Wigglybunny

Sorry am completely gatecrashing your thread, but well done to all the ‘yes’ so far and commiserations to the ‘no not yet’s. Just to say DS did three years of JAs also juggling festivals and being a cathedral chorister. We managed it and prioritised as best we could (sometimes with the tightest of logistics!) We were totally open and honest with everyone about where he was (I.e. he was never ‘sick’ unless he was actually ill). Luckily most comps he was in were around school holiday time and he didn’t actually miss much JAs at all. But he did get very tired. JAs is a long class, especially for the year 4s. In all honesty, it is not for everyone. But very much worth it for DS. Good luck to all still waiting for results xx

It’s about 30 or so y7 girls and the same number of boys invited to finals. It’s not a definite number each year though.

As far as I am aware, the audition is for both and I certainly know you can be called for finals without having ticked the WL box if they like what they see at the audition enough. (I know this because of the shocked look on the face of one of the mums from DS’s old dance school whose daughter got through to WL finals and she definitely, definitely didn’t tick the box!) Good luck, well done and/or commiserations (delete as appropriate!) to all auditioning this year.

Not that I know of, but we were worried when DS auditioned, as he is tall for his age. There is head and shoulders difference between the tallest and shortest boys in his class, but they are the best of friends.

I’m our experience, summer school has been great from a young age. I would say there is real benefit if your child is looking to go to lower school and hasn’t been away from home before. My son went aged 10 the year before he auditioned for voc school to see if he could cope being away from home but mainly to see if he liked it. He went to two very different summer schools that year and ended up only auditioning for one because one was right for him and the other (which he thought he would prefer) really wasn’t. He learned lots and from a male perspective, he really benefitted from being in a class of all boys, almost all of whom were older. It was a huge inspiration for him and not something he could have got in many places elsewhere.

Yes, there is an open day at WL, usually in mid June that is open to the public. You can do a tour of the school and watch the children dancing too. I appreciate it’s a bit late if you were thinking of auditioning this year, though.

A related observation from the RBS programme at the Holland Park performances this year was the percentage of students who were JAs/MAs. Each student from yr7-US were listed by school year in the programme and if they were a JA/MA they had an asterisk next to their name. For year 7/8 it was the case for the majority, by yr 10/11 it was about half. In the first year of US it was about a third and by the third year there were no asterisks. It made me a bit sad, but is a wholy unscientific observation!

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I’m really relieved to hear this! We simply can’t afford much outside of voc school. And although he loves it there, DS is exhausted by the end of term. I truly think he needs the break in the holidays. And it’s lovely to spend time with the young man he is becoming.

DS is at voc school and broke his toe at the end of sept. He was prescribed vitamin d by the medical team and took it all through the winter. No idea whether it helped healing, but he seems fine now!

My DD also attends a school where distinction is expected. Sadly, she was the only one to get a (very good!) merit out of the whole primary class when she took her exam aged 6 a few years ago. Everyone else got distinction. She hasn’t been allowed to take an exam since (she is now 8 and studying grade 3) but her teacher hasn’t ever mentioned it...she just hasn’t entered her. Luckily she’s not that bothered and has gained distinctions in non-dancing exams such as LAMDA and ABRSM, but having had an older DS who got very good RAD distinctions, it’s difficult seeing both sides of the coin, so to speak.

Sorry, I feel like I am gatecrashing your thread, but I would say go with your gut feeling. If you are concerned, move her. In all honesty, what have you got to lose? And as others have said, if your dd is serious about any kind of dancing, it will be difficult to stay with friends the whole time. And as regards photos...your post made me chuckle, as I completely empathise. I am so disorganised, I have always had to take DS’s photos for any applications...on my phone...in the living room! One time, (to my absolute shame!!)I had completely forgotten that it was the closing date for summer school and I had to go and get him up out of bed at 10pm to take them. But he has always got in to whatever he has applied for, so although I wouldn’t advocate being as rubbish as me, it’s definitely not the quality of photography that makes the difference. They know what they are looking for and what will be will be. All the very best of luck, whatever you decide. xx

I always spoke directly to his teacher and she was very understanding. That said, though, we made every effort to catch up on any missed work etc. We were at b’ham. Also, often festivals are in the school holidays, so it can mean that JAs actually isn’t on that same weekend. We were lucky in that regard a couple of times.

DS was a JA and did lots of festivals including nationals and the dance world cup. He was also a cathedral chorister, so i seemed to spend all my time juggling, prioritising and apologising to everyone about why he might be late or why we were prioritising one thing over another. That said, we only ever missed JAs if he actually had a festival at the same time as a class or there was a cathedral service scheduled at the same time (which was rare as his ja classes were on a sat.) I always tried to give lots of notice as others have said and always told the truth about where he was. He was never ‘ill’. I think a variety of experiences is good for them, although he did get very tired. That said, i don’t miss the juggling now he is away at school.

The BRB production is very different for the kids. They choose from the RBS JAs by watching one of the first classes in sept and also audition at Elmhurst. They usually choose very small and young looking children and they are only in the party scene. From a personal perspective, DS was a b’ham JA and right from y4 he was told by his teacher not to get his hopes up, as he was too tall, even back then. We were told ‘if the costumes don’t fit, you can’t be in it!’ He never got cast and was philosophical about it, but secretly a bit gutted. Then he watched the nutcracker documentary at Christmas last year before auditioning for WL and realised that almost all the Y7,8&9 WL children get to be in the London production. I am sure that realisation made him even more determined to get a place and made up his mind that’s what he wanted. He’s just finished his first term at WL and his first nutcracker run at ROH and loved every minute.