JulieW

I can only speak for WL and Elmhurst here - our private health insurance wasn't covered by the MDS award at WL, but it was at Elmhurst (I think it's to do with the difference in fees) At Elmhurst it also covered dance uniform and instrumental tuition - and I'm sure there was something else.....

Good luck everyone Enjoy the day. Look out for my "little" boy!! He gets used to people smiling and saying hello despite him having no idea who they are

You're not alone Spanner - I was thinking the same Sounds like a lovely place and "lucky you" to those there (I wonder if people are put off even applying because it looks unaffordable, as they wouldn't know about the possibility of scholarships/bursaries)

Many congratulations to those with places And just to clarify - the vast majority of students at the lower school (White Lodge) are British - something that changes at Upper School!

Oh dear It might turn out to be something else from the school - we had an invite from JAs for an event that turned up a couple of days before the "proper" letter.

Any post today? I would've thought they'd've arrived by now!

You're not inadequate - as Glowlight says, some of us have been around a long time!! You pick these things up as you go along and by getting to know people at auditions/the forums. Keep asking questions - someone else might be wondering the same thing but is too scared to ask.

I think by the end of March (but someone a bit "younger" than me might know better - things change - but I think someone asked this before on the thread about associates). (And don't worry about asking!)

Beautiful thank you

Not necessarily dancing10. They used to, but I know that last year not everyone did.

Sniffymum - generally that's the case - as the "no" is just a letter saying sorry that you've been unsuccessful and the "yes" contains other info (that always used to be the case for WL anyway - and I think Elmhurst is the same)

Oh Janet - I really wish I could've been there now I've read this

Absolutely agree - remember that three years after the excitement of getting the place, we were at the receiving end of the worst letter ever. That is also an occasion completely ingrained in my memory and makes me shudder and quite tearful when I think about it now, even five years on. We've discussed this at length on another thread of course, and it is worth reminding people, especially when going for years 8-11, that someone may be having to leave which is why there's space for you. But that's not the fault of the person getting the place and I think the existing students realise that too and make them welcome.

We got our letter a day later than everyone else (no facebook in those days - just lots of ringing round other parents who were friends from JAs etc!!). It was already a day later than in previous years so I was already climbing the walls and stalking the postman, so when I heard others had their letters I was ready to drive to the school to pick up a copy - and would've done if it hadn't arrived the following morning. I saw the postman walking down the other side of the road after I'd taken the children to school, so a friend and I went after him and fortunately I'd got to know him well enough that he didn't mind looking for our post (I'd've felt like a right wally if it hadn't been there). It was a fat envelope and I was shaking like mad when I opened it and felt quite let down that the letter was full of official stuff about what forms to fill in rather than like the one in Billy Elliot (I never like comparing things to that film, but I would've loved a nice handwritten envelope - lol). Friend came in and made me a cup of tea while I rang hubby who was on a coach with a load of colleagues going to a conference - I think they all celebrated with him. (Reality hit him a couple of days later when he started to think about finances.) Then I went down to the school at break time with a congratulations card for my son. He and friends ran around the playground screaming "I/he got in" when one of them stopped and said "Got in where?" Anyway - just thought I'd share as we're now coming to the end of our school part of the journey and I'm feeling quite nostalgic

Thanks Fiz - he's a flatcoated retriever - about 6 months in this photo - now 3 years old (and I've got a nearly 12 year old golden who I think is going a bit senile!)

And same from me too - I remember it so well - how exciting for you all

Well - what happened?????

But they're not saying they don't like you, just that you haven't passed your assessment this year. At least they are giving you the chance to see how things change. As someone else pointed out, children have been assessed out of WL to get back in again in subsequent years, having gone away and either changed physically or just improved whatever might have needed improving. Using our own example, had WL kept my son on, they'd have seen a huge improvement over the following two years - although some of that was due to going to Elmhurst where he was in a small class with an excellent physio (who referred him for review). On the point about going back for the last term and a half - we wouldn't have dreamed of him leaving before the end of the year as it was his home and he was very happy there. The "last time" doing everything was really sad but I can't imagine having missed out on his last time doing the Defile on the ROH stage, or performing at the summer fair. But others are different and would rather leave - I do understand that.

Many audition for other vocational schools, but not all get in, and some don't want to audition so go home and perhaps carry on dancing locally until trying again when they're older, and we've known the odd one or two give up on the idea of a dance career at that point and just dance for fun instead. We were given the opportunity for my son to go to the associates class on a Saturday, but he got into Elmhurst so we went for that . Our local comprehensive school didn't have spaces when I enquired, but they said that often people leave due to moving so he probably would have got in, but that was a worry. I think they're pretty sympathetic to your plight and would squeeze them if if at all possible.

I'd be happy to chip in from a "Doing Dance" user point of view (I was going to say this anyway after reading the above, and then read down to see Ribbons' vote of confidence - thank you for that - although I had to laugh about how I've "been around a long time" ) I'm not sure I'd be much use from a technical point of view (although I have a handy hubby!) but I would certainly be happy to help moderate.

Jellybeans - the Satisfactory with Concerns just means that they want to address something that might cause a problem. If that's not then overcome over the next year it would probably become an Unsatisfactory or, in my son's case, go back to Satisfactory followed by a place in sixth form. It's not that they don't like the student, just that there's something that needs more work in order to stay, or perhaps a concern about something physical that could go either way, but they're prepared to give it another year and see what happens. As for getting an Unsatisfactory, but staying at the school, this is different at WL and Elmhurst. At WL if you fail your appraisal then you leave, no matter which year you're in, but Elmhurst's policy is only to "assess out" of year 9 so you can get Unsatisfactory in your assessment in years 7 or 8 but stay at the school. I can see what you mean about an "unsatisfactory" student taking up a much-needed place, but it's a kinder way to treat children of this age, and I believe there are some who go on to get Satisfactory in following years - children change such a lot at this age. Part of me thinks WL is better, being "cruel to be kind" but then I come back to how young these students are and what a huge impact these decisions have on them. As I said before, some parents may choose to withdraw their child anyway after an Unsatisfactory result and if the child really wasn't getting anything out of the training I'm sure the school would suggest they find somewhere better suited to them - but that's just conjecture. And yes, waiting for these results (especially in year 9) is far worse than waiting to hear about any audition

To answer some of your questions/comments - the point is that we don't really have the answers and I think this is somewhere where the schools could do with being a bit more transparent - so this is just my opinion (and I can only talk about WL and Elmhurst from personal experience). The assessment/appraisal classes aren't quite like an exam where you pass or fail depending what you do on the day as they are mainly considering the student's physical traits, not just how well they do their pirouettes. For example, most of the people I know who have an idea of why they're assessed out have been for reasons like lack of flexibility, feet not being "right" for pointe, girls who no longer have the "right" physique. The panel will have had input into the score given like in an exam (we don't see the score at Elmhurst), but there is certainly a feeling that it's whether the director of the school likes you or not (at WL particularly). So I suppose this is where the disparity between their ballet reports and the appraisal results come in. Elmhurst results are given as "Satisfactory", "Satisfactory with concerns" or "Unsatisfactory" but the unsatisfactory only leads to them leaving in year 9 (some people choose to leave after an unsatisfactory result). As I have said before, the year before my son was assessed out of WL we had a results letter showing that he had passed his appraisal but that they had concerns about his future as a ballet dancer (turns out they were wrong of course as he now has contract ) so we had at least had a bit of a warning, but I know that not everyone gets this, and can have had a pass the previous year, and satisfactory ballet reports, to then find they aren't being offered further training. This is shocking when it happens, and some people will be very angry, but ultimately it's up to the director who is in their school and there's nothing you can do about that, you just have to live with it and move on in whichever direction is best for your child. There certainly have been some "odd" situations over the last few years with students being assessed out and then getting back in again, but as many of us know who those students are I'm not going to comment on what I think the reasons might have been. We all know about students who haven't got into the schools in the first place or even got through to finals, who have gone on to be successful at getting places for sixth form and, beyond that, jobs. The same goes for students who get assessed out. The schools just have to do what they think is right for them at the time and as parents we just hope they're wrong! (Primrose - good luck to your daughter - I never say "I'm sure she'll be fine" because what do I know - but I'm sure she will )

I haven't checked for this year, but it's usually the boys and year 8+ girls on the Friday and girls for year 7 on the Saturday.

I think they take the students out of school on the Friday at WL on a "visits day" if my memory serves me right

I was specifically thinking of the full-time students dancing10 as they hear during half-term and the results can have a huge impact on their lives one way or another, but of course I wish the best of luck to the associates too We had one horrible year at WL when the appraisals were at a different time and we were told to expect a phone call if they were not being offered another year's training - but not when the phone call might come. What a terrible couple of weeks they were - avoiding answering the phone, or coming home and dreading hearing Miss Van Schoor's voice on the answerphone, and the sick feeling when my friend rang me to say she'd had bad news. I've often heard people complain about the system, but I always say that we know that's how it is when the children go into the school(s). It is absolutely horrible when you get bad news, especially if it comes out of the blue, but you quickly have to move on and make other plans and as I have often said "what doesn't kill you, makes you stronger".