Picturesinthefirelight

My daughter is in her final year of training in musical theatre. 

I feel the forum has little relevance any more. It’s a shame as it’s been great over the years but it’s not the place it used to be. 

Ive spoken to some great posters over the years and had some great advice as both the parent of a dancer at vocational school and hopefully as the wife of a teacher at a vocational school I’ve had something to give. 

But its time to go now so thanks and goodbye. 

She trained at Bodyworks. 

Its very sad. 

Ban me if you like but in this particular circumstance it’s a STUPID rule. 

We had study leave.  Some left at Easter whose birthddays fell before that.  The rest of us left at the beginning of May.

None of our local schools have study leave.

51 minutes ago, Peanut68 said:

That’s us 🤣🤣🤣 No offence taken 😘

Considering my son got a Grade 2 3 in his recent science gcse mocks I wish they offered that option in state schools too. 

Every school/college that dd applied for had a medical questionnaire that including questions on injuries, medical conditions and eating disorders.  It would be unethical of a school not to enquire and it would be in your daughter's best interests to declare it so that appropriate support can be put in place and indeed it can be determined whether full time training is in her best interests at this stage of her hopefully recovery.

I hope that she gets the support she needs to come through this.  Accepting there is a problem and accepting help is a major hurdle she has already overcome.

2 minutes ago, Peanut68 said:

 

When looking at total number of GCSE’s studied  need to take into account whether it’s a double/triple or possibly single science award they are studying for. At say a very academic or typical grammar school then they may all do triple science so will typically  in effect hope to achieve 10-11 GCSE’s, if it’s double this may reduce to 9-10, or single science could reduce it down to

8-9 GCSE’s at mainstream school.

It seems to be much more common at schools since the introduction of the new 9-1 GCSE's and the increased content for triple science to be offered as an actual option block rather than trying to squeeze it into the same amount of timetable time as double.  Some schools are still persisting in only offering triple science to top sets and thus it becoming a 10th GCSE but many are offering it instead of.

Single Science GCSE is now longer available.  It is only available as an IGCSE and is generally only offered to very low ability students.

I have to say that taking 11 GCSE's under the reformed exams is absolute madness for any school/child.  The selective school I mentioned that has a good track record of sending children to Oxbridge/Russell Group has only ever offered 9 (with a 10th for top set Further Maths only).  

I've got a lot of friends whose children are currently applying for university (including Oxbridge) and from the research they have done (one of them is a spreadsheet queen that rivals even Katymac) quality over quantity is emphasised.  Only 8 GCSE's are required for even the most prestigious institutions.  Some places such as Nottingham score your best 8, others look at your best 5.

24 minutes ago, Dance.Mum said:

 

  I don't recall seeing Dance as  an option which surprised me.

 

Again I can only speak for Hammond but, following the GCSE reforms they decided to no longer offer dance as an option for the following reasons (given in an email to parents).  The children were already doing however many hours of dance a week and most already had dance qualifications that were of a much higher level than GCSE (which is Level 2 on the QCF equivalent to Grades 4/5).  Many already had Level 3 & 4 qualifications (Inter F - Adv 1) and it was felt that it would be better to offer a broader range of academic options such as introducing the option to take Triple Science

And for comparison Tring's GCSE option blocks are here

https://www.tringpark.com/curriculum/academic-curriculum/gcse-and-a-level-options

19 minutes ago, Dance.Mum said:

 

For us the academics has to be strong which is why we are undecided about possible entry this year.  One of the things that I am still not clear about with is what GCSEs are always available and the number they are allowed to do.  This also makes it difficult to assess the comparative successes of examination entrants.  Each school will give their headline results in a way that pouts them in the best light.  I have gone as far as looking at the entry requirements for university degrees that may be of interest further down the line and there are some who will look at the pass of certain GCSEs if you don't have the require subject at A level.

I can only speak about Hammond but most students take 9 GCSE's (the same number that ds is taking at his state school and that dd would have taken if she had attended a selective private school.  As with all schools the exact subject choice varies each year according to demand but English, English Lit, Maths and Double Science are compulsory.  Students are then asked to list their four other preferences in order with a reserve choice and option blocks are devised from them.  At least one out of French, history or Geography has to be taken in line with Progress 8.

Other subjects on offer usually include Triple Science, French, History, Geography, RS, Drama, Music, Art & Design, Business Studies & Food & Nutrition.  I looked at the option blocks at the selective school dd's friends attended that she would have gone to and she actually chose the exact same GCSE's at Hammond as she would have done there.

Financially wise are you restricted to degree (student finance) courses or are you also able to consider Dada funded diploma courses?

3 hours ago, LinMM said:

I think your DD Lemongirl will have to make a choice if she wants to dance about which area of Dance she wants to be in. 

It says in your OP that you are not sure which colleges to apply for etc. But going to say a college like the Laban Institute would be a very different experience to say attending a College like the Rambert. And either of those two would be very different to say attending Northern  Contemporary School or The Place in London. 

I don't know whether ballet is her thing or what level she last achieved but the standard would be pretty high to get into any more ballet orientated School like for example The London Studio Centre. 

 

 

 

 

The standard of ballet at the school Lemongirls dd attended was very high. I’ve known a few students from there and indeed my dd auditioned but was turned down for dance on the basis of her ballet (although she was offered a musical theatre scholarship) so I can only assume lemons dd is of the right calibre (never any guarantees of course). 

7 minutes ago, balletbean said:

You are spot on. ‘Joint honours’ is the correct term. 
On a quick google search, Bath Spa , Derby and De Montford are three institutions that offer English Lit & Dance as a Joint Degree. Didn’t look into the content of the degrees as that’s down to personal preferences. 

None of those can be really classed as professional training though.

Lots of universities do joint honours.  You basically spend half the amount of time in each subject.  The average contact time for a university is between 8-15 hours per week compared to around 30-35 hours per week on vocational courses. Vocational course are carefully structured in terms of optimum training time and teaching the skills needed for a career.  

I don’t know, sorry. However I see from their website that Kai Jones teaches for Ballet Boost at another branch and as Kei (formerly Akahoshi) and husband Daniel Jones both live in Newcastle under Lyme and teach at the venue where the auditions are being held I would guess one or other of them are involved. 

Facebook tells me that Ballet Boost are starting a Newcastle under Lyme Associates branch. 

My daughter has banana feet.  She had to give up pointe as she kept getting injured.  Luckily tap/jazz/musical theatre is the way she wants to go.

My daughter didn't audition at Laine but she did audition at similar colleges and my dh has been on the audition panel for MT colleges.

With the sheet music simply cross through the bars she doesn't want playing with straight lines and mark the start and end of the cut with clear brackets.  This website gives a decent explanation.  https://www.backstage.com/magazine/article/mark-music-accompanist-1251/

Tape the music so that the accompanist doesn't have to page turn.  The best way to set the tempo is to go up to the pianist and hum or softly sing the first couple of bars.  So many people try to beat time and unless they are highly trained musicians they rarely get it right.  Never ever click your fingers at the pianist!

A couple of years ago at a parent talk I was told that for seniors years of experience had led them to roughly make about twice as many offers as they had places so it’s possibly similar for lower school. 

At CDMT another dance college said the same thing. 

It certainly appears to be a stark contrast between what happens at purely ballet schools and at more general dance colleges.

At my daughter's school a huge proportion of the third year is dedicated to finding work.  Casting directors, directors and agents make regular visits to run workshops or watch class.  The students are assisted with photos and showreels.  They perform in a London showcase to agents and casting directors are invited to school performances.  

The website says its a non refundable registration fee to accept a place.

Tring's registration fee is £250 but I don't know at what stage this has to be paid.

28 minutes ago, Tutusrus said:

RE BA Hons - Forgive the silly question but I thought grants had been abolished now and it’s all student loans for fees plus a maintenance aspect based on parents income? 

Balletbean is not mainland UK. 

I know of a couple who have actually left vocational school to join/rejoin his type of school as they felt they were being held back/wanted the limelight. 

My Dd does an hilarious mickey take on “contemporary” , the kind that Graham, Horton, Cunningham et al have been no where near. 

Many of them are also teaching ballet and often "contemporary". 

I think it was damage limitation to be honest back then and a different genre but I am wondering about policy shift.

Can't really say more publicly as its other people's children etc etc.