2dancersmum

I used to work as a tutor for a home schooled group so I have met quite a few people who chose to home school their children. I actually taught pre gcse level but several of them had older children successfully taken through gcses and a levels and onto university. Most areas across the UK have 'home educator networks'. These not only provide advice and help but most areas also organise classes and workshops. Typical classes offered are for drama, pe and arts and crafts. I found that parents often formed little groups with similar aged children for certain subjects. For instance, one parent was good at biology and did biology classes with them, another at maths. I was hired by one such group to teach them a foreign language. Exams for home schooled children - my friend homeschooled her DD and she took her exams over several years rather than all in year 11. She took maths and art in year 9, sciences in year 10 and English in year 11. Not sure if you are still able to do it like this but concentrated bursts of a few subjects at a time worked well for them. As you do research though I would certainly look through options with the local council and in particular try and find your most local network group. http://home-ed.info/local_groups Edited to add link

You are allowed small scissors as per the document that Jane posted a link to but they can and often do stop you to check the scissors. I and my DD were both pulled over at security and yes you do feel like a criminal and they took the scissors out and looked at them. Ours were nail scissors that were rounded /curved at the end and they were ok. He told us it was the sharpness they looked at and if they have sharp points they might be confiscated even if smaller than government guidelines.

Travelodge near the school - ok - but not great. Unless it has been refurbished in the past year it is rather 'tired' although location is good. There are plenty of b&bs on hoole road in chester. Family and friends have stayed at The Bowman and Bawn Lodge and have been happy enough to go back again. If you want accommodation for Chester you do generally need to book well in advance though.

I don't actually know if they are drop in but when my DD enquired about contemporary classes in London she was recommended Danceworks, Flow Dance London and City Academy, though there are some classes at Pineapple also. DD never actually tried any out as she got a contract and off she went so I cannot actually say I recommend any of them but these were the names given to her by dancer friends in London.

Hammond - school day runs from 9am to between 6 and 7pm generally. First year is a joint year for dance and musical theatre strands. 2 A levels are optional - 4.5 hours a week for each subject so 9 hours of academics. There is about 3-4 hours a week of singing and drama too in the first year. The rest is dance with a strong bias towards ballet. Students who don't do A levels do either pilates or Zumba or both and can study for teaching qualifications in pilates. Years two and three have separate strands for dance or musical theatre students and they are taught separately, apart from for tap where all years are put in classes according to level. Dance students drop to 1 class a week I believe for singing and acting and increased hours of dance. I don't know the exact split for MT students, just that they do very little contemporary or ballet as their dance is more focused on jazz. Extra hours as required for rehearsals. In addition if students wish to take syllabus classes in ballet, jazz or tap, these are held before or after school. This is how it was for my DD who graduated in 2015.

I think you may need to clarify exactly what you are enquiring about here. Year 7 entry to the full time vocational school ?- if so it is not musical theatre. The only musical theatre courses full time at Hammond are for post 16 - the level 6 diploma in Musical Theatre or the BA Honours degree course. For entry at year 7 Hammond is one of the 4 schools (along with Royal, Elmhurst and Tring), where funding is given through MDS (music and dance scheme). Applicants obviously have to audition and funding is given on ballet assessment . Hammond also have an associate programme.

Happymum, as I said before it seems to be a grey area. If you leave vocational school with A levels but no higher education qualification (ie without the level 6 diploma), I believe you would be entitled to a student loan and I do know personally of students currently at university who already gained a level 6 qualification but still got a student loan (unless they are just leading us to believe that ). This is contrary to the eligibility guidelines which specify that a student loan is for the first higher education qualification only. I can only assume they assess on an individual case by case basis. On the other hand, I think you need to consider why you want the university option after the trinity level 6 diploma. It is aimed at getting the students ready for their performing career . You are in any case eligible for funding for the 1 year BA conversion course so that the student converts their diploma into the BA Honours Professional Practice.

Student loans are not available for those who have done the 3 year level 6 diploma for two reasons as far as am I aware. 1/ a loan is only normally available for the first higher education qualification (A levels are still further education qualification not higher so might be ok there) and 2/ with a normal university loan the government (through taxpayers) are paying the 'gap' between the course fee and the amount of the student loan and I am told that the DADA is the equivalent of this 'gap money'. Having said that I think it is a pretty grey area, as despite the rules of eligibility , I do know students who have gained their level 6 diploma and then gone to university a few years later, seemingly with a student loan. Re: the 6k loan instead of the full student loan. I don't think it applies to all of the reputable dance schools. I thought Central Sschool of Ballet, Urdang, Royal Conservatoire of Scotland and Rambert were the full student loan, as are the contemporary degrees at Trinity Laban, Northern Contemporary etc.You really do need check the situation for any school you are interested in as things are changing all the time as schools introduce new courses and new funding. Bird, Hammond and I think Millenium have all now introduced degree courses that are elgibile for student loans and I am sure there are others, especially for MT.

No knowledge of the Northeast for dancewear but I can recommend Dancique in Birmingham for fittings. They have a good range of shoes and are excellent fitters. They have a facebook page and you should be able to get any questions answered prior to a visit and book a fitting. https://www.dancique.co.uk/

My DD has had a few pairs of the Bloch Serenade Strong that have lasted the same number of hours as that, though over months not years as she was at vocational school and doing a lot more pointe than 1/2 a week. Equally she has had bloch serenade strong that have worn out in half the time of other shoes. She did not start out in the strong though and only switched to them when she started killing shoes more quickly. She has worn a mixture of Bloch and Freed mostly over the years and generally had 4 pairs on the go, rotating them with her own preference for performance ready, exam ready or just for class.

I'm so sorry Klaris to hear of your DD's repeated injuries. I'm glad she has found an alternative career and is looking forward to it. Two of my DDs teachers at primary school had trained post 16 in dance at vocational schools. they were supportive of dance not just in primary school but for any other performances children might be involved in and always went to watch. For the others, well done for supporting your children. Its a very difficult decision for a child to decide that their dreams are no longer what they wanted, especially as they get older. My youngest DD has also come to this conclusion. She is still dancing but purely for pleasure. She did not go to summer school this year and has dropped associates. She is aiming at going to university but not for anything dance related. It was a slow realisation for my DD over 18 months or so and seeing her sister start dancing professionally made it even clearer that it was not what she wanted for herself. As others have said, I don't think any of the time or money spent on her years of dancing is wasted. Ballet has helped make her the person she is today.

I completed the survey on your last post 2 days ago on behalf of both my daughters. Is this not the same survey as the one you posted in a different thread 2 days ago? I don't think you should be starting up another thread if this is the same thing. Apart from any other reason your survey results are going to be rather skewed if the same people redo the same survey.

National Youth Ballet puts on an annual production at a regional theatre and a special London gala performance. Several years ago it used to be rehearsals every weekend for a number of months which was very difficult and expensive for those taking part - especially since it aimed to be for dancers all over the uk and not regional. So they started doing a concentrated rehearsal period - residential for the older dancers and during the summer holidays. this combines with a summer school so that when not needed in a rehearsal, dancers are not sat around waiting but can take part in classes instead. So all participants will be in the production but how much time they spend in rehearsal and how much time is spent in summer school classes depends on the part(s) they get offered. Auditions are held - prelims and finals and you are auditioning for a part in the production. I hope that helps clarify. There are lots of threads on the forum about NYB.

6th form costs will vary considerably from school to school. DD went to Hammond and gained 2 A levels as well as her level 6 diploma. No fees for A levels or for RAD/ISTD classes, although entry free for dance exams with RAD/ISTD obviously had to be paid. Photos in graduate year was headshots only, no charge for the shoot, just any photos you bought. Standard costs for uniform, pointe shoes, insurances, trips etc,although not tied to a specific school shop so you could source items of uniform yourself. Balletbean - my DD went at 16 and always wanted still do A levels. Her Plan B was to do A levels first and then audition at 18 for diploma and degree courses. She knew accepting a place was always going to be dependent on also obtaining funding - that chat we had to have with her. Tropicmama - how many hours and classes a week your DD does also depends on the age of your child obviously. DDs school was small and only offered 1 x 45 min class a week up to grade 2 (RAD). This increased to 2 x 45 mins per grade from grade 3 upwards, with 2 x 45 mins of vocational grades added in alongside standard grades from grade 4. DD also had 1 x 45 mins of jazz each week, increasing to either 2 x 45 mins or 1 x 1.5 hour class of jazz from intermediate level. She also had 1 x 45 mins class of non syllabus work each week, from grade 1 upwards. So my DD never managed the hours that many people on this forum talk about. She did the vocational grade below hers to give her some extra hours to increase her strength (no class above her level) DD did associates to boost her hours, workshops and a summer school. It was not until she reached adv 1 that we added in a 2nd school - giving her an extra 5 hours a week. It was an issue for us financially and timewise - no option but for me to drive her - over an hour each way and with other children to consider. What I am trying to say is that in my opinion it is the standard of training/the quality of the teaching, that is more important than the number of hours achieved.

Thanks for this Alison, I hadn't seen it. A new train station opened at Oxford a year ago (Oxford Parkway) and Chiltern have been operating trains there to Marylebone via Bicester for the past year, convenient perhaps for those driving into Oxford to catch the train as Oxford Parkway station is a way out of the centre. Oxford Central is only a ten minute walk from the town centre and its really interesting that Chiltern are now operating a service from there as well and thus offering a choice of Paddington or Marylebone with different train companies. Hopefully it will make some of the trains a little less congested.

To be honest the idea of a camera did bother my DD before she took her first class at that studio but she soon saw that the definition on the tv screen and the positioning of the camera was such that it gave an overview of the studio but was not such that you could really identify anyone. Most parents in the waiting area (and often there were none) barely even glanced at the screen. It was only because we were new and having travelled some distance to get there we did not know anyone. So I either watched or read my book or both.

One of the dance schools my DD went to had a camera in one of their studios that fed to the parents waiting area/café, no sound, just visual. It made the wait a bit more interesting as I did not have time to go home while she danced. She was a teenager by then and did not really want me watching but actually she would forget about the camera as soon as the class started. At her other dance school she had private lessons and I was occasionally asked in to the last ten minutes of a lesson to watch a particular dance she had learned

The teachers of the UK students will also probably be known to quite a few members of this forum as they are both RAD examiners as well as teachers.

The German Christmas market is on at the moment - really nice to visit but incredibly busy. On the pedestrian walk from Debenhams to New Street Station (the bridge bit) there is a very good sandwich and baguette place to grab a bite to eat - surprisingly cheap but lovely freshly baked bread and a good choice of fillings. Closer to the Debenhams end than the station. Birmingham Magic Lanterns is also on at the moment - from 5pm(?) each evening at the Botanical Gardens - not sure on entry price. And if you have a dancer with you , you can always check out DanceXchange for their Saturday drop in classes.

I was pleased to see that Birmingham Ballets 'Cinderella Dreams' really was inclusive of students of all ages. The role of the fairy godmother has gone to a lovely lady aged 75, who will be known i'm sure to any regular attendees of the adult RAD associates in Birmingham. What a lovely experience for her!

Google 'youtube to mp3' and you should find online programs to enable you to download a you tube file and convert it to a format you can use. Not done it myself but I know it can be done.

When my DD auditioned her dates ranged from early November to late February and it was the December auditions she got offers from! To be honest I don't think it makes much difference - a few weeks extra tuition at this level is not going to mean much. And that's even supposing you even get those extra few weeks. Most schools will close for Christmas and New Year anyway and there is always the weather to contend with. The year my DD auditioned we missed several classes in January due to snow and the journey for the last one in February was a nightmare. Good luck to your DD though

National Dance Company Wales do a very good one which I think is from about 14 or 15+ and Northern Contemporary Dance School offer a number of summer schools which are by age or level. Neither have accommodation included but the Welsh one has a hostel within the same building complex where a lot of them stay. We looked at both for DD but could not manage the dates but she has friends that have done one or the other and thoroughly enjoyed. The friends would have been in the 16-18 age category when attending and most of them at vocational school http://www.ndcwales.co.uk/en/get-involved/dance/courses/ - the summer school is not yet on their website but the link takes you to their next short course http://www.nscd.ac.uk/learning-participation/summer-school/ - preliminary information - when you apply it is usually broken into different groups

Not wishing to put a damper on anything but not all theatres will allow under 16 year olds to do work experience with them. The bigger ones that have a specific work experience program in place will be ok but this is not the case for many smaller local theatres.

Aw Lisa, I feel for you. I seem to remember you talking about this on the forum some time ago but it seems to be getting worse. I think you know in your heart of hearts that you need to do something as this current situation is not doing anyone any good, including your sister. It is especially not fair on Sean. He should not be involved, especially not financially. She may be your sister but he is your son and you have to put him first and put your foot down for his sake and his future. He should not be burdened with his aunties problems. One thing no one has really mentioned is talking to your sister's husband. You do not mention your relationship with him. Is he aware that she is calling you at such unreasonable hours? Would it be worth telling him that much as you love your sister, you cannot cope with the calls day and night and that you will be unplugging your phone at night? And then make sure you do just that. Whatever you choose to do, and it seems clear that you are going to need do something, I wish you luck. You have been given some great advice in other posts. Take your time and think things through.