Belljul

How did it go katycustard, and any others there today? Hope you all had a lovely day. It is indeed a special experience.

Same for my DS. Wonderful to have Christopher Hampson there, but my ds texted back "scared" lol. Good luck to your dd ballettaxi! xx

Please dont be put off, dexter169. There is so much advice to be had from so many experienced folks on here and we (mostly lol) try to help and encourage each other. Some things can also sound more harsh in print than they are mean to be. Good luck with your niece and her decision.

Happy to hear that your sweet dd is continuing to improve C4D. Every dancing step she takes will be such joy for her, and you. Thanks for letting us know, and reminding us never to take our health for granted. Xxxx

Billyelliot, is your ds starting in year 7? Has the uniform changed stirrups? Ours were in shorts til year 9!

Application in! Hopeful and excited

Hi Billyelliot. How exciting for you and your DS! I also know of another year 7 boy starting and I can ask him at JAs if he would like to message your son through this site. Will let you know. They make friends quickly though so don't worry about that. I have a boy in year 9 at the moment (but due to leave at the end of the term) so message me if you have any questions.

My daughter didn't wear a waist elastic so don't worry if you don't have one. They won't all have them

I think White Lodge has the kids in full soles (correct me if I am wrong). Elmhurst doesn't. Both my boys wear split soles in canvas and I do wash them although my eldest won't let me any more! A useful tip for the little suede soles once they have been smoothed down is to buff them gently with either an emery board (for nail filing) or a pumice stone. This brings up the nap of the suede and they are less slippy.

Sorry, that was a bit random, as I missed a whole page of todays posts! The good luck was for outofmydepth's DD. But good luck for all your DC.

Sounds like your daughter had fun. Best of luck!!

You can also seemingly have a body that is too short! My daughter is a bit like this and it makes the ribcage look quite broad. Try not to worry too much and make the most of what you have, whilst being realistic. Makes me think of a quote from Monty Python's 'Holy Grail'....."Is it too big, is it too small, will the girls like it...?" lol

Sadly they didn't know the timings of the new parents day lol!! Flights booked now. Yay!

Information has just appeared today! Yay!

Anyone with a child starting at White Lodge in Sept heard anything at all from the school yet, especially about the open day? I am holding off booking flights but no info yet and they are not answering phone (think lines are down) or email! Frustrating.

Glad to hear that your dd has opened up a little. Hearing that your child feels like they are in a 'black box' is really tough The good thing about her giving you this description is that you now have a point of reference for her feelings. You can now work to get her 'out of the black box'. You can ask gentle questions such as 'how black does the box feel today?'. What time of the day does the box feel blackest? Is it ever just a grey box'? etc It's a powerful visual image as is 'climbing out of the black box', or switching lights on etc etc. Visual people often work best with other visual images. Go gently on the questions but it will certainly help to use her images and language if you manage to get a chat going. Meant to say that it could be grief that she is suffering as she has suffered a meaningful loss - her place at dance school, and loss of self esteem (self image due to teachers comments). You could tell her that you feel like she is grieving these losses and if that is the case she needs to go through it but that she will come out the other end. xxxxx Edited to add last bit.

Hi Dramascientist. Really sorry to hear that your daughter has become withdrawn. That must be so hard for you!! I can't say that it has happened to my children but I have worked a bit with teenagers who do not want to talk and it is is very hard. I bet you just want to scream "what is wrong? and what can I do to make it go away?". Something that sometimes works when talking is avoided is to write a letter to your daughter. Sounds strange but its so much less confrontational and allows her to deal with your thoughts in her own time and space and when she want to. She may think it is odd if you hand her a letter but just go with it and see how she responds. Try not to ask for to many answers from her as she may not know exactly what is going on in her head herself. I would suggest letting her know that you are aware she is not feeling happy and wondered if she could do with help to get back to her happy self. You can admit you don't know what that help might be at the moment but that you could begin to work together a bit if she wants. Ask for a letter in reply. It may not be dancing that is causing this issue, there may be other things going on but if you try to gently open up communication you may get somewhere. I don't know if any of this will help, but huge luck. xx

Thanks Spax! That is very kind of you. I have to somehow sort out meeting with my son from Birmingham so we may well drive but will message you if it looks like that is an option. Thanks for your kind offer x

Thanks Pavlala. That is a help

Jumping the gun a bit here but wondering if anyone can give me any more info about likely timings on the open day for new students/parents on 18th May. I hope they send details soon, but if anyone who has been before can fill me in with how it has been run in past it would help with logistics. We have to book flights from Scotland so it would be good to know if there would be time to fly down early on the Saturday morning or not. Thanks.

Yay tango! That is such lovely news. Your daughter must be thrilled. And to tpss! Welcome to the madhouse (don't mean WL, but vocational ballet life in general lol)!! edited to add tpss

Reading all this with great interest and have already been working up plans b and c and my ds is in only in year 9! We will be unable to afford fees at Elmhurst or ENB US (due to dada changes) so our plans involve auditions in Europe and I am grateful for the funding offered and the fact they are open to taking foreign students! Also looking at the States. Still works out cheaper for us!!! Thanks for sharing your experiences step in time. Huge luck to your dc.

Thanks Hoobydigger, you can feel the tension of waiting for the upper school results and how thrilled she is. I can't believe that will be my son in two years time. Feel sick already!!

My DDs is a year 4 and she does struggle with the length and intensity of the class, so anyone going for a year 4 place has to have a think about the personality of their dc and whether they would cope better leaving it a year. The day also involves a lot of travel as it does for most, so this needs to taken into account too. It's a lot for a 9 year old!

Really hope you have a wonderful evening together and that you lovely dd managed to cope well. You have all had a lot to deal with. I hope tonight was full of joy xx