Anon2

So pleased you have managed to secure an appointment so promptly at this time of year. Fingers crossed for a speedy recovery for your dd.

Thank you PdQ. My dd said it was probably from Balanchine so will be pleased to know the name of the piece. She commented that the young lady is not in an arabesque but in attitude and that the young man is not in a classical pose so concluded they were either working on a Balanchine piece or contemporary.

Oh Charlie what bad luck. Hope your dd is soon on the mend. Best wishes to you both.

Thank you drdance for your response. Jane

Recently bought my dd the pilates DVD Dynamic 5th, after it was recommended on another thread. DD has been enjoying doing some of the exercises from the programme but can't do all as they require equipment, one piece being a rebounder trampoline. So with Christmas looming have just ordered her a rebounder trampoline - now worrying is this likely to cause her problems? Does anyone have any experience of using a rebounder? Notice there were some in the background on the ENBS art stream programme the other week so assume they are used by some dance students too and not just the RBS students on the DVD.

n.b. Please note that Summer School 2014 applications are available from December and the close date is 28th Feb. The above message was added to the confirmation email of receipt of application for US. Assume that means dates will be available very soon.

Thank you for that link tutoo2much. I had never heard of that forum and indeed it did have the information I was looking for plus more.

Julie, only speculating but I wonder if the fact there is a threshold before you start paying school fees with the new DaDa arrangements might influence any decisions they might now make regarding MDS.

Absolutely no mention of this at last two meetings current yr 11 and parents have had about preparation for sixth form/auditions. Funding very much a priority for discussion at first of these meetings as changes to DaDa had only recently been announced. Mention of bursaries for sixth form regardless of DaDa.

Does anyone have any experience of the appraisal/assessment system at other European upper schools? My dd is interested in applying for schools in Germany, John Cranko etc, but would be interested to hear of others experiences of assessments before starting the application process.

Katymac - I would have second pair of shoes. My dd carries a spare of shoes, tights, leotard and anything/everything else just incase of mishap. Last think you want to be worrying about is missing/damaged kit.

I would argue that as a dance student my dd has always been self motivated, even at a very young age. If she hadn't would assume she had lost her passion and no longer wanted to dance, saving myself both a fortune and hours of time.

I prefer Ariel stain remover to Vanish. I soak them in that to get rid of school wash greyness. Realised this summer that was washing some that were 4 years old that still suitable for every day wear but not auditions. DD teacher used to recommend the red wash too!

Try putting a thick paste of magnesium sulphate on it covered with a padded gauze dressing - it should draw the splinter out. Magnesium sulphate should be available from most pharmacies, do give it a good stir before using and apply with spoon handle/lolly stick.

Lin, don't think you need a dc to go. It looks to be mainly to see inside the fantastic building.

What makes a good teacher is subjective and one would hope that whatever the child's ability they were in an environment that they were enjoying and learning in the classes regardless of potential of eventually making a career out of it, be it dance, academics or anything else. I think Balleteacher sums up what I would hope every teacher we encountered believed and practised. I could, but wouldn't name teachers who have encouraged and been supportive towards my dd but others would soon turn around and comment they were not for their dc and vice versa. My dd was not struck on one of her teachers last year, some of her peers thought she was the best ever, this year my dd thinks another teacher is fantastic others don't. My dd would say the best teachers are those that notice you - giving both corrections and praise, nothing worse than a whole lesson with no feedback.

SS - summer school or senior school? Summer school application form normally available sometime around Christmas I seem to remember. Senior/upper school as balletmadmom stated.

"Currently, we also have a whole garage of stuff from my mother's house (plus china in a cupboard in our kitchen, many photograph albums in the living room and further boxes scattered throughout the house) pending a decision by my sister about what she actually wants." Aileen this sounds so like us but my mother in laws stuff and waiting for a decision from my brother in law - she died 20 years ago and every time we mention the stuff he says oh yes he really wants it but hasn't got time/space at the moment! Over the last few years it has slowly started moving into the disused play house as all he has taken is one photo album and a clock. I am trying hard to have a massive clear out at the moment but find I am so easily distracted!

My heartfelt thanks too, must be such a time consuming task keeping abreast of all the threads and you all stay so tolerant when trying to keep topics on track!

We have a family friend with the gift of the gab who if answers the phone to a cold caller engages them in conversation and will keep at it until the caller gets fed up and hangs up. It is amusing to listen to from our end but probably not the callers. Ironically his sons uni holiday job this summer was telesales.

Yes they are! There is a thread on the Martin's Money Tip forum about it. Was reading it last week and some very observant soles know by exactly how much they have shrunk in size each year. Will see if I can find it later and post link.

Just spotted this on ENB site. Too far for us but might of of interest to some one else. http://www.ballet.org.uk/whats-on/lecorsaire/youth-ballet-workshop-le-corsaire/

Jess you need to nip this in the bud. Read the school's bullying policy. Keep a record of all the incidents your dc tells you about and ask them to do the same. As hfbrew says try to encourage them to talk to someone they trust at school. Contact the houseparents about what has been happening by email but copy it to principal, head of pastoral care and form tutor. Do not let it drop until you are sure the situation is being dealt with. Keep in touch with houseparents and do not let them try to fob you off with any excuses of other child has 'problems' or 'normal behaviour' - quote the bullying policy at them. Let them know that how ever far away you are you will not let this drop until it stops. All the best for a quick resolution.

Not related to summer school but looking at requirement heights for 13 year olds and comparing them to UK centile charts the range is form 25th centile to 75th centile - where you would expect the majority of the population to sit anyway.For weight slightly different, just btw 9th-25th centile to 50th. Think generally most French children look slighter built than ours when holidaying in France so suspect they will be using different charts. DD danced with some POB students at a summer school this year and they looked healthy. Such a shame so many of the European summer schools are before the end of our academic year, my DD would love to try for some of them.

RBS upper school application form has age range 16 -18 years, age as of end August 2014. So guess you just follow the usual application process for 6.3. Do think as Julie says though that most are offered a place for this year having been spotted at competitions or at their current school's end of year shows etc.