JulieW

We went to Ikea - took one of the other mums who was on her own We were there for finals 5 years ago so I have hazy memories of it now, but I do remember the look on one of the mum's faces when it became clear that there were a handful of us there from WL with children who had been "assessed out" - she had no idea that could happen and thought once they were in a school that was it. The other thing I remember was being made to feel very welcome (and that I thought the boys' boarding houses could do with a lick of paint - I'm still not impressed with the grey corridors!). Have a great day everyone and best of luck

I was mainly thinking of Elmhurst and White Lodge as I know their letters come during half term, but I know that Hammond and Tring have assessments too - just not sure when they get their results. When I think back, waiting for year 9 (especially) appraisal results ranks as much worse than results of auditions

Just wanted to wish everyone waiting for their assessment/appraisal results good luck, and to say that if it's bad news I'm at the end of the keyboard to "listen" - we know how awful it is, but also that it's not the end of the world, or a possible ballet career.

Everyone's made some very valid points. There are girls I know at Elmhurst sixth form ranging from about 5' to 5'8" and similar at other upper schools/sixth forms. Granted, some of the shorter girls have been turned down for auditions due to their height, but that really has been the minority of auditions. (And one of our tall friends certainly has her own concerns about being able to find a company who will like her.) There has been an observation made by others on the forum (and on the old one) that ENBS seemed to like taller girls, but we know shorter ones there too, and as we can see from Littleballerina's experience so far, her height being 5'2" has not stopped her from getting some good final auditions, so the directors are obviously interested in seeing more of her I appreciate you're trying to limit the possible "rejections" for your daughter next year, but unfortunately, if she wants to have a good shot at this, it may be something she'll have to live with. And as Glowlight says, there may be other reasons why your daughter cannot end up having a classical career, but the ballet training will be good for other dance styles if she chooses to change direction (I'm now thinking of a friend of ours who went through WL and US to find out she had a problem with her feet which meant she couldn't do pointe work - she changed direction and has been very successful since).

I've heard good things about the MIDAS one and even though the CAT scheme might not be exactly what she's looking for it might be worth investigating if money is a bit of an issue because it's run on a bursary basis. We could never have done it for my daughter because our income meant we would have had to pay the whole lot (which was still too much for us with one away at vocational school!) but my friend's daughter goes to one in London and doesn't pay a thing except the travel.

I agree with meadowblythe's comments, especially that it gives the students a chance to meet up with other students (they live in a very "small world" at their schools) and to dance under different teachers, and have a couple of extra points - one for and one against: The summer holidays are very long at vocational schools - 2 months off dance really does feel like too much My son really was never bothered about going to summer schools from years 7-11 (he went to one once) because he really just wanted to come home and rest - plus they are usually at the start of the holidays when we like to head off in the trailer tent for our usual walking holidays And I do also sometimes feel a bit like perhaps we should leave the summer schools for the students who haven't got the opportunity to have the experience during the rest of the year (but I haven't quite made up my mind about that ). Especially if places are limited and vocational students might take up places that others can't then get. Am I making sense......?

Lala - someone may be able to give you numbers of how many older students audition for WL, but I can tell you it's not many - usually only a handful for each year at best and sometimes noone goes into an existing year group.

Gosh I remember this wait for letters so well - horrible time - good luck everyone

I can't say that I've ever considered Elmhurst to be "behind" ENBS in the list of schools - especially more recently with Desmond at the helm. Although the ENBS students seem to stand more chance of getting into ENB, they don't have many students who go into RB or BRB - they tend to be the ones from Elmhurst and RBS. Aside from that the graduates seem to get contracts at very similar companies. Sadly for Elmhurst, some people seem to think it's more important for the students to be in London, and forget that they have some outstanding teachers and very close links with BRB. We certainly had to consider that our initial reaction was that the name of ENBS seemed to carry more weight, but since finding out more about graduate destinations, I'm not so sure - perhaps my son would've stood more chance of getting into ENB, but I think that would've been the only advantage IMHO. I think Elmhurst have sometimes kept students on who perhaps are not destined to be classical dancers, so maybe the list of contracts don't look so impressive in some years, but like Central, the students are encouraged to be the best dancers they can be for the genre that suits them.

I had reservations about the school when we were there 3 years ago, however, I warmed to it when we went for the final audition when they had a really good open day and made us very welcome (the food was lovely!!). The premises and facilities aren't great, but the standard of dancing was very high (which I expected) and their connections with the company are good. However, when my son had the choice between Elmhurst and ENBS we chose Elmhurst for the following reasons: Desmond Kelly! Better facilities Wonderful physio Connections to BRB More British students (well, just more students - although very small year of boys which has meant wonderful, almost 121 teaching at times) Bigger school generally Living in a boarding house for the first year An acting AD in place at ENBS at the time - and I worried that a new one wouldn't like him (not a silly worry as it turned out I feel) Son already at Elmhurst so he knew it well and was very happy there What nearly swayed us to choose ENBS: Would've been closer to home Son would've preferred living in London Connections to ENB Standard of students was very high We have known both students who have been very happy there, and those who have been very unhappy and left for a variety of reasons. You just have to go with what feels right for you (if you've got a choice of offers of course )

If you don't get much response on here I suggest looking at the "Notapushymum" forums - you're bound to find some help there

After a bit of prompting from a few of us at the start of term, the school have been really helpful, however, ultimately it comes down to the students finding the auditions and applying. They have had the opportunity to talk to their teachers and the AD about what would be best for them and we've had one company AD in to see the students (maybe more - we just don't always get to hear about them!!).

You could still get a place in mid or senior associates - some do, despite not getting to finals for WL. And it used to be the case that everyone who got to finals, but were unsuccessful for WL, then got an associate place, but last year that wasn't the case - there were some who didn't get either.

Thanks all and good luck to your daughter Flowerdew - it doesn't seem like they're old enough does it?! It only seems like yesterday (well, maybe a year or two ) when he went off to WL. Homesickness to deal with for the first year, assessed out of year 9 (yuk - horrible time), happily off to Elmhurst, but then auditioning for sixth form places (stressful) - but all been worth it in the end! And dadadance - yes it is quite a long way from home, and the language will be interesting, but there's several Brits (and ex-Elms) out there already

Thanks for asking Primrose - I was keeping it under my hat until the contract's signed - but I can tell you that he's been offered a contract for a classical company in Europe, but apart from that I'd better keep quiet until it's all sorted. I'll let you know more soon! Suffice to say, he's really happy, and I cried when he rang me to tell me Feels a bit surreal at the moment, but he's home next week and we'll go out and celebrate and talk about it properly (he's not good on the phone!)

Maybe put it in a topic with a clearer title? There must be some out there....

Been thinking of you DamhsaMom - hope your son coped OK with the news and sorry I couldn't offer any sensible advice! We had to cope with my son's letter when he was assessed out of year 9 at WL, but we then got busy sorting out his Elmhurst audition and subsequent place - I'm not sure how he'd've coped if that hadn't been successful.

Frustratingly, sometimes it's just that indefinable something. I wish I could be a fly on the wall at their deliberations.

I took photos that day, but only of older students, sorry!! I've got some of my daughter and friend in the same costumes from about 7 years ago - could use those as a substitute

Were they girls (do we know)? And does this possibly mean that BRB and RB may be making announcements on 2012/13 contracts before too long....? (It's a bit weird at Elmhurst because they don't actually go to audition at BRB - David Bintley will have already seen the dancers at the school or in company class, so it's all a bit of a mystery)

And of course, sometimes they think they've got it right, but the girls change at puberty and get assessed out.....

Ballet mad - I'm slightly concerned at you saying that some who got through to finals "aren't as good as my child" . This really won't help your daughter if she hears/feels this is how you feel. She is bound to then feel "rubbish" herself if she knows you think that some of those he did get through weren't as good as her. Forgive me if I've got the wrong end of the stick and your daughter doesn't know this is how you feel. Spanner makes some interesting a useful points - there are lots of reasons why one child gets through and another doesn't at any one time. Your child might be the most advanced technically in the room and still not get to finals if there's something about her physique that's not quite what they're looking for, for example. I've also seen wonderfully gifted children with great technique and physiques who have terrible musicality/timing. All you can do is do your best to cheer her up, move on to doing/looking forward to other exciting things and try again next year.

And there's still the original question of why it's on the application forms at all. I'm sure they never look at that piece of information again once they see them at audition.

I think this is best discussed in this part of the board: http://www.balletcoforum.com/index.php?/forum/4-discuss-this-forumsite-and-future-possibilities/

It might have been Miss Saidi - she choreographs for NYB.