This might be a bit long so forgive me if i ramble on a bit!

I teach at a school in scotland, we have a lot of different levels and classes on different days and recenty some of our younger students were moved up to the senior class as the work in their class was too easy and not challenging them enough. As a result of this a couple of girls were left behind without their friends and my SO decided to give them a shot at the harder classes.
So things are going really well with most of the girls and they are really coming along well and doing fantastic to keep up with some of the older students ( they have their own seperate class but group warm up and exercises from the corner are done together) but there are a few students, maybe 3 who are just not stepping upto the plate.
In the school we have always went by the rule that we dance to the level of the best dancer in the class so everybody has a challenge and is trying new things but i feel this just isn't working as some of the girls are struggling with even the basics of kicking and can not spot when turning etc while some of the girls are nailling fouettes!
Can anybody help me with some ideas to improve these girls other than practise or do i speak to my SO about having them moved back to the younger class? Any help would be much appreciated!

I would give them different combos in the same class. Just say, 1,2,3 you are going to do fouette's and 4,5,6 we are going to work on pirouettes.

I see nothing wrong with that. I do it all the time. Children progress at different rates. In a perfect world, there would be enough classes for all of the dancers to dance at their level, but there just aren't in dance studios.

They can still be challenged at barre and on some combos but why be frustrated and give them things that are way over their heads.

I agree with the above comment about doing a different variation of combos you do in class. Is there a way that these students can take extra technique classes or ballet classes? When I have students move up into one of my harder classes I still have them take the class that is a step lower just to keep them working on technique and the more practice the better and that has been working well.

Thanks very much! I had thought of splitting up the combos in class but didnt want to feel like i was singling anybody out but if thats ok to do i will give that a try! I am hoping they will see the girls with better technique and use them as inspiration in a way to work hard to get to their level, at least this is my hope! They are still attending their own level ballet classes to get them the strong basics and the classes they are doing is still lower than other levels so it isnt too advanced for them! I think to be honest it's no practise at home or stretching to get better and maybe a bit of laziness, they think we don't notice these things! Thanks for your help i will try these out!

I've often had this happen to my classes. When teaching progressions across the floor I have a basic version and a more advanced verion of the combo and in most cases it covers and challenges everyone in the class. A little bit more work on your end but for me it's been very successful.

Also, in addition to the above advice, many classes have "pecking order". Kids who work harder and do better, get to be in front, lead combos and across the floor. A student has to earn that right.

Hi thanks again for all your advice i have taken your advice dancinang and have spent the day making comos that can be simplified when needed! I am about to head to class so i shal let you all know how i get on! As for the pecking order dream_chaser we do have that in place the better dancers dance at the front and are given solos if it was me i would be working my bum off to be in that front line! These girls just dont seem to have that passion to be honest! Thanks again! x

Just wanted to update a little bit. I was at class last night and the girls behaved brilliantly! They were focused and asking for help and really trying as i broke down combos and promised solos in the dance we are doing for good behaviour and for people who i knew were trying and practising when not at class! This really seemed to work well even in our tap class where we are doing syllabus work for exams which they hate they were completely focussed! I am new to ddn and i found your help very useful somjust wanted to say thanks and i will definately be keeping up with the site! x