Mumofsixthformer

Hi, regarding the question on A level options at Elmhurst I checked this with my daughter and they are offered a choice of English, Maths, Art, Dance and Business studies. French is only offered if there is sufficient demand. The academic department are very accomodating as my daughter wanted to do Law GCSE by herself (self study) and they said she could do this and they would enter her for the exam.

As a proud Mum of a daughter who has been given a sixth form place at Elmhurst I am now having to look at all possible ways to cut back because we know we are over the limit for a DaDa. She previously had an MDS for lower school and even that had a much higher cutoff point and we got help with fees plus BUPA and uniform costs were all covered. Elmhurst has a number of bursaries available though and they are assessing how many people fall into the 70K+ bracket so we are hoping we can also get some financial help through a bursary. I am deeply saddened by what the government has done as I know of many people that are now worried out of their minds as to what they can afford. My husband and I worked hard to get good University degrees and good jobs and we try to set an example to our children that hard work pays but the new DaDa system makes a mockery of this - so much for the government encouraging people back into work and rewarding married couples! I really hope we dont lose a lot of talented potential dancers but I think this is likely to happen!

My daughter is currently in year 11 at Elmhurst and decided not to audition for ENBS even though all her friends were auditioning. She really loves Elmhurst and felt the proximity of the sixth form accomodation plus the onsite restaurant were very positive benefits. She has spent a lot of time at ENBS when she did NYB rehearsals and just didnt like the facilities - this is obviously a personal choice, not a comment on ENBS. Plus she has great faith in Robert Parker as he really wants to strengthen the link with BRB and is a great inspiration to the students. Elmhurst are building a new accomodation block for both 6.1 and 6.2 next year and it is just across the road from the school. She is very excited about going into sixth form in September and looking forward to the many opportunities to dance with BRB. I would say she has been very lucky to be offered many opportunities to perform during her five years at lower school - in year 7 she went on a 2 week tour with the company, she was chosen to do the filming for the RAD Int Found DVD, performed at MoveIt and YBDY among other things. Also we found that unlike WL they dont mind their students doing external activities such as ChallengeGenee and NYB which she loved doing. Only a few of her friends are staying at Elmhurst for sixth form so we would be really keen to hear from anyone who is joining 6.1 in September?