of class - middle of class - end of class.

    • Watch for unsafe wrapping, unsafe experiments and unsafe swinging especially with bar apparatuses.

    • All kids to be sitting on mats, NOT TOUCHING THE APPARATUS while you are demoing. This ensures no accidents can happen while you are in the air demo-ing and unable to help them.

    • Make sure you know who is in the room, or who is watching from outside - it’s a good idea to ask anyone you don’t recognise “Who do you belong to?”

    • If a kid needs the bathroom, keep the studio door open for them to come back in the room. Don’t forget they are out there in the big studio alone!

    We want to create a fun atmosphere while still remaining safe. Where possible, use games and creative activities for warm-ups instead of long periods of conditioning or stretching. Kids spend all day at school being told what to do, so it's okay for our classes to feel different and give them more freedom of movement. Giving them choices, making things playful, and even allowing some supervised free time when appropriate can help keep them motivated and excited to learn.

    SOCIAL MEDIA AND KIDS/TEENS:
    Do not repost kids or teens under 16 on your socials unless you have first checked and cleared this with their parents.

teaching extras

  • During our first year, we will be paying particularly close attention to class attendance. As a new studio with significant operating costs, it's important that our classes are consistently attracting and retaining students.

    For those teaching Intro and Beginner classes, this is especially important. These classes are often a student's first experience with Aerial Academy, so creating a welcoming environment that people want to return to, is key.

    Each of you has been chosen to help launch our studio not only because you are exceptional aerialists, but because we genuinely value the way you teach. We have confidence in your ability to create engaging, welcoming classes that will build a loyal and thriving student community.

    Classes will be reviewed every three months to ensure they are meeting the attendance levels required to sustainably operate our studio. We have minimum targets that each class will be expected to achieve. If a class is not meeting these targets, we will alert you to this and discuss the options with you during a review process. This may involve adjusting the class time, changing the class format or level, or, where necessary, immediately discontinuing the class.

    Please know that changing up classes is always a matter of business and is not personal. We want to stay open and to be able to keep employing you.

    Generally, underperforming classes will be put on 1 month probation to get class averages up. After that time, if it is still not doing well, we will change the instructor, the class type or cancel it altogether.

    Current AVERAGE class number needs to be: 6-8
    IDEAL class number each class: 10-15
    Intervention number: Averaging 4 or under 

  • We encourage and expect all Aerial Academy instructors to take ownership of the success of their classes and see that is very much a key part of your role. While Aerial Academy will actively market the studio as a whole, your enthusiasm and personal connection with students play a significant role in building thriving classes.

    We ask that you help promote both the studio and your classes through your own social media channels where appropriate, engage positively with our online content, and encourage friends, family, and existing students to attend.

    Creating a welcoming, engaging class experience that students are excited to return to—and recommend to others—is one of the most powerful ways to grow your classes.

  • Regularly teaching instructors get:

    • Access to Aerial Academy during instructor hours - 6am-10pm, 7 days a week

    • Unlimited access to Studio 4 - Te Whenua training space, 6am-10pm, 7 days a week. 

    • Unlimited access to Stretch Room -Te Hā

    • Unlimited access to timetable Open Training times.

    • Fully functioning kitchen including espresso coffee machine

    • A personalised lockable cubby space

    • Private instructor-only storage for apparatuses

    • 1x Free class a week

    • 1x Sauna & Icebath a week

    • Key tag access to mostly every room in the Aerial Academy building

    Open Training sessions, Sauna & Icebath and your free class, all must be pre-booked in on the app. 

  • Cover instructors have full access to the Studio 4 - Te Whenua space for training and class planning for the 7 days leading up to the class they are covering. Please alert Lydia or Nicola as soon as you have been booked to cover so we can turn on relevant classroom access in your key fob for that week.

  • Cover needs to be tracked so we can see what classes might need swapping around in the future, make sure we have enough people around for holidays periods and so we can reward those who cover a lot of classes. 

    Cover needs to be changed in two places:

    1. It needs to be logged in the editable Aerial Academy Cover Spreadsheet. 

    2. The instructor name of who is teaching the class needs to be changed in the app. 

    As per your contracts, when you engage a substitute, you still remain ultimately responsible for the delivery of the class.

    The person requiring cover is responsible for finding a cover instructor and logging the cover in the spreadsheet and the instructor engaged to deliver the cover is responsible for making sure the instructor name changed over in the app so they get paid. If they are a cover instructor, they will need to send an email to Lydia or Nicola so we are able to activate full Instructor privileges on your key fob for that week.

    Who covers your class is completely your choice. Please be wise and choose someone who is skilled enough to cover the level class you need cover for. You may want to sort your cover privately, or the request can go into the general Aerial Academy “Instructors + Cover Team” group chat, or back to Nicola or Lydia directly.

  • Whenever you are in the Aerial Academy building, you represent us. You are employed for general aerial instruction as a contractor only, but we would love if you would also:

    • Offer any help and guidance to any parents, students and visitors to the building.

    • Wear and advertise Aerial Academy merch in you classes and around the site as much as possible

    • Demonstrate safe rigging practices when in Open Training space with students

    • Demonstrate safe mat practices when in Open Training space with students

    • Clean and tidy spaces anytime you see mess or gear left out

    • All students and instructors must use a mat during Open Training at all times. No exceptions. Please feel free to pull students up on this if you spot anyone training without a crash mat. This is a health and safety issue and violates the terms and conditions of their membership agreement.

    • All students and instructors must not rig higher than 7m during Open Training Times.

    • Instructors and working professionals may choose whether or not to use a mat for training only if they are hiring a full studio to themselves OR if they are inside Studio 4 - Te Whenua Training Lounge. We accept that you are adult professionals so you get to choose, but you do so completely at your own risk.

    • All classes must be taught with safety mats.

    • Please do not post social media content that shows you training inside Aerial Academy, without a mat. If you must post studio content without a mat, please crop out the floor so that it is not obvious.

    • Permission to teach “Orbiting” (outside the bounds of the mat) in a classroom setting may be given on a case by case basis. It must be cleared with Lydia or Nicola first.

  • The Te Whenua lounge and training space has been created especially to cater to you as instructors. This space is always SHARED at all times. It is never fully bookable for personal private sessions. No student classes or workshops will ever be taken in here. You may however, be taught a private lesson here by someone else, or bring a student in and take them for a private lesson in the training space. Our general expectations of the use of this space are as follows:

    • The Instructor Storage space is left tidy, apparatuses neatly arranged in their places on the walls

    • The kitchen is left tidy, dishes are cleaned after use or in the dishwasher

    • Coffee machine/airfryer/microwave is left clean after use

    • Any fridge food must be named and not left to rot please

    • Students are not brought into the space (without permission of a Nicola or Lydia) unless they are paying for a private lesson with you.

  • Our students deserve our best as Instructors. In order for us to keep our teaching current and up to standard, we will conduct 6 monthly teaching reviews for all our timetabled instructors. Lydia or I will turn up to one of your regular classes at random, sit in on that class and evaluate your teaching based on the following criteria:

    Did instructor check if anyone new was present? And did they introduce themselves if so?
    Did instructor check everyone in on the app?
    Did instructor check for injuries/pain or body issues?
    Did instructor ask students to remove jewellery on the silks?
    Did instructor do an adequate 15min warm up?
    Did instructor offer suitable conditioning for the class level?
    Did instructor give a confident and cheerful and fun presentation of the content?
    Did instructor work with every student in the room? Did they ask each person if they wanted help?
    Did instructor use everybody’s name at least once during class?
    Did instructor ask if there were any questions at least once during the class?
    Did instructor demo with the right amount of detail? Was their breakdown of the move(s) sufficient?
    Did instructor offer regressions/progressions as applicable?
    Did instructor give praise and encouragement out to their students freely during class?
    Did the instructor communicate all their content clearly?
    Did the instructor manage their time efficiently? How was the pace of the class?
    Did the instructor talk about risk and safety around moves where appropriate?
    Did instructor give a cool-down or instructions for cooling down?

    This process is also helpful for us to see what content is working for students and what we need to adjust or change.

  • We expect all our instructors to hold a current first aid certificate. This is just another way we can ensure our students are as safe as possible while in our care at Aerial Academy. We will remind you when your certification is coming up to expiry so you can book a refresher.

  • The safety of our members, instructors, contractors and visitors is our collective responsibility. All incidents, injuries, illnesses, hazards and near misses must be reported promptly so that appropriate action can be taken to protect everyone in our studio.

    What should be reported?
     Please report any of the following:

    • Any injury to a member, instructor, contractor or visitor, regardless of how minor it appears.

    • Any illness that may be related to activities at the studio.

    • Any equipment or rigging failure or damage.

    • Any hazard or unsafe condition.

    • Any "near miss" where someone could have been seriously injured, even if no injury occurred.

    • Any behaviour or situation that created a risk to members health and safety.

    Examples of injuries where reporting is not needed: Scrapes, small bruises, small cuts not needing extensive medical attention, friction burns, mild sprains or soft tissue injuries not needing any medical attention.

    Illnesses might include: Fainting, seizure, chest pains, cardiac arrest, vomiting, contagious conditions such as lice or scabies which would mean sterilization of studio and equipment.


    When should it be reported?

    • Any incident involving injury, equipment failure or an immediate safety risk must be reported to a Director immediately, before leaving the studio, where reasonably practical.

    • All other incidents, hazards and near misses must be reported as soon as possible, and no later than the end of your class.


    What is the procedure?

    1. Ensure the immediate safety of everyone involved.

    2. Provide first aid or call emergency services (111) if required.

    3. Notify a Director immediately.

    4. Complete the Studio Incident Report Form with as much accurate and factual information as soon as you can.

    5. Follow through with any follow-up investigation or review necessary.

    Please report only factual observations. Avoid assumptions or assigning blame. The purpose of incident reporting is to identify hazards, improve our systems, and prevent similar events from occurring again.


    Serious Incidents
    If an incident involves a serious injury, illness, death or another event that may be notifiable under the Health and Safety at Work Act 2015, immediately notify a Director or Manager. Do not disturb the scene of the incident unless it is necessary to:

    • assist an injured person;

    • remove a person from immediate danger;

    • make the area safe; or

    • comply with emergency services' directions.

    The Directors will determine whether the event must be notified to WorkSafe New Zealand and will complete any required reporting.


    Remember
    Reporting an incident or near miss is never about placing blame. It is an important part of maintaining a safe, supportive and professional environment for everyone at Aerial Academy.

  • Neck hanging (or attempting to hang singularly by any part of your neck without any other bodily support) on an aerial bar or rigid apparatus, carries extreme risk. It can cause cervical spine damage, acute disc herniation and cause crushing pressure on the carotid arteries that can trigger nerve compression, paralysis or sudden loss of consciousness due to disrupted blood flow to the brain. 

    Due to the significant risk of serious and permanent spinal injury, teaching neck hangs on any fixed or aerial bar apparatus is strictly prohibited at Aerial Academy. This includes demonstrating, spotting, or permitting members to attempt neck hangs during classes, private lessons or under your supervision in an Open Training environment. There will be no neck hanging on a bar permitted during any student performances held within the studio.

    While neck hangs can be performed “safely” by a small number of highly experienced artists under specific conditions, the consequences of incorrect technique are severe and disproportionate to the educational benefit. As such, Aerial Academy has determined that this skill is not appropriate for our teaching environment.

    Professional artists and instructors may choose to pursue neck hangs independently at their own risk; however, this must occur privately in their own time and never during student Open Training sessions or at any other time when students are present and may observe and attempt to imitate the skill.

Rates & Remuneration

  • You will need to send an invoice to Aerial Academy at the start of each month with last month's classes listed out, and the full amount you are owed. Please include: 

    • Date of each class taught

    • Name of each class taught

    • Total owed

    • Your address

    • Your bank account number

    • Include if you are GST Registered

    Our invoicing will be done by someone outside the studio, so the generated app list of the classes you have taught each month, must match up with the names of the classes you have listed on your invoice. This means if someone is covering your class, you need to make sure it has been changed over in the app.

    Invoices will be paid within 10 days of receiving the invoice.

  • On the odd occasion you may have no students turn up for your class. We still expect you to turn up at the studio for your allotted teaching session. We will pay you for teaching the class regardless, but in return we require you to stay for at least 30 minutes after the class has started to ensure no one turns up late.

    We would generally expect you to use the remaining part of the hour for future class planning, social media posts advertising the studio and your class(es) and/or personal aerial training.

  • We encourage our instructors to build their own private client base and recognise that different instructors bring different levels of experience, qualifications and demand. To allow for this, instructors may choose their own private lesson rate within the studio's approved pricing range of $75–$110 per hour.

    Regardless of the rate chose, the Studio will retain the greater of either $25 OR 25% of the lesson fee to cover the use of our facilities, booking systems, administration, payment processing and general overheads. The remaining 75% will be paid to the instructor.

    Your chosen rate (between $75-110) is entirely up to you. We simply ask that all private lessons remain within the approved pricing range to ensure consistency and fairness across the studio.

    Private lessons should be held in the Studio 4 - Te Whenua instructor training area. Students are invited in to share this space for the duration of their lesson only.

    Private lessons will not exceed 2 participants.

    Aerial Academy do not accept cash for private lessons. The booking and payment must be made online.

  • Aerial Academy will offer private group bookings such as hen's parties, birthday parties, corporate events, school groups and other special events.

    These sessions are typically 1.5 hours in duration. Instructors who are allocated to teach an event will be paid a flat rate of $67.50 per event.

    The Studio manages all event enquiries, bookings, pricing and payments. Instructors are responsible for delivering a safe, engaging and enjoyable experience that represents the Studio professionally and creates a memorable experience for our guests.

    Event opportunities will be offered based on instructor availability and suitability.

little disclaimer…

The information contained in this document is intended to provide guidance for instructors on the Aerial Academy's current expectations of them and our policies, procedures, and operational practices as they relate to teaching. As Aerial Academy grows and evolves, these may be amended, updated, or replaced from time to time to meet operational, legal, health and safety, or business requirements.

While we will always aim to communicate any significant changes, Aerial Academy reserves the right to modify the contents of this document at any time. We ask that all instructors take responsibility for remaining familiar with the current version of all policies, procedures, and expectations applicable to their engagement.

Our goal is to create the best possible environment for our instructors and students, and we appreciate your flexibility and support as we continue to grow together.

thank you for all being amazing human beings!

Nga Mihi NUI & lots of love,

Nicola & Lyds
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