Billyelliott

DS has had his results today for Elmhurst US and I’m so happy and relieved to say it’s a YES!!

That’s so sad! - the experience can vary tremendously and sometimes the house parents are the cause of the problem in the first place, we also found bullying from other pupils took ages to deal with!

Also positive experience with mental health @ Elmhurst we had very good care with a mental health issue. Firstly with a lovely house parent - so we were lucky because they vary tremendously - but she spent hours calming and talking and persuading and being available at night ....then the Med team phoning me regularly talking about family history and getting referral for counselling and then CBT and self esteem coaching. They organised accompanied visits on my behalf in term time and after a year or so the problems resolved! I was very worried at the time being so far away but it was handled well! DS is the stronger for the experience! I’m talking about something that happened 3 years ago and it was not caused directly by the environment though stress in general may have precipitated things ....it’s something I struggled with as a teen!

All of the Best to those at ENBS and Elmhurst US finals this weekend - Deep breaths it will all be over soon! 😬

For RBS lower school 12 boys 12 girls roughly- they took about 50 to the finals when we tried.. It’s a very long shot ! i would imagine it’s about the same for upper school .....

DS pushed me around Covent Garden yesterday in a borrowed a wheelchair on the way to his audition ! His brother pushed me to the train home! Underground staff and general public all very helpful ! Driving anywhere out of the question. Thank goodness boarding has made him such an independent and resourceful young man!

Loved watching this whilst laid up with broken ankle .......Shale Wagman stood out - a worthy winner - infectious joy and passionate dancing!

Yes for year 10!

We also struggled in years 7-8 and once had a speakerphone conference with my DS in the room as he has had several issues and injuries and was very low. He was not the only one .... Credit to his school pastoral team DS was supported whenever he came forward to speak out about his experiences and many of the children seemed to stick together and make group complaints about some staff and other student behaviours. It seemed to take a long time to sort things out, but strongly worded emails and chats with medical centre staff did produce positive results in the end. My experience has taught me to keep being nosey and make sure I’m on the end of the phone whenever DS finally wants to tell me what’s happening! He - now at 15 is very clear about what constitutes abusive behaviour and is quite vocal about it!

I too spent far too long reading this till the wee small hours the other night and even though I’d heard of many such horror stories and am not surprised by it I still can’t find words to say even vaguely politely how I feel about such institutionalised abuse and it’s cover up - and all in the name of protecting a prestigeous institution whose students are supported largely by tax payers and parents who stretch out every last penny and forgo family holidays as well as enduring mental torture to enable their gifted child to live their dreams.... so very sad !

Thanks for posting the English version very interesting!

Congratulations to your DD xx

Oh dear - I thought there we’re some bursaries for overseas students !

Yes indeed BalletBean that fee ++ is what you would have to pay if not eligible for a DADA or fortunate enough to be offered a bursary 😬 - (but there are bursaries available to help for some if they want you enough!) So it’s still worth a try......

Oh yes and I forgot - Advaced 1 RAD exam is tommorow !

DS yr 11 Elm is very much still hard at work with Dance and academics - too busy to chat - had to get on with homework, but not so busy he couldn’t find time for a trip to Aldi and 2 snowball fights tonight!

So sorry I’d forgotten about that - it’s so low that many don’t qualify for much at all!

We were told that there are DADA awards for all those that qualify and other bursaries to help bridge the gap between MDS and DADA contributions - as the DADA only covers tuition and not the boarding. Obviously the number of funded places depends on how much each child needs after the parental income is assessed . It’s a fixed pot of money and it’s allocated as needed for those awarded places until it runs dry.... It seems that in practice most EU children have enough funding to make a place reasonably affordable.

The number is not fixed in stone but almost all the places offered have MDS funding available for those eligible . hope that helps x

I believe one can put in the application for ENBS With the photos and then submit the DVD at a later date as long as it’s before the closing date.... But yes - quite agree this is a very expensive lark !!

Wow ! Thanks for that - wish I had even a smattering of Russian .....

I had to do a fair bit of pushing over the end of the summer holidays as it was too difficult for my DS to find all the information needed on the websites but together we have made a sort of spreadsheet! However it is proving difficult to get a decision as to which auditions he would like to go for as he keeps changing his mind! I think it is too important to just leave it up to him - with the deadlines for various options getting closer and also I need to know which dates I should keep free for assisting with transport- I could do without a last minute “ oh mum I need to get to such and such and so and so “😬

It has happened quite a few times in my experience of things in the last 4 years , but obviously only occasionally compared to the influx in September ...

Not at all Fiz it's nice of you to take an interest! Its "that" year for us-about to get to that highest point of the ballet roller coaster once again ...... Time to buy a new bottle of Gin!

That's lovely information thanks Juliet I can see theyr'e well looked after!