Lifeafterballet

I have a ds who wants to audition for 6th forms next year and a dd already on an mds !! If they are both successful in the future at one point I will have 2 on approx £15,000 each !! Happy days !! They may not even get a job at the end of it all !! I will have to work until I'm 70 to pay it off !! Would I have it any other way ? Probably not !

Friends ... I have calculated that if we are just under the £70,000 ceiling we will be paying approx £9,000 contribution towards the school fees ! And then approx £6,000 towards the accommodation depending on the school !! We are looking at about £15,000 per year with no opportunity to earn extra money to help !!

For a DaDa if your gross house hold income is over £70,000 then you pay full fees !!! If you are only a bit below that then you pay full price for accommodation on top of your DaDa contribution !! If you have one child on an MDS and one on a DaDa then there is no discount !! I have been researching the pitfalls of having 2 dc

My ds thoroughly enjoyed the senior summer school last year ! He was taught by brb dancers and the AD. The "sharing of work" at the end was very well put together and the standard was very high ! He is going again this year ! Dd is 13 so too young to do the senior one ! I believe you have to be in year 9 and 14 years of age to apply ! I don't feel that she would get much out of the junior one as it would not be much different from her normal class but a lot if fun I bet ! Last year was the first year they have had a junior ss so I feel it's a bit if a work in progress !

Yes here for DS

If I google my children's names pictures and articles about their cross country and rugby successes come up ! I have never put these on the internet myself. I am probably as naive as you Lemongirl but I believe it would be difficult to go into a career in ballet without some form of recognition ! I thought the whole point was to dance in front of an audience ! You can't achieve success and remain anonymous ! Can you ?

My dd did Plymouth which is just a ballet class !! I would choose Birmingham as they do a ballet, jazz and body conditioning class !! Worth the traveling ! Not 100% sure but on a Saturday I see the associates arriving at about 9 ! Some if them then go on to RBS JAs in Birmingham !

My oldest ds did his GCSES last year. He not only dances but club swims and plays alot of rugby ! I envisaged that this was going to be a problem in relation to revision time !! Then he broke his base of 5th metatarsal in the September and then his base of 5th metacarpal in the January !! These unfortunate sporting injuries turned out to be the best thing that could have happened !! Unable to do a lot if sport he did revision instead and gained 2 As, 8 Bs and 3 Cs !! All above his target grades !! I don't think he would ever have achieved this had he continued with his sporting commitments !! And the other positive was that in taking a break from a grueling schedule allowed him to grow !! Now he is approaching his AS level exams in a mature and organised way !! Ballet is still high on his agenda but the other sports have been reduced to provide revision time !! And so far no more broken bones !!

Dd got a pile of text books and got a year 9 friend to stand on them !! That and a bit of wall bashing did the trick !! But will never buy them again !!

Thank you Aileen , that is reassuring to know !! We can't do anything about Mother Nature can we !!

My ds is currently in year 10 and is hoping to audition for 6th form intake 2015 ! The problem we have is that he is smaller than dd who is in year 8 ! His older brother did not have a growth spurt until late in year 11 ! I worry that he will be tiny in comparison to the other boys and that his potential may not be considered because of this ! It would be comforting to him to think he could try again the following year !

Elmhurst don't assess out until year 9. I believe WL assess pupils every February and upon the results of this are offered another years training ! Sorry I don't know about others ! Good luck !! X

Dd has a Kelly Holmes one ! It's fab ! Lovely spongy removable cover ! There is so much more she can do on it than just "wobble" !! Oh and it came via Tescos !!

Posting at the same time Tutugirl ! Hate misunderstandings and shouting text !!!

I think the "rumour" comment was aimed at that there had been no successful Dd's or Dd's for the enbs finals from the feb 8th audition ! Tutugirl was merely dispelling that rumour with her Dd's success !! It was nothing to do with the ds bring offered a place straight away ! That's my interpretation of the thread anyway !!

Well done to your ds Tutugirl !

We got one for dd from thebarre.co.uk ! It is beautiful ! Comes in either black or cream ! Different lengths and adjustable height ! Very sturdy construction ! If you email or ring them they are very helpful ! Delivery was really quick ! We have the 2 metre cream in our conservatory ! Dd and ds find it really useful !

Thank you !! That was very interesting !

Hi Balletmummy, when my dd auditioned there were 22 year 5 girls auditioning for year 6 intake and they took 2 !! Dd loved the audition and the classes !! To my knowledge there are no shouty teachers !! Dd's was firm yet patient ! I don't believe that one centre is any better or successful than another ! The associate classes are weekly ! Some centres offer slightly more over the year than others !! IMO it is worth having a go !! My dd loved it and made some lovely friends ! Have you considered, depending on where you are in the country, the Elmhurst associate program ? Dd did both Elmhurst and RBS associates ! Leads you onto the roller coaster gently !! Hope your dd enjoys her taster day and good luck xx

I believe ballet training is a marathon and not a sprint ! With hopefully a lot of enjoyment and life long friendships made along the way !

Good luck tutugirl to your ds x And to all those making the journey to Elmhurst in the next 2 days x

Dd wore socks for her year 7 auditions. I think that is what is on the letters they send out. RBS and Elmhurst that is ! They continue to wear socks in year 7 too !

When my dd auditioned for Elmhurst they had their first audition and then if successful were invited to a final audition in March. No one was offered a place for year 7 at the first audition. There was also no funding auditions. Have things changed ?

Cross training is an excellent way to prepare for auditions. Our dds vocational school is introducing an enrichment program including such sports as tennis, gymnastics and swimming. Dd played rugby, netball and ran cross-country right up to and after her auditions.