Anna C

Yes, my apologies, because when I think "South Coast" I tend to think Sussex/Hampshire/Dorset. As opposed to proper South West which would be a bit of a trek to London! ;-)

I'd love to see that! The chemistry between Cope and Soares was incredible. Sadly very skint at the mo. :-((

Very very encouraging news Swe, huge congrats to your dd! :-))

An awful lot of my dd's friends travel from the coast to Associate schemes; some drive but most use the train, I think. If you look at the CAT map here: http://www.nationaldancecats.co.uk/ there is one in South London which might be do-able for people on the South Coast. CATs and good Associate schemes have people travelling from all over. I think we're lucky that we can get DD to hers in only 90 mins each way! :-)

Always reminds me of seeing "Billy Elliot" at the theatre and chuckling at the baffled faces of many foreign theatregoers as they struggled to understand the show, between the dialect and the swearing! :-). At least the language of ballet is universal. If you are disabled then The Coliseum has a great access scheme with excellent discounts. For me that's a Godsend as the amount of pain and associated tablets involved with travelling does distract a lot from enjoyment of the ballet, but it does mean that I can still take my dancing daughter to the ballet without too much expense (makes the pain easier to bear!). :-))

Not surprised! :-) x

Thanks Everhopeful! We attended the CAT taster day there and were very impressed indeed. May keep the thought of applying on hold as a Plan B for a couple of years' time. At the moment dd loves her ballet associates too much to want to change. :-)

Can't do it this year, sadly, for financial reasons and because we'd struggle to fit it in between 4 days with the RAD at Birmingham and then EYB! :-)) If your dd wanted to apply again next year then my dd would love to board with her! :-))

Oh, that's reassuring - don't think we could afford 2 weeks! :-) Hadn't thought about train from Stevenage Gingerbread....would be worth considering if any of her friends from Associates or EYB were doing it. Lots of food for thought everyone, thank you very much. :-). If anyone has applied this year I'd be very interested to find out when you hear.

Hello both - just wanted to say welcome to the forum! :-)

I think so Gingerbread. If she was going with a friend then she probably wouldn't mind, but I don't think she wants to board not knowing anyone there. Plus it would be a very long journey in the car for us to take her, come back, then do it all again a week or two later. As it's in the summer I think it would just be easier all round if we holiday up there. :-) Do people normally just do one week?

Oh, what rotten luck Frangapani. :-(( If it helps, I believe SA places are few and far between x

Oh good, thank you. :-). I hear lovely things about the course. Gosh, beginning of May though! Fingers crossed that it is easier to get a place if accommodation isn't required. :-)

Awww. :-) As an aside, every time I catch sight of your thread title, I read it as "Big trouble in little China"!

Thanks lisadebs and Pas de Quatre. April isn't too bad; gives us three months or so to sort out accommodation if she's successful next year. Mind you, I'm usually ridiculously organised and have everything planned about a year in advance...will have to go with the flow!

Hello Mumtobeth, and welcome to the forum. :-) Congratulations on your SWL letter - you never know!

Sorry CeliB, I didn't assume you agreed with the teacher's point of view on that. Just pointing out that I disagreed with that ethos. :-) It's really positive that your DS is flourishing - a strong work ethic without a climate of fear sounds like a great environment.

Hurray! :-))

Really interesting post CeliB, thank you. The part I've quoted struck a chord with me because (with all due respect to your DS' teacher) I couldn't disagree more. That point of view was initially what prompted Luke Jennings to write a piece about British work ethic in ballet, and the rather vociferous responses to that piece prompted him to change his mind and write his most recent piece. Without getting into documentaries like "A beautiful tragedy", or cases like Sergei Polunin's (in his own words, sent away from home at five, and pushed into ballet), I would say that just because we don't send our children to vocational school at five, allow them en pointe at six, or stretch their joints until they cry, doesn't mean that British/Western children don't want or need to succeed. I don't scream at my daughter until her ears ring though and no way on this earth would I let anyone else do so. I'm glad Western children can't be driven as hard! Those methods of teaching may produce star dancers, but what of the effect on their long term physiological and emotional health?

Morning all, DD's local teacher has suggested YBSS as a Summer School for my DD next summer. We would have to plan our holiday around it as I don't think she'd want to board - she's the only "serious" ballet dancer of her age in our local school so wouldn't know anyone else going. That means trying to book a holiday cottage in or near to York BUT getting the timing right - i.e. not paying for a cottage and then finding out that she hasn't got a place - yet not leaving it too late to get a suitable cottage. It would have to be a cottage as opposed to a hotel as we'd probably want to take the dog. We've never applied for YBSS before, so I just wondered about the likelihood of getting a place, and if successful, how soon do they confirm your place? Hope that all makes sense! :-) Thanks.

Excellent news Lil. :-))

I'm sure they do. Look at all the Outreach programmes into Primary schools, or areas where ballet may be an unlikely interest. They must pick up children with the right physique and potential who have little experience of ballet?

I know I shouldn't, but I still find the idea of Assessment out in Year 7 quite shocking. I know there could be many reasons (permanent injury, behaviour etc.) but I do wonder what else could change that drastically within less than a year?

I love your story, Janabiyah-Jane. :-)

It's sometimes difficult to pick up the intended tone of someone's post in written form. As a fellow parent I absolutely agree that it's very useful to get all opinions of a school, whether good or bad. I'm just trying to keep the discussion on the right side of the forum's Acceptable Use Policy, in that if anyone makes a highly critical posting about a school, then it should be done under the poster's full name. I haven't seen any highly critical postings yet. :-). Just want to keep the thread on track. Primrose, you make a particularly useful point about Tring splitting the dance course into Classical Ballet and the more jazz-based group, and that is definitely worth bearing in mind. Am I right in thinking it's the only one of the "Big Four" to do this?