Moomin

I am in complete agreement with you on this and my definition of a good teacher is not the same as Michelle's. However I do feel that the ability to 'pick up' quickly is not necessarily proportional to experience or technical proficiency. Some people just have much better short term memory than others. Even in a class of children at the same grade/ stage some are much better at this than others. I don't attend many dance workshops, there will be others on here much more qualified to comment, but the norm for other type of workshops is to receive a run down of the day, background reading, pre- workshop exercises etc so that you go to the workshop with enough background knowledge to participate fully. It's not unreasonable to expect that, it may not be that the full dance is sent out but maybe a run down of the day, which character/ variation (not necessarily version as it may be the teachers own and they may wish to tailor it to participants), list of steps to revise, background of the ballet in question etc. adults do require a slightly different approach as do different learnings styles. In general I think adults are actually better at picking up quickly than kids at a similar technical level because they attend more open classes and it is a skill that needs (a lot of) practice for many of us!

Unset enchainements actually start at grade 1 in our syllabus and get progressively more difficult with more steps as the exams progress. It's a really important skill but very difficult for some people, at least if you progress through the grades it becomes a more natural process. I do take Michelle's point that if it is a day workshop people want to feel that they have fully participated and learnt something and if you haven't yet developed those skills and can't pick up the main body of work very well it's not ideal and maybe methods should be adapted to be more inclusive. After all, they are not there as a 'professional' opportunity, it is meant to be an enjoyable day! In class etc though I think it's good to push yourself and develop those skills and the only way to improve is by having the pressure on!

My tendu tights have a hole in the seam and they haven't even laddered off that????

I know I'm old and probably very out of date but everyone at my school did double science and I have a postgraduate science degree and there were plenty of people who went on to study medicine, veterinary science etc. I found the step up from a level to degree far bigger than from gcse to a level. I also have 2 foreign languages at gcse which I have virtually never used! Although I accept they would give you a head start gcse isn't that great for giving you conversational skills, I imagine it would be very much easier to pick these up by actually living in the country. Ideally I think to take at least one is a good idea but if it doesn't work with other options its not the end of the world. as already pointed out languages are also extremely difficult for the 10% who are dyslexic and there's nonpoint taking something that you can't pass!

Fellow chocoholic 11/15????

Well I think I'm failing on all counts at some time or another! After a day's work, ferrying kids, making dinners, doing homework etc just turning up seems an achievement at times!

Sorry probably misunderstood your question when you mentioned hmrc I thought you wanted to know whether you could claim a tax rebate for uniform etc along with the other things. If it is more about your 'employer' yes I would delete too!

An hour or two with an accountant would probably pay for itself if you dont already use one!

10 is a very difficult age though with some bodies becoming quite 'developed'. The ones before that stage don't really care I don't think!

I don't know if there is more than one brand called tendu but this is what I have http://www.grishko.co.uk/Grishko_UK/Tendu_Tights.html The tights are fine but I have found that the hole in the foot has gone very baggy as there doesn't seem to be elastic around like other tights. I also have Gaynor minden and Russian pointe and the only ones that I've ever laddered are the gaynors but think that was just bad luck, they all seem pretty durable. The russian pointes have totally seamless toes which I love though!

Are tendu the ones made by grishko?

I'll bear that in mind for next time,thanks! A couple of the brands mentioned I find fairly wide but it probably depends on the exact shape of your foot and woukd be good to try on!

Are there any shops with a good range of brands available to try on?

I'd let her wear whatever she feels best in, if she's good enough surely a leotard won't make any difference! Perhaps it may even go against you to wear a ja leotard as the judging panel will expect a higher level of technique if you've had that intensive training. I can't imagine why other mums would feel the need to get involved in what your daughter wears, that would irritate me rather a lot!

I've always had the no knicker rule for exams etc too thought it was the norm. I wash leotards and tights after so no particular concern about hygiene and on a little girl I dont object really. No different to a swimming costume. When they start wearing tights I think you can get away with knickers underneath without too much bother.

The other thing is how long are the nose bleeds lasting?

She definitely needs to see the Dr just to check there's no infection and probably for a blood test. Having said that my daughter also has a lot of nose bleeds. The problem is that once she's had one it re-opens easily so she will get bouts of them. They are definitely worse with anything that causes irritation in the back of the nose (hayfever, colds etc) and when she has a fever. Presumably because both of these will cause the blood vessels to dilate. We've had a ridiculously long hayfever season this year- does she suffer? I believe nose bleeds are also linked to hypermobility in the same way as easy bruising- the blood vessels walls are weaker than normal due to the collagen defect.

There is definitely an increase in children with rickets, and yes I agree that it had virtually died out but the main reasons are a. majority of people use sunscreen and limit sun exposure demographic changes mean that there are more darker skinned people c) there is a higher proportion of people who cover their skin for cultural reasons. So I agree with you that the human race has evolved to obtain enough vitamin d but various factors have changed in a very short space of time leaving a number of people exposed to deficiencies. As vitamin d is fat soluble it accumulates and the idea is that you make enough over the summer to build up a store for winter. For a fair skinned person 20 mins direct sunlight on face & arms every day in summer months is meant to be enough, not much really

GPs wouldn't usually do any test unless you have symptoms or risk factors though so those tested are not necessarily representative. It also de mDS on what time of year you had the test. 30- 75 is borderline. It's not cheap to get tested, if just follow the doh guidance should be fine unless you are already eating a high amount of fortified foods or are pale and have a high sun exposure. I would imagine that the food at a vocational school is quite good quality and balanced so other supplements shouldn't be necessary. If the student has a restricted diet/ low intake of things like dairy they may need supplements but I think it would be on a case by case basis

M&s have lovely childrens' microfibre seam free knickers in white. You could probably soak them in tea or coffee to make them a more beige colour? I've seen some in dance shops too but rather expensive!

And Lisa there is no way I would battle with taking a cat to the vet unnecessarily! I would definitely treat at home if possible but maybe the issue is that it's such a young kitten, can you use the normal stuff on her?

If you buy from a registered online pharmacy you can be assured that your (vet) medicine is what it claims to be and that it has been stored correctly. You need to look for a text box (usually in green) which will give the registration number and you can double check that on the GPhC website. It's no different to buying from your local pharmacy but as the overheads are less is often cheaper. I wouldn't buy from eBay at all, you could be buying anything and who knows where it will have come from! If your vet can recommend a vet supplier that will be fine too but I don't think there is a way to check credentials if you find them online. Obviously the vet does have a vested interest in you buying from them. A few years ago there was a ruling that they must give a prescription if asked for one to try and introduce competition to decrease the mark ups applied. Unfortunately a number of vets now charge a large amount to write the prescription (which obviously isn't charged if you buy the medication from them). Always worth shopping around! I haven't had a cat for a long time but frontline certainly used to be exactly the same if you bought it from the pet shop

Does he use sunscreen? As you rightly pointed out the amount gained from diet is low (unless fortified/ supplemented) it's usually lack of sunlight that's the problem whether that be because of limited exposure, use of sunscreen (which is also in a lot of makeup & moisturisers now) or covering of the skin. A word of warning about multi supplements- minerals such as iron tend to bind to lots of things including some vitamins, so they won't be absorbed. Also some food stuffs, never have a cup of tea after eating or a supplement, the tanin binds to some vitamins meaning that you won't absorb them!

There is masses of research going on atm & it is anticipated that in the future the RDA will rise dramatically for Vit D; apparently sun on the arm/legs doesn't make nearly enough & it's sun on the torso that matters - to get enough from a normal diet you'd need to eat about 3lbs of oily fish a day!! & run around with a near naked torso for about 300 days a year......bit chilly imo I don't think this reflects current nhs guidance? The majority of people are not low in vit d and as it is toxic at higher doses would urge some caution. a lot of GPs will ask you to buy vitamin d as it is freely available and cheap.

Good advice to check the amounts. Just checked there's 3mcg in our cereal but will depend on your serving size! There are also various other foods which are fortified, if you can get the fortified milk that has a lot in and you get the calcium aswell. vitamin d is needed to absorb calcium which is what is actually needed to keep your bones strong so also very important. So unless you have a high calcium intake maybe best to get a calcium and multivitamin supplement. Although it's also worth bearing in mind that vitamin d is not water soluble so accumulates in the body and can cause problems if you have too much aswell!