famcandance2

No but they like you to get them in asap so that they can organise dates. Sometimes they have to put more auditions on than originally planned if they have lots of people auditioning. You can ask for dates, just look on the website for the school and it will tell you the dates they are offering at the moment. If you want to audition, I would get the application in as soon as you can.

Yea the Comfort Inn is good and just down the road from the school. They can be a bit pricey sometimes, but if you go on places like travelrepublic you will find rooms there for cheaper.

The travelodge is convenient but not great. If you can afford it stay on Hoole Road, there are loads of B & b's.

Thanks all. Was looking for something round Chester as we live in the borders and there is nothing here. My ds is at Hammond so we go to Chester often anyway. Will definitely let you know if we go what it's like.

Hi. Has anyone heard of or been to head 2 toe in Chester? I wasn't aware of this shop and have just found it on the web. I want to have my dd fitted with pointe shoes and have heard the theatre shop in chester isn't great. Thought I might try this shop and wondered if anyone had any experience of it. thanks

Thanks all. Seems Grishko top the pols for narrow feet.

Slightly off the pointe (sorry no pun intended) can anyone suggest a pointe shoe for someone with long slim feet and narrow ankles? Any help appreciated. Thanks

My dd not even at vocational school and has the headache, sickie, upset tummy bug! I see some of your dd's have been ill for a while. Mine been sick on and off for two weeks and still not better! Hope this bug wears off soon. Hope all your dd's are on the mend. x

Thanks, will give them a go.

Am still battling with pointe shoes for my ds! Dance shop said they could get his size coz it said on the web they made them, only to find when ordering that they don't make that size! We are trying to find other options.

I found some really good knee high socks in our local clarks store. They weren't expensive and have been going for about two years now as ds's feet seem to have stopped growing for now. (Thank goodness!) Can't remember the size but think they were available in lots of different sizes. Maybe we were just lucky, but give it a try.

Thanks everyone for good wishes. Hopefully we will be able to move forward now and at least I know that it wasn't only me being a pushy mum and thinking she was good. Now at least we have an independent opinion and it is the same as mine. Wish everyone could see her potential as clearly!

Just wanted to let you all know that I have a much happier girl. We went to the "far away" school last night to get her assessed and see where she was at with view to joining the school. I am happy to say that the lady was wonderful and very knowledgeable and has been teaching for many years. She doesn't allow snobbery or bad attitude in her classes and seems to praise the students a lot thus boosting their confidence and egging them on to do better. My dd will be doing intermediate jazz, private tap lessons, and both grade 5 and intermediate ballet. She is so excited! The teacher said she was a very good dancer who picked things up fast and although there are things to work on, once she has been taught properly for a while, she could see her being very good. At Last! Someone who is seeing the potential I have been seeing. On subject of the Hammond, we are setting half term as the cut off point and if nothing has happened by then, we are giving up on that one for this year. Thank you for all the positive help and suggestions I have received on this forum, you are all fantastic. x

You don't have to play an instrument. She doesn't have to prepare a song and if she has a problem singing a solo you can ask them for her not too. She will probably still have to sing in a group though. They say at Hammond that singing is not taken into account when deciding for the dance course, so maybe you should try anyway. Phone them and speak to them, they are very approachable about your concerns.

A little bird has told me that there could be some spaces available for girls on next years associates. Information will be on the website from January so look out for it.

No we live in the Borders. Thanks everyone. Yes it may be less than Hammond fees but it is also wear and tear on the car, etc and practicality. This school seems keen to have her so will see. Thanks for workshop info, will definitely investigate that.

I have tried my best to find a school in this radius. Even these organisations admit that our area is a really hard area and has always been a hard area to find anything. The school that is so far away is the only option and I am trying to weigh up whether I can afford to take her there. Between the fees and the petrol it is going to quite expensive.

I am badgering Hammond all the time, but seem to be getting no-where. I was certainly told by the headteacher that it wasn't too late for her to attend still. Apparently a few of the people who have boarded kids before have left and some are unwell so are not taking boarders at this time. We are about 2 hours away from the nearest associate programme, but as I said before, there are only two and they are both full. It isn't about putting her in any dance school so she can dance, as there are only hip hop classes here and thats not going to help her. There is one school that does some ballet, but they use unqualified teachers so I am a bit nervous of her going there in case of injury. She always does summer schools but obviously these are only helpful alongside regular training. Anyway, thanks for all the helpful advice, it is appreciated.

I think it would easier for us if there was a good local school for her to attend. With the lack of good schools it isn't easy to accept that she can't get the training she needs and when you know she should be at a vocational school, it's even worse.

Thank you to all for comments. Would just like to say that there have been some negative comments which I have chosen to ignore and also to say that because I have a disabled child at home also, flying or going very far is out of the question, which is why we chose Hammond. Maybe others do this, but perhaps they have the money to do so and also don't have the added responsibility of a disabled child. Sadly for us Hammond really is the only option. Thanks for other positive suggestions, really appreciated.

Unfortunately not!

I have already spoken to Ken Burke at the dance school of Scotland. Unfortunately their boarding house is full too and so is the dance course. It is too far to commute every day anyway. He was keen to have her, but he has to abide by what the school says. She may be able to audition for next year, depending on their boarding situation.

She did Hammond associates last year, but it was horrendously expensive as, besides the fees, we had to stay over and then there was the petrol. There are only two associate schemes in Scotland, both of which are by audition and are full. We went Hammond because it was the most reasonable in distance for us and even so it takes us 3-3 and a half hours to get there. Dd is not an only child, besides my ds at Hammond, I have a disabled 21 year old at home. This makes it difficult for us to travel too far. Associate schemes are great but really need to run alongside local regular classes which we can't find.

Unfortunately she would not be able to defer for a year. Hammond don't do this, you have to apply every year. Also she would be going into her GCSE year whilst only having done 3 years of secondary school in Scotland. She would also not have the right subjects.

Definitely still interested. Would you please find out if she is still doing this and if she would be willing to take a boarder and how much it would cost? Thank you so much for your help.