annaliesey

I love Facebook exaggerations haha Score 10 points for each of the following statements ... "The youngest in their section by far" (how do they know?) "Only learned it the night before" (several months of privates) "Was so poorly the success was a surprise" "Such a large section" (hmmm really?) "Section had lots of vocational students" (how do they know?) "Overall winner" (forgets to mention in the novice category) "1st place" (out of one entry!)

Another vote for Jon Applegate, he's been great and knows what he's looking for dance wise if shots don't quite have pointed enough feet etc

Just popping back to this thread to say thank you to BianaNero for the article that has appeared in Feb's RAD Gazette. It represented us well and protected our identity for fear of further backlash in our community whilst getting key points across. My daughter was very pleased to read this and we have bought a copy for her to put on her bookcase and feel that she has done something to make a difference. Even though the complaint was dismissed by Social Services she does feel that after reading the article that RAD teachers will consider their touching policies where smacking, grooming and emotional and physical abuse are the end result. It also highlights the benefits of balletco forum as members supporting each other with difficult questions and scenarios to talk with others about. I just wish the article was made available online to a wider audience so that parents and dancers who are not members or who don't get the magazine could also enjoy the article and talk amongst their dance colleagues about it more. There is an email address at the end of the article that says "What are your rules around touch? Have you ever felt uncomfortable in the studio? Let us know at gazette@rad.org.uk so perhaps it would be good on the back of this thread for dancers and teachers or parents to email the RAD.

You could try and upload to Facebook private group, YouTube unlisted, or vimeo if there's a private option there but as you've mentioned the copyright breach usually is a major headache It might work but if not then traditional DVDs might be best as quicker and once they've been done people don't usually need much support. I find with things like Dropbox, google drive etc I'm forever offering user support!

I've looked at that but not really sure at the moment. Did you come across anything more assessment focused as I'm thinking we could really do with some software to help us assess where she currently is now. Then I can look at options to teaching in line with goals and knowledge gaps.

I'm so worried about this!! My dd and I spend so much time together travelling to and from dance, me waiting around for her, I'm going to feel like we have very little time away from each other! But she and I have been unhappy with things for a long time and I'm so hoping that a lot of our stress will vanish if we are more efficient with our time.

Brave or foolish! Haha I don't think I would have chosen this route had it not been for dd having such difficult time at school. I genuinely think if we stay as we are she and I will be less happy than we could be. I do feel very responsible now though for her education and feel it's an enormous weight but also feel quite excited at the freedom to make certain choices. The last straw for me was getting a letter home, after a string of cover teachers across all subjects, saying that science was being cut down from 4 to 3 lessons per week and replaced with additional PE. This turned out to be table tennis.

Wow what fantastic responses - thank you so much it's helped me feel like I'm not alone or completely bonkers

I think now is a good time to consider your options, think about where your dd enjoys and benefits from going to the most, and if you feel that she is passionate about her dancing and wants to do more then where is the best place to do it. Reading what you say about the after school club my gut feel is that it won't be enough if she wants to progress at a rate that s quicker and better for her but it's only a hunch based on how you've written things Some schools will want to or need to take exams less frequently because it will need to be cost effective to do so. They may want to get the whole class through exams. Other schools will be more tailored towards exams individually where they have the option of more frequent exams. I'd also try and find out what the attitude is towards pass marks if that's possible as some schools might not strive as much for distinctions/high marks as long as everyone moves up a grade whereas other schools might try to get students towards the higher marks where they can so it might be worth thinking about to see what suits you best. Another thing is the availability of classes after the exams so check what's available in both places as classes for the next grade up. And it may seems fair to wait for the original school to do the exams but this could be long overdue for your dd and impact on her enjoyment of being challenged more

Sorry for late reply. I might start a thread about home education as I'm researching, planning and about to take the leap! Basically, I have some friends who we have met through dance who home educate and it's opened my eyes. Alongside this my dd and I have found ourselves at an awful school. She also wants to do options that conflict with the option blocks such as drama, art, music (can only do one) and food & nutition and textiles. Also I'm just utterly fed up with schools lack of anything supportive around dance and she and I have agreed on a plan. I'm going to start some general learning via mixed resources to get into the swing of things then we will follow maths English and general science GCSEs I think Other things will be different i.e.; OCR probably but I'm still choosing Eek! The plan is to take out unnecessary stress and focus on a different route to achieving equivalent of 9 GCSEs ????

I just had to pop into this thread. Had a meeting today and basically the deputy head, who's daughter dances, said I should consider home schooling!!! ... which we already are ????

Happy 5th birthday and thanks to admin xx

Thanks mph and yes she is a bully. So many things over the years. Completely old school when it comes to safeguarding despite allegedly keeping up to date with CPD, she had this major attitude problem of "the real world of dance". I honestly ended up almost believing her with certain things disguised as "tough love" when most of it was laziness, disorganisation, favouritism and old fashioned views on her part. As for social services they honestly didn't even care enough to ask me for any proper information. They just made one quick phone call to her and believed her, despite another complaint alongside mine. I just hope people realise from reading this thread 1. Don't assume a professional body membership on its own grants safety in terms of safeguarding 2. Look out for warning signs of closed doors and no windows to see through discretely and no cameras/cctv 3. Look out for mood swings of own children and other children 4. Reassure your dance children that there are always other options if something doesn't feel right. Thank you everyone who has contributed to this thread

I'm so sorry but tbh, and probably not what you want to hear, I would do them all by hand. I'd do them on continuous piece of invisible thread, so that the needle goes through the little hole on the side, round once, and then immediately onto the next place and through the next little hole in the side. They will flap about a bit but once they are all on they will all hang together in pretty much the same way. If I really wanted to cheat or was in a hurry I would use some fabric glue but you will need to wait for it to go tacky or it will slide about use a paintbrush or even the spray fabric glue and just spray a few sequins at a time, wait for them to go tacky, stick them on. Then i would run over the whole load of them with sewing machine with a metalic needle. Hope that helps. I hate sequins haha but they look gorgeous on stage

Cara our DD's are similar age, grades, and we've always seemed to comment a lot and share a lot in common on threads on here. What a huge achievement for your DD last year and it's given a genuine opportunity to taste what it would be like all day, every day, driving really really hard to forge out a successful career. At least you've both had a chance to properly walk in that path for a while and see what lies ahead. If the joy disappears then really what else is left? We just want our children to be happy don't we? We've made the decision just to coast along really and take things one step at a time. Doing lots of exciting classes etc but not committing to too much other than associates. Good luck to you both xx

No it was total dance time they referred to with the concern being around over training mostly

If it helps, some of the CAT schemes had a benchmark of 13 hrs at age 13, 14 at 14, 12 at 12 etc There wasn't too much weight out on this but they would review with parents and dancers if a lot more or a lot less than this On that basis, I guess you're in the right ball park but maybe your dd feels she needs a bit more of something and could handle more without being disadvantaged too much socially or academically or risks to physical health .... this is only from what I've spoken with other parents and tutors about so don't take my word for it

We shouldn't have to have cameras should we but then look at what they uncovered in care homes and with carers in own homes. Funnily enough at the old school some cameras were "donated" and installed where it could be streamed to a tv in the waiting area for any parents to see. It soon wore off and the tv wouldn't be on! There were also posters over the windows too to stop parents peering in. I totally get it can be a distraction but having been through what we've been through I wouldn't go anywhere now where I specifically could not watch or listen out if I wanted to, even if that means just walking past a window or door.

Yes Canary http://saferchildrensdance.co.uk/ There's a whistleblowing section where concerns can be submitted and then passed into the relevant professional body anonymously for most organisations (except RAD unfortunately who only wanted to refer to their full blown grievance procedure at our last contact with them but I am overdue in following this up).

Dance*is*life it was horrifying for me but she brushed it off almost immediately. It's amazing how resilient our kids can be. She's been affected more by the negative remarks over the years (being called thick/stupid) than anything else and that is still taking a lot of effort on our part with support of some lovely teachers. One of her new teachers has helped by explaining that it's easy to teach someone good/talented/clever/hardworking/compliant (to the point of being scared) and much harder to teach a big school of average/normal students. She pointed out that if the teachers at the old school favouritised a select few and ruled by fear then they weren't very good teachers as they were not getting great results from the whole school and majority of students. She talked it through and just said think about it they are there to teach. Dd could relate to them only teaching the ones easy to teach and this conversation seemed to be a turning point for her quite quickly afterwards. I only mention it in case other people are going through a similar thing. I think it's so hard when you watch your children just completely trust and give 100% only for there to be some very wicked people out there.

Yes I'll dm with contact info For anyone who'd like to know a year onwards from this saga .. She lost contact with 99% of children she used to dance with. Social services (LADO) weren't interested as principal admitted smacking but said it was only once and not very hard and I was just a poisonous ex parent! Principal called a meeting with parents and some kids were there and warned them against having contact with us. She told them I had made a complaint that was not upheld My did and I have had a lot of grief from different parents and kids We know for sure others smacked but will not come forward We've put this behind us as nothing more we can do and just hope that others come forward when time is right for them. Dd is flourishing with new and different teachers .. she bounced back very quickly and it has made her very determined to look out for others and not stand for any nonsense in future

Yes Not just whether there are enough children to put through for exams but also planning ahead for cost effectiveness of running the next grade up It's interesting to see how some schools recognise this by offering to teach two grades combined or allowing students to do the next grade up alongside the current grade. It can be so frustrating if you find yourself trapped and waiting for the next grade class to come along. My DD was "exam ready" for her last ballet grade a year ago and essentially just ticked along waiting for there to be students ready to do the exam and for the next grade class to be introduced to the timetable. Very frustrating as now we aren't expecting very good marks

Thread title = alien invasion = trump Love this place x

Another vote for the roller apparently from my DD who is hypermobile. Her dance teacher introduced her to one at the studio and she has one on her xmas list! In the meantime I caught her making (?) one out of one of my big church candles with a cushion taped around it .... blooming kids! I sat there in the front room watching TV thinking something is missing!! (Just thought I'd share this with you all haha) I have a friend who's DD is always complaining about splits and just doesn't seem to get down far in any of the splits. Admittedly I don't think she is doing stretches regularly but I wonder if she's possibly affected by tight muscles

Enjoyed your foot story Really? I've heard loads, usually just from sitting outside in waiting areas "Point your feet!" or "Again!" haha I thought this was cute though as it shows the difference between shouting to be heard and just plain shouting. Surely it's not much different from primary school classrooms where sometimes staff shout to be heard.