Farawaydancer

1 hour ago, cotes du rhone ! said:

Have a look at The Harid Conservatory in Boca Raton, Florida. My Dd attended their summer intensive and had a fantastic time. We hadn’t heard of it til she won a scholarship to go from YAGP. She flew on her own from the U.K. to Fort Lauderdale and they collected her from the airport. Accommodation is onsite and houseparented. She had a fantastic time. Tough Vaganova  classes mixed with some fun trips and activities. She made some wonderful friends and was offered a full time place at the end. She chose to remain in the U.K. due to academics etc. 

I’ve never even heard of this school but it looks really interesting! Thanks. 

43 minutes ago, Whiteduvet said:

Is entry into US a realistic goal? Or is exclusively competition winners and ex-WL? 

There are usually a handful of newbies, often from overseas, but it does seem to be getting harder for an ‘outsider’ to gain a place.  It does vary year on year though, so always worth trying I suppose. 

20 minutes ago, Pointytoes said:

Such a shame for all pupils in this school, but most schools have bubbled their year groups to avoid this exact scenario happening, I wonder why this school chose to proceed differently?

They have been in ‘bubbles’ but the shared boarding houses make year group bubbles impossible to manage. The bubbles they are in are still smaller than most schools year group bubbles anyway. 

Upper school are isolating now too, really bad timing after not having any cases at all this whole time. It’s so sad for all the students but especially those who aren’t returning. 

Generally they’ll be advised to do one or two weeks at most of summer schools and then a conditioning programme just to keep on top of general fitness, but the schools generally do like them to have a break. 

No, not received ours. Last year was quite late too. I think they’re waiting on some info from the DfE. 

Isn’t there a yumiko rep in the U.K. these days? They used to order a few times a year, in a bulk order. 

1 hour ago, DingDongDancer said:

Did anyone get a 'no' email? Should I expect to hear if its a no or will I just not get a reply?

Email them. They’ve had some technical difficulties with some of the applications. 

Bloch performa are what both of mine wear. Their toes aren’t short but they do have really wide feet and these are the ones they feel fit best. 

39 minutes ago, Encroix said:

Thanks. I've looked through these. All cover seems to require the insured to be 18+ though. I don't have private cover myself so can't add DD on to it. 

 

So I guess my question is, can you insure a 16 year old? And if so, which companies offer this? 

All of the companies will insure an under-18 but you have to phone and speak to them for a quote, they won’t do it online. Don’t forget about pre-existing conditions/previous injuries. Last year we ended up sticking with the schools policy because it covered injuries/conditions they already had covered in the past. A new policy would have been cheaper but not covered them. 

Emma Northmore, and if she can’t do it she’ll know someone who could. 

14 hours ago, BellaF said:

 

If you approach via the city centre, there is a right hand lane just after the school that allows you to do a u turn - quite easy to miss!

 

Huge good luck to anyone auditioning this weekend!

Watch out for cyclists though, the cycle lane runs through the u-turn space!! 

1 hour ago, Happyfeet84 said:

Does anyone who is the hammonds uniform supplier? 

They don’t have one at the moment, we have to order directly from school. We’re waiting to hear what the new uniform is though, so don’t buy anything just yet. 

19 minutes ago, BalletBoysDad said:

Elmhurst say they open applications beginning of November, hold prelims in January and Finals in March. 

Elmhurst, in normal years, used to have prelims before the Christmas break too, so it might be that they go back to that pattern if they can. It’s quite a squeeze to get it all done in the spring term. 
 

Hammond’s usual pattern is to have one audition per month and add extras towards the end if they need to. 

2 hours ago, BellaF said:

Having missed the boat for summer intensive applications I'm bit stuck as what to do with the hundreds of weeks off (it seems!)  DD has off. Booked her in for a week at Malvern but trying to find something in July. Does anyone have experience of YDA or Ballet Boost holiday courses? Likely that it'll be a choice between one of them... She's 10 if it has any bearing.

Ballet Boost are always fab, a lot of fun and hard work too. We would always thoroughly recommend them. 

I think some of it is that the company need more studio space than they originally planned. 

3 hours ago, Flower said:

It’s so odd not having had a proper open day. How many are in each year please? How many boarders?

In the current y8 there are 20 students at the moment and 12 are boarders (of our counting is correct!). 

20 minutes ago, Bookish said:

Me again, with a slightly unrelated question. Has anyone found anywhere that has toilets open near Elmhurst. Spent a long time desperately trying to find some today but couldn’t, they were all locked. I can understand Elmhurst not letting us in to limit contacts at the moment, but surely there’s somewhere nearby?! Has anyone got any hidden gems they can let me know for next week please? Thank you!

Maybe the Sainsbury’s a bit further down the a38? DS says the cafes in Moseley are open but he’s not sure whether the toilets inside them are. 

2 hours ago, TinyNEDancer said:

Hello

Does anyone’s child do Hammond Associates or know any information about it? 
Thank you in advance 🙂

I know some who have been associates and love it. It’s a full day and a variety of classes, not just ballet. It’s good fun from what I hear. 

5 minutes ago, Flower said:

Hi, do you know how many started in yr 8 this year? Just wondering if there’s a big intake or just a few. 

It was only a couple joined the current year 8 this year. They settled really quickly though. I think they get used to people coming and going though, it’s part of vocational school life, even in such small year groups. 

Email and check. They’re usually pretty quick at getting back to you.  

My ds walked away from offers in London for similar reasons, even though he is confident travelling around London independently. He decided for himself that he would rather be in a school environment, with staff who knew him well and could provide support holistically, rather than having to live independently at just turned 16, especially considering the pandemic situation!

Both of mine didn’t give up anything else until they went to vocational school at 11. However they weren’t trying to do multiple things to a very high standard which is what your dd sounds like she is doing. Dance was very much the priority but they still did other after school things too, just once or twice a week. 

I think lots of people end up buying two pairs in different sizes so they have two ‘odd but matching’ pairs each time they get new shoes - it’s an expensive problem!

4 hours ago, Ballet4Boyz said:

Thanks everyone ..... it’s proving to be such a difficult decision but one he realises how lucky he is to have a choice between two wonderful schools. 
At the moment as parents - we are leaning towards one school and our DS is leaning towards the other ..... typical !  Both schools are fabulous though and we’ve received positive feedback for both from current students & parents - which is lovely ! 
Thanks again to all of you for your advice ...... this forum and its members have been invaluable in steering us through his journey for the last 6 years x

This was us last year when ds had four to choose from including RCS. In the end we let him make the final choice. He didn’t choose the one I would have - I would have chosen RCS - but he’s very happy where he is.