Noobag06

Degas 9501 camisole leotard in "Eglantine" colour, size 14A (front lined). Excellent condition. Only worn a handful of times. £20, plus £2.99 postage.

Hello Your post was looking a little lonely out there! My DD(12) is going, and will be residential too. I would say an important thing is that your DD can manage her own bun. Make sure she has a few tries beforehand, and has enough nets, pins etc for the course. It won't matter if it's not immaculate, as long as it stays up. Not long now! I'm sure it will be a lovely and exciting week for them all.

Just to let anyone who's interested know, we had our appeal this morning and they have decided to uphold it. So it is worthwhile applying, as it seems that it is a discretionary award. It will run until DD reaches the end of year 11. This makes a big difference to us! I also felt that the members of the panel who heard our case were sympathetic towards talents in the Arts (as they should be).

Hello Thank you for your replies. It would have been a 400 mile round trip for us, had we taken up her other vocational school offer, so this was a better option for various reasons. She has to return home at weekends as it is weekly boarding only. The school isn't part of an MDS, hence the exploration of other funding options. DH spoke to the decision making department at the LA on Monday, who confirmed that this is something we CAN apply for, on the grounds that it is the nearest school to us that meets her needs. I just wanted to share that, in case it helps others in similar situations or anyone who is thinking of applying this year, and I will update after the result of the appeal as well.

Hello everyone Does anyone know about or have experience of Local Authority travel assistance for vocational school? Our LA (Kent) has a duty to pay travel costs to the nearest secondary school, which is not a specialist classical ballet training centre, so I was hoping to explore the "gifted and talented" angle, as advised by one of her vocational school ballet teachers. As we understand it, this situation comes under the SEN umbrella. We live roughly 80 miles from school, and travel up and back to drop off and collect her by train twice a week, as she comes home at weekends. Any thoughts or experience would be gratefully received. Thanks in advance.

This has now been sold.

Age 10-12 YDA Associates leotard. Excellent condition, £15 including postage.

Thank you, Dancer123. She's chosen YDA. Elmhurst is lovely too, so it was a tough choice, but we feel that YDA is the best "fit" for her right now.

My daughter was turned down for JAs two years ago, but this year got to finals for WL (incl. callback), Elmhurst and YDA, and had offers from both Elmhurst and YDA. She is currently on the waiting list for MAs in London. I know of several JA children who didn't make finals for any of the lower schools, including WL, but who have graduated to MAs. Good luck with it all-not only do schools seem to look for different things, children change and improve over time as they develop and grow.

SWL for London yr7 for us.

Mine was. She's also a non JA, and we're waiting for London results. Just trying to fathom RBS!

Skintdancemum and RichieN, Were either of your DDs in the callback at finals?

Hello all My DD has been very fortunate in receiving an offer for year 7 for both YDA and Elmhurst. I'm interested in hearing as many opinions as possible regarding which school you would choose, and why. I'm particularly interested to hear thoughts from anybody with experience of either. Thank you.

Thank you, Happymum. I'll look on the website.

Thank you. So all of those are MDS? The bit I'm confused about is that the means tested forms aren't required til May or June, yet the offer is open for a week. So we are potentially accepting places without prior knowledge of how much we have to top up the fees by? Excuse my naivity.

Does anybody with experience know how many MDS places are awarded to y7s?

Congratulations Happymum! Has anybody had girls' results yet?

Yes it is, thank you ????.

My DD auditioned for y7 yesterday. Was anybody given an indication of when we could expect results? I completely forgot to ask!

Does anybody know how many got SWL?

Haha, yes Loobylou, all sorted now thank you ????. She's on her third pair of Grishko 2007 now, and does have really narrow, bendy feet! I'm so glad I asked on here last year though, as I wouldn't have known about Just Ballet without this forum, and it's so important to get pointe shoes fitted properly. It's great that we can help each other and share experiences.

My DD is doing the Easter Course. She did the Summer School last year, and started YDA Associates in September. It's a great school with excellent teaching. The Summer school was ballet based with a strong focus on technique and repertoire. We had a little performance for parents on the final day. My DD loved it. She's not very MT either-it's all about the ballet! Hope that helps.

We went to Just Ballet in Southend for DD's first pair last March. The service was excellent and we were very impressed with Fran. We were there for a couple of hours. However, Southend (store now closed, I believe, although there is another one in Wisbech where I'm sure the service is also excellent) was a long trek for us, and as we are in London every Saturday for Associates, we have gone to Dancia for her second and last pairs. Good range, great fitting and service. I know some people speak very highly of Freeds, but DD has "Grishko feet", according to the fitters. Definitely go somewhere where you can try a range of brands and sizes.

Thanks everyone. They do look like just like those, Bluebird. And thanks for the Savers tip, Moomin. Will definitely check there before dance shops. Brilliant ????

Hello! I'm after some more toe protectors for my DD, the sort you wear in pointe shoes. I don't mean the ouch pouch type of thing, I mean the gel toe things that are worn on the big toe like a soft thimble. I can't remember what they're called, (which has made for some interesting searches so far...). Can anybody help? Thank you ????.