Farawaydancer

1 hour ago, NotadanceMa said:

If a school really really wants a student they can and do offer a scholarship.  It is misleading, though I’m sure very well intentioned to suggest that fees can be negotiated at vocational schools; unless of course you can provide first hand information that this has occurred.

MDS and DaDa have the up to date income scales on the .gov website for people to look out.

They are purely income based on financials, not outgoings, they do however take into account things like siblings under 16. The fees are the fees. 

I didn’t say fees could be negotiated; I said they can be flexible in what they offer in the way of funding/awards/scholarships. And yes, I do have first hand experience of this, but as I also said I can’t discuss the details. 

I think a few of the schools are quite flexible in their approach to funding if they really want your dc, and current parents won’t always be able to say what their child receives, as not discussing it is often a condition of the award.  It’s always worth a discussion with the school about your individual circumstances. 

2 hours ago, WhatsThePointe said:

Does anyone know how the schools that offer MDS places are regulated?

 

Specifically what I mean is, if the government are paying huge proportions of the fees via the MDS scheme, is there a department/person/governing body actually checking that this money is well spent, and the schools are offering the exceptional training they are claiming to offer?

 

Essentially, if you felt this wasn't the case, and that complaints/concerns were not addressed by the school, who could you approach next?

No one. I’ve asked one of the principals of one of the schools this question, and whilst there are inspections etc, there is no one to complain to about the actual mds provision, although the outcomes from the mds are monitored by the DfE in a general sense. I think the schools have to report how many students in receipt of mds go on to upper schools for instance. 

4 minutes ago, Ottobotto said:

Does the MDS funded get re-considered every year? Could they lose it in Year 8 for example....and have to leave? Or is it set for their time there?

I’ve never heard of anyone losing their mds at either of the schools my dc attend. Some students switch from dance to theatre arts and give up their mds. Some choose to leave. 

I would go and visit too. (Ds liked it very much, just to add balance to those who hated it! )

22 minutes ago, Ottobotto said:

Thank you for your reply. So basically it's not possible if you aren't either a high earner or entitled to full funding, or you have no income??? Or is there any other funding options available that can be negotiated? Would you then only have the option of self funding the rest, even it means your mortgage still has to come out of your budget? It seems odd that expenses like this aren't taken into consideration - or are you expected to re-mortgage and live on baked beans to be able to afford it???  If the info says you are entitled to funding if your gross income is less than £190k ?? Is this assuming that everyone who earns less than this can afford to make large contributions in the £1000s? Am I being totally naive about this being fair and possible for all walks of life maybe??

Is this the mds funding calculator you’ve used? It’s fairly accurate. 

https://elmhurstballetschool.org/en/apply/funding-and-fees-calculator/

Most families don’t pay anything like full fees. 

4 minutes ago, Ottobotto said:

Is anyone able to offer more advice as to how the funding works please? I have used the fees calculators on various sites but the amounts they are suggesting we might end up paying don't appear to be in any way feasible! How do these calculators account for other outgoings (mortgage etc), or is it just a very rough guide and the rest would be discussed should the situation arise? From where we are sitting, even if full funding were offered, it still doesn't really look in any way possible and surely in this day and age that just cannot be so? Or are you just not able to go if you sit in that bracket??? 😞 

Mds funding is based on gross income with very few deductions made; around £2000 is deducted for another child in the family. They don’t make deductions for other outgoings. It is expensive (having two even more so!). 

Our experience of Elmhurst is that the academic support has been excellent, including meeting SEN. GCSE grades achieved far exceeded what we would have expected from a ‘mainstream’ school. Our experience at Hammond is that academics are variable and they’re struggling to meet the needs of the top end of the class. 

Dd choreographed her own based on stuff she’d done in her contemporary CAT classes, to be honest she just winged it. Same with the song, she just practised it a couple of times at home. They just want to see the children perform, so as long as they seem to be loving what they’re doing it’ll be fine. 

24 minutes ago, CMcBallet said:

I’ve always been uncomfortable with dance teachers/ educators being gifted with alcohol. 
Would you really buy your child’s school teacher alcohol? 
Alcohol is after all a controlled substance, what message is that sending to your children?

Something to consider. 

I’m a teacher and have bought my children’s teachers alcohol but only if I know them really well and know they would appreciate it. Bottles of wine are a very normal Christmas/end of year gift for school teachers. 

4 hours ago, Balletbuds80 said:

Does anyone gave any details on this in terms of T&C’s? The course is open from age 9 but it also stipulates they must have passed Grade 4. Is that correct? Would a 9 year old have passed Grade 4 so young? Has anyone had a DC attend that hadn’t passed grade 4? My DC is currently on Grade 3 so nowhere near. 

My dd took her grade 4 exam when she was 9 so there will be some. I guess if they’ve seen you at something like a pop up event and they like you they might let you go to the residential even if you haven’t reached grade 4. 

Just now, swanprincess said:

It is tricky to find R-Class here! I order online direct from Russia via Za Tancyi website. It can be a little tricky to navigate if you don’t speak Russian though- feel free to drop me a DM if you want any help!

 

 

I’m surprised you find it tricky. Lots of shops near us in the NE seem to sell them now. 
 

Whereabouts in the country is your dd @sillysally? People will be able to suggest some shops nearby I’m sure. 

I agree. It’ll make no difference and the auditions are expensive enough without spending hundreds on photos. 

1 hour ago, Dancers Dad said:

Thanks Anna C - very interesting. I certainly would like to read more on this.

 

Farawaydancer - The diagnostic criteria for anxiety disorders are spectacularly open to interpretation. (I don't know enough about hypermobility syndromes to comment really, although it does strike me as something that would very much be dimensional rather than easily segregated, discrete conditions).

Not my experience with the clinicians I work with on a daily basis diagnosing anxiety disorders but maybe your experience is different. 

1 hour ago, Anna C said:

 

There have long been links between hypermobility and anxiety.  IIRC, one study found that people with hypermobility were around 16 times more likely to suffer with anxiety than non-hypermobile people.  Certainly my daughter was anxious and prone to panic long before she started intensive ballet training.  So no, I don’t think social factors played a role; she simply produces too much adrenaline and her body can get “stuck” in fight or flight mode.

 

A lot hinges on whether someone has some/mostly/all hypermobile joints, or whether they have hypermobile Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome/Joint Hypermobility Syndrome, which often goes undiagnosed and brings with it a whole host of other symptoms, including anxiety, panic attacks, an increased production of adrenaline, tachycardia, chronic fatigue, general dysautonomia, and more, depending of course where one is on the spectrum.  

All of this is what I started to write but you’ve put it much more concisely, thank you!

5 hours ago, Dancers Dad said:

Interesting. Quite early stage research and simply stating a correlation - but I'm still curious. I'd be interested in the social factors that play a role - eg Do hypermobile people go into training/careers that have a higher likelihood of stress? Also, the definitions of both hypermobility and anxiety are wide open for interpretation. So while I'm interested in this, I wouldn't draw any conclusions.

The diagnostic criteria for anxiety disorders and hypermobility syndromes aren’t open to interpretation, they’re defined and diagnosed by medics when appropriate. 

Dd had some marks added under this category for one of her vocational exams, when the studio they were in was “hotter than the sun” but also the pianist seemed to be having an off day and was playing inconsistently (maybe to do with the heat). This came about from the examiner on the day, not requested by the pupils or teachers. 

12 minutes ago, AmandaBallet said:

I'm so sorry to hear about this, anything like this must be extra difficult when your child is boarding. I just wanted to balance things slightly by saying that not being told how the situation is being dealt with in terms of what sanctions the bully is specifically being given may be standard in school now - my older dd experienced a nasty incident at her state school last year and the school were not able to inform us of what was being done specifically in regards to the other child. (I'm not 100% sure if this was because they were raising a safeguarding concern about the other child however because of the nature of the incident). In our case I have trust in the school built up over a few years and felt that they were as open and honest with us as they could be and we haven't had any further problems but it was of course much easier with dd at home for me to be assured of her welfare. I really feel for you because it's very difficult with any new school to have this trust of course. You may have to focus your approach on how your own child's welfare is being handled and what measures the school are taking generally rather than specifically what they have done to deal with this particular bully...

Yes, this is standard in most schools. You can and should be told what is happening to stop it happening again and how your child can be supported, but you won’t be told what consequences there have been for the other child. 

9 hours ago, cotes du rhone ! said:

@Luke Jennings you need to cast your net wider. 

Anyone can report safeguarding concerns to the relevant LADO for their school’s area, you don’t need to wait. 

1 hour ago, cotes du rhone ! said:

notice how there aren’t many posters of experience of the later years of lower school 🤔 The 9/10 and 11. The years when the serious business of ballet steps in and the assessments/assessing out/competitiveness kicks in.

These were the years when it got better and easier for our ds, after we’d dealt with the things that had caused two really very difficult years. At one point we did bring him home and told the school he wasn’t going back until we had sorted things. That was a real turning point. We have never had an issue speaking to school and staff have always done what they said would be done. Support for mental health (not dance related) has been available within the week when needed. 
 

Only you will know your child and your family, and have an idea of whether they can get through the really difficult times. There will be very few children sail through from 11-16 without any. Ask all the questions people have suggested. But how well things go will be down to personalities (as well as their physical and mental health needs) -  your child’s, their teachers, their classmates. Those things you can’t predict. The teacher that caused my ds so much difficulty in the early years was loved by many others pupils.  

I’m sure you’ll get lots of advice. I have two dc at different vocational schools, and their experiences have been as different from each other as they have been similar, and also different again from their friends. There is no one particular experience, even within the same class, so much of it is down to your child’s personality. So listen to everyone, and have your questions answered, but their experiences will not be that of your child. 
 

Enjoy the auditions, it’s a lot of fun if you approach it with a ‘let’s see what happens’ attitude. 

2 hours ago, balletbean said:

For anyone that attended the 2 day intensive at the beginning of the summer checkout NBS FB page. They’ve just posted a short video clip of the students in action  ☺️🩰

My dd loved it, and is hoping to go for longer next time!

RAD is built into the timetable at Hammond too, about three hours per week in y7/8. 

They do have a full morning of dance every Saturday though. 

Hammond is more variable. Some days they only have one hour of dance, others they have dance almost all day. There’s no set format to the days and every year group is different. 

2 hours ago, Billyelliott said:

So DS has graduated ……but it feels very surreal …… all the hard work and the choreography for the Final performances that will never be seen….

All shows cancelled less than 24 hours before I was due to drive up and watch proudly!

covid strikes again! So incredibly sad about this missed opportunity.

 

However very pleased to say that they leave to take up an

Emerging artist contract with Sir Matthew Bournes new adventures company!

 

Assuming that this isn’t cancelled due to Covid they will be joining their nutcracker tour of the UK so hopefully there will at last be a chance to watch them dance In October!

 

My ds was telling me about this - fantastic news!! Many congratulations to them. Fingers crossed everything goes ahead this autumn.