Nana Lily

Regional accents and grammar are not linked. Folks with strong regional accents can have good or poor grammar. All accents are regional. NL

Hello Goldfish and welcome to the forum! First congratulations to your daughter for achieving the final audition at RBS. Others may have more information, but there is no reason why she shouldn't be able to apply again next year. On the Summer School there have been students offered places for RBS Upper School at the end of the summer course. Once such student is Tierney Heap. She then went on to join RBS Upper School and now dances with the Royal Ballet Company. Best wishes to your DD. Nana Lily

It can also differ depending on the gender of the dancer, some schools may be stronger for girls than for boys and vice versa, not all the schools have dedicated teaching for boys as Elmhurst and RBS do. In addition class sizes can make a big difference. A teacher can't possibly give the same attention to individuals in a class of 19 as they can to a class of 7, and yes at vocational school that is the extent of the variation in class sizes within a school which can vary from year to year depending on the pool of the potential of students, availability of beds as well as funding. Quality of teaching can go up and down as staff move in and out of schools, take sabbaticals or time off for other reasons, or themselves go through better and worse "patches" no one is perfect, no one school is perfect! Listen to your child too, he/she will be making huge sacrifices by going away to school, its of up most importance that if they do have a choice, you listen to their needs and desires which may be different to your own, difficult I know when they are so young, but these children are amazing in many ways including their own decision making process. Good luck with your journey sarahw!

Welcome Sarahw!! Don't want to hijack the thread, so folks may want to start a new one, but Tulip's post raises an interesting question about upper and lower schools. If you were fortunate enough to have a choice of lower schools, should graduate destinations from upper schools influence your choice? How relevant is that measurement for 11 year olds? Often the teachers are completely different as well as the management of Upper and Lower schools and sometimes location (as in RBS). Pastoral needs of the 11 year old are different to 16 year old (or are they ? NL

Good it's an outlet with the discounted prices Angel! Will be seeing you on induction day. It's over 3 years ago since we had our lunch together in Chester. NL x

Moneypenny, I think we posted at the same time! From memory the % drop is 15% or there is a phrase do do with something like "hardship from the drop in income", worth speaking to school though. Just re read your post Angela, if your income has dropped this year (2012/13) and you stay on previous year assessment for September then your contribution will reflect your new circumstances. NL

Hi Angela, On MDS if your income has dropped, you can ask to go on a current year assessment. The drop has to be considered "significant", sorry but I can't remember by how much, but its worth speaking to the school finance department. NL

They have indeed Kathy. I am sure folks remember the boy from WAles whose parents sold their house to fund his fees for a couple of years. NL

Just to clarify, they will offer a 'non funded' place to talented dancers who would not qualify for funding under MDS rules....children from abroad for example. Elmhurst has a an increasing number of international students who do not qualify for MDS funding. Having watched some of them in class they are of an extremely high calibre and very deserving of their places at the school.

Ladies you are speculating.... They will only offer a place if they genuinely have them to offer. these are government funded scholarships, they won't offer extra places just in case some turn them down! It's my understanding, having two dancers at the school that its been some years since they offered 'non funded' places. Two years ago they did offer waiting list places and two girls were then offered places later in the summer off the waiting list. I have no idea if that happened last year. I do know of families where funded places were offered, but when it came to sorting out the finances, the families no longer qualified for MDS funding. These families then have to pay full fees. However at the beginning of each year they are offered the MDS place again should their financial circumstances have changed. Hope this helps and best wishes to those still hoping for places. nana lily

Sadly you can only use Childcare vouchers up to the age if 15, so no help for DADA awards. NL

Oh Kathy, keep positive and take strength from friends on the forum. Your DS has done so incredibly well. How fabulous for him to be in Aladdin, I hope to see him at the Lowry, how fabulous to have that on his cv. No one, other than those who have been through it, can truly understand how hard it must be. Wishing him all the luck in the world and maybe I will watch him in the end of year performance, or maybe I won't, if he has started work. NL.

Well done to your DD Discouraged, best wishes for finals/funding. NL

Sorry Afab, I don't understand what you mean, can you clarify? Thank you.

Wishing your daughter the very best for today and her other auditions. Think we have lost a bit in the thread there is a young girl with dreams and aspirations who has worked hard, along with many others on the forum.

Well just to depress you all further I spotted this on the website: EligibilityYou must: be an EU citizen and have been living in the EU for 3 continuous years immediately before the start of your course.https://www.gov.uk/dance-drama-awards So basically UK tax payers are funding children from Europe to study at UK schools. Am I happy about this NO NO NO. Another point to add to your letter to your local MP. NL

Although children at a vocational school may be offered a sixth form place, they may not necessarily take that place up. Remember If they have been there from aged 11 they may wish to spread their wings and try a different environment. To be on the same Campus from 11 to 19 can for some be claustrophobic. So though you may be able to look in end of year show programmes to see who is still there at 6.1 v year 11, it's not actually representative of those who were offered places at the end of y11 for sixth form. So think your question is impossible to answer. NL

Try Alex McKinven based a Sharon Morrison's in Birmingham. Her recently treated both my daughters recently and was excellent, can't recommend him highly enough! http://www.sharonmorrisonphysio.co.uk/team/alexander_mckinven.aspx

Just a thought, any parents on this forum who also use "notapushymum" can you post the link there too?

Calling the moderators!! Can we get this petition put out on the balletco twitter page please??? it will then reach a far wider audience? NL

Bless, no contact is usually good (for them), sure he is busy and having a good time. It's my DD's Bitrthday next Friday and her Y9 appraisal.......hoping it's her lucky day...well it was when she was born!!

Sounds like a wonderful evening, would have loved to have been there!

There are other threads on similar discussions. Most don't have a choice. Some children are offered one, but not the other, so WL, not Elmhurst, or Elmhurst not WL. If you do have a choice there are many practical considerations. If you require funding although both schools offer MDS they fund different different things. Distance from home is an important consideration as you will not know until your child starts vocational school how they will cope (and this can change as they move through the school), so there is distance to the school in terms of time as well as how much it will cost in fuel (now a real issue for some with fuel prices) or rail fares. Additional costs are school and dance uniform, music lessons and Bupa cover. All these items add up. Both schools have a different feel, in the environment, buildings, pastoral, dance and academics, both are excellent, but different. If your DC is invited to finals at both you will be able to have a small window into how they feel. Both schools make you very welcome at finals and its a very special time. If you have a choice what I will say is you need to listen to your child and where they feel they will be most happy. Going away from home at 11 is a very bumpy road, very hard for you and the children, and if they feel they are in the wrong place it can be much worse. Families have turned down places at both schools for different reasons. Best wishes to your DC for WL and Elmhurst. Share your journey and the forum will share information and support. NL

Have you thought about another SI where the Russian method is taught? Have no idea if there are any.......then he would be taught in the same style, but experience coaching from a broader teaching base.

Thank you so much for posting! Merry Christmas!