kcoom75

I too wish I’d had someone to tell me the brutal truth about vocational school.......My DD began as a young 16yr old full of passion for dance and although she finished three years with a degree, her passion and her confidence were destroyed.  I encouraged her to complete the course when she told me she never wanted to go back so that at least she would have a qualification but in hindsight it really wasn’t worth it.  She told me about many other girls who had various mental health problems from eating disorders to self harming. It seems all too common in the dance world when children are young and vulnerable and lacking in the pastoral support they badly need.

If I had my time again I would get her out before she loses her confidence completely. 😕

Ah glad he enjoyed it, Ryan is 11, he starts high school this year aswell 🙈 He always tells me he sits  by himself which makes me feel a bit sad but he doesnt seem bothered by it.  Hope you get the news you’re hoping for.  Maybe they could sit together. 😂😃

Hi, My DS attends hammond associates, I believe he was in the same group as your DS.  He loves going and all the lessons but he’s quite shy and still doesn’t know many people. 

Good luck to your DS, It will be lovely to have more boys going. 😃

Have a look at the real food cafe in Tyndrum they often hire students from ballet west for casual hours and are quite good about you fitting it in around your dancing. There is also a tesco’s and a wetherspoons in Oban where some students also get jobs.

Yes I saw that too but thought i’d seen someone post about attending in Manchester. I wasn’t sure if they had more than one venue.

Thankyou. 😃

Does anyone know anything about tap attack northern associates?  They are holding auditions in July and my DS is very keen to go. 

what is the standard required and where are the associate classes held?

Thanks 😊

On 14/10/2017 at 14:56, All4dancers said:

I feel i have to be honest and say that in my experience there is little or no pastoral care - very difficult if you are hundreds of miles away from your 16 year old dd and problems arise.  However I'm sure many students pass through the school happily.  I'm happy to share some of our experiences through pm. 

I would agree with this, My DD was only 16 when she started and did complete three years but since she finished she has made me realised how isolated  and unsupported she felt,  with some unfair and cruel criticism by one particular teacher. 

I must admit, i did a lot of the leg work for both my DD's as I didn't want them to miss out. They have since realised this and are grateful for it. I would definitely go to as many open days as you can as these are what seemed to inspire my  girls to put the effort in. 

While my DD was away her favourite presents were ugg style slippers, a fleecy blanket and hot chocolate sachets with marshmallows. 😃

She is an ex dancer so is very knowledgeable, they have quite a few brands and none of them are suitabke she will order in anything you want to try. 

We regularly use this this shop, they are very knowledgeable and have always been patient and taken a long time to find the right shoes for my DD.

I thought if you had RAD grade 8 you could teach up to that level but you had to have DDI/DDE to enter pupils for exams?

my friends daughter used dollworx. She was given a disc with all the images as well as some prints to get framed. There were some beautiful pictures.

http://www.dollworx.co.uk/

My DD did eyb a number of years ago, not knowing many if any other people there and made some very close friendships which she still has today. She hasn't done any pointe before the audition and pestered her dance teacher to allow her to get pointe shoes and had one lesson before the casting. She was chosen for a pointe part but was given a lot of extra coaching by the principles, often on a 1-1 basis.

Are the category finals shown on tv?

according to their facebook page it will be shown in March.

Two dancers from ballet west have got through to the final. ????

Whenever I do hair for my DD for dance, I get her to wash it as normal and and then do the plaits or bun while its wet using a tail comb. Once it's done, spray with lots of hairspray. It seems to look neater this way and always got rid of wispy bits....She has been known to take all the pins out and yet still have a perfect bun because it doesn't move! ????

I also read the reviews about summer schools with interest and I cannot believe how many people whose children are at vocational school, can afford summer schools too, sometimes more than one? DD was lucky enough to go to a national ballet school abroad which was free until 16 but left because they offered no academic qualification post 16 and frankly I did not like their old fashioned views on what was healthy eating for a dancer, but that's another story. However now she is at Ballet West all our funds are used up on keeping her in pointe shoes, leotards and food, paying the top up for student finance and rent etc. She has to be dedicated to stay in shape by herself during the summer months, there isn't spare cash for her to do workshops etc. However, let's put it into perspective, these are first world problems, dancers in the UK have many opportunities which do not exist elsewhere and life is all about being in the right place at the right time, sometimes amazing people don't get opportunities (not just in the arts) just because they just don't happen to be there when the opportunity arises. Let's count our blessings, yes let's strive to make sure our children have the life they want but sometimes it's just not possible for them to have everything, let's face it we never had!

You are so right. My DD is also at vocational school and I have read comments about how bad a whole summer without dance would be in terms of keeping up fitness and technique, but after paying top up fees, accommodation, food, travel and also paying for two other children a summer filled with extra dance is out of the question! In fact my DD has spent most of her summer working to give her some spending money for the odd day out. I actually dread the messages I get telling me she needs new pointe shoes!????

if you're out at school/college or work all day, there's plenty of time to cook a casserole in a cheap low power slow cooker.

<potters around Amazon for a while>

 

Ah, there are two types of slow cooker - faster ones (like the one I have) and really slow ones, which take much longer to do any thing but have very low input.

we also use mince quite a lot, after cooking/draining you can add a tin of tomatoes and a pack of microwave savoury rice for a very quick cheats risotto. For a lower fat version you could use turkey mince and you can also add any other veg you have such as peppers/courgettes.

Just wondering, if you have an MDS award, do they allow monthly payments for fees or do they have to be paid termly?

My DD seems to live on pasta (very cheap if you use chopped tomatoes as a sauce) You can then add whatever else you have in the fridge..... or jacket potatoes with beans, cheese or tuna.

It might also be worth investing in a slow cooker, you can get them for £20 or less now, throw in a bag of frozen veg, some chicken (you can also get cook from frozen chicken) chopped tomatoes and a few herbs and spices. This will give you a hot meal when you come in and can be portioned into tubs and frozen for another day.

For snacks I would go for yoghurts, rivita crackers or rice cakes. Look out for which ones are on offer. xx

Swan Princess glad you're home safely now, if you click on the link, there is an option to share it on Facebook. Maybe you could post your warning with the link and make it public for people to share?