Babyballerina

Thank you

Does anyone have any experience of applying to upper schools in Europe?  
Any advice/previous experiences would be most welcome.

22 minutes ago, MissEmily said:

My student reports having about six pieces of homework a week at Elmhurst…

Really, my son says he doesn’t get any!!  I’ll check with him.  The house parents also said they don’t get any.  Thanks for the heads up I will definitely check 

1 minute ago, The red shoes said:

There are regular trips on Sundays at WL. And not left to own devices. Yesterday they did ceramic paining and this Sunday it’s a trip to the sea life centre. They do treasure hunts, museum visits, trips to the cinema plus they have swimming on site at the weekends too. 

Well this has changed since last year as that wasn't happening at all.  As i say i speak from experience not just hear say

21 minutes ago, Thelittleswans said:

Do they still do “prep” at vocational school? If not, where do they do their home work?

My boy is in Elmhurst year 7 and they don't have homework.  They said that the day is so full that they don't have time to do homework in the evenings.  As for the weekends, he stays unless its leave out and the range of activities they have is wonderful.  He is thoroughly enjoying every moment.

Having also had a daughter go through White Lodge, i feel that they have too much time on their hands and not enough supervision on a weekend especially as they get older.  They go to Sheen with the houseparents in year 7 and 8 on a Saturday afternoon but Sunday seemed to be 'entertain yourself'.  I can assure you that this was not a good idea

17 hours ago, cotes du rhone ! said:

My Dd wasn’t “assessed out” of her vocational school and completed the full 8 years of ballet training.

How we now wish she had been 😢

Rarely do children have the perfect physique and facility that classical ballet demands and when it’s their absolute dream and they are determined to succeed they will do anything to stay in. 
Our daughter from the age of 13/14, just before the first assessing out appraisal, started to abuse herself physically. She deliberately stopped herself growing and developing. It was calculated and controlled as she truly believed that this would help her achieve her dream. From that point on she became very successful. Rewarded you could say for her self harm. How can you convince a child that their actions are wrong and harmful when they are praised and rewarded. When we attended YAGP finals her belief was reinforced that what she was doing was necessary and working. In the masterclasses they all looked like her. I was shocked. It was the first time she hadn’t looked out of place with her age group. What can you do as a parent ? We felt so confused. She is a very intelligent girl, not mentally unwell, but so focused on her goal that she was willing to hurt herself to dance. The vocational school had no idea how to manage her. They just weighed and heighten her to with an inch of her life and punished her by threatening to stop her dancing if she fell below their set BMI level. There was no psychological support, it was like it was a new phenomenon !!!  They never ever asked her why ? I’m sure they feared the answer as her rationale for her actions was in some ways justified by the outcome.
We privately got her to see a psychologist who following the assessment concluded that the problem was ballet. She was just so driven to achieve.

I feel very sad to read about these 13/14 year old girls who have been assessed out of their ballet school for various reasons. If your child has to force themselves to be a certain way to stay in that school then I feel more sorry for those as we personally know all too well the long term damage that this causes 😢The road to recovery from such choices and that particular ballet journey is very long and hard. 
My dd once said that it appeared that everyone who had left her vocational school seemed far more healthier and happier than when they had been there. Maybe 🤔 being assessed out of a particular school / environment that demands perfection is a lucky escape. So sadly painful at the time but for the best in the long term. Dd and I talked the other day about how she may have looked now if it wasn’t for ballet. But you can’t undo the past but hope that others will be supported better in the future with their training. 
 

I agree with you we have had a lucky escape.  I feel for the ones who are staying because of the intense pressure they will feel over the next two years.  They have also now put on the acceptance form that you sign to stay for the next stage that it is ‘subject to progress and/or injury’  Does that mean they can ‘assess out’ in year 10!  How catastrophic would that be for their education. 
Since we have walked away from the establishment in question I have a happy young lady who is enjoying ballet for the first time in a long long time!!

28 minutes ago, Peanut68 said:

Hmmm….. I feel incredibly sad for any families facing this predicament & how utterly dreadful that it can lead to such a drastic thing as a suicide attempt! Surely, surely this sounds huge alarm bells all around?
For a school to tell all pupils to apply to other vocational & regular schools ‘just in case’ is a cop out. And if then the kids that have supposedly had the benefit of the best training in the world (as another poster suggests) are replaced predominantly by international students…. Well, that suggests it is NOT the best training in the world doesn’t it? Perhaps they need to audit their training programme/staff/selection processes/assessment processes/management more thoroughly to see just where the school & its training is going so wrong….IMHO.

I increasingly think we should perhaps abandon full time vocational training until a later age (14-15 like I think is more usual in many overseas places like USA) So more likely post puberty. Trouble is of course that will further engender elitism as all the training required would be family funded….. unless maybe more CAT schemes (with the fair means tested MDS funding) in more dance genres were established with fair geographic distribution? 

The money that is lavished by Government funding/grants/charitable tax breaks etc plus philanthropic donations surely would be better spent this way to create a fairer playing field for entry from say year 10 & beyond. 

Just some late night musings…..

Another thought too…. Abandon this crazy rollercoaster & vote with wallets. If all stopped endlessly applying to audition for places or attend intensives etc with all the crazy fees each thing costs then soon the penny would drop as the pounds dried up that they are not the be all end all after all!

Again I find myself asking (& how do we find out?) who audits this? I feel there is massive misuse of public funds - the hard earned money of each & everyone of us UK tax payers & IT NEEDS investigations!!!
 

You are absolutely right on all points!  They have taken 12 of the most talented kids in their year 7 intake, talent doesn’t disappear, only to ask them to leave when they have failed them . My feeling is that the child should be awarded the MDS funding not the establishment, the funding should move with the child!! 
This large school has a very large bursary from a major company that is to fund international students for 2 years and then they can apply for MDS  funding.  Why are we funding international students at the expense of home grown talent.  Our training needs to be completely overhauled.  

1 minute ago, Ballerinamama said:

Goodness me. I had no idea the number of “assessed out” children was so high.

 

I wish your daughter the very best at her new school.

Thank you!  It has been particularly harsh for this year group as this is the first year at the school without Lockdowns!! 
Usually, it is one possibly two at a push but this year it has been awful! 
Nobody expected this at all, so so hard for all the children! 

On 23/03/2022 at 21:35, The red shoes said:

Indeed this is true however they have had 3 years of the next training in the world ( in my opinion) and that is better than none at all or 5 years of mediocre.

RBS have said ALL year 9 students must apply to other vocational schools and indeed normal

secondary schools. They help them with their videos , etc and are very supportive . 

My DD is in the first year group that have gone through this incredibly harsh and brutal process.  They did do videos and photographs that where quite frankly awful.  This year they have assessed out 9 of the year group, 7 of which are girls!  All have been replaced with international students.  This leaves 2 British girls in the year group.  You say they are supportive, I disagree!! 
This process has resulted in one of the children attempting suicide!!! Not one of the ones who are going from the year group were told that there was a problem and they might not get to the next stage, in fact they were told the opposite at artistic meetings. 

On a positive note my DD is going to another vocational school that will nurture her.  In their words at audition ‘she is a huge talent’ 

Yes Nala my little girl has been offered week one

Do they do more than one role??  It seems very expensive. I’m probably jumping the gun but want to be prepared. Thank you Balletmum1704

We have been lucky enough to be recalled for final auditons for the junior company.  We didn't expect to get past prelims so I am now looking at the logistics and cost.  Has anyone else done this before??  I know the initial cost and that's going to be a struggle but it the incidentals and the extra accommodation, tickets etc that I'm not sure about.

Any insight to this would be amazing. 

not really rudolp23 she is very focused in class, not that i'm in class but from what the teacher tells me.

My DD is a Royal Ballet JA and we have had our yearly progress report from the teacher.  She has said that she has a very young look about her!!  She is 9 and year 5 but I'm not sure what she means.

Does anyone have any ideas??  I have asked her what she means is it physically that she looks young but she said its not a physical look.  Her exact words were 'she is a lovely mover but still has a young look about her'  

The letter that was emailed to me says year 6 is 12.45 to 14.15.  Hope this helps

Thank you everyone for all your advice.  I have emailed her RBS associate teacher and explained the situation to her.  Awaiting her reply!!

DD goes to JA there but it would take me over an hour to get there rush hour. Not possible during the week. Has anyone any experience of shelagh Elliot clarke??

Snowflake her confidence is already taking a down turn. Her JA teacher mentioned it to me!!!  Has anyone any recommendations for schools in the Merseyside/Cheshire area.??

Yes Sarahw it's about 15 mins away. All the classes are on a Saturday morning which will clash with elmhurst associates!!   Has anyone any experience with Elliot Clarke studios??

yes youngatheart  we have ks dance and Shelagh Elliott Clarke about a 20 min drive from us.

That is my worry taxi4ballet. All her peers in the JAs seem to be romping ahead. Whilst I don't want to compare her against the others I'm worried she'll be left behind and therefore she won't get the same chances as the others. My DD is getting bored. She was upset when she realised she'll be in Grade 3 until she is 11. Her teacher is lovely and ex professional but I do feel it's too slow. She does 45 min twice a week because the teacher won't allow her in anymore classes and she must stay with her peer group regardless of ability.

Sorry quite new to this.  I've posted in doing dance.  thank you

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My DD is nine and has just taken RAD grade 2. She attends a small school held in a village hall with just one teacher. We have just had an email telling us her result and telling us that her next exam will be 2019. I have clarified this with the teacher as I thought it was a typing error. Is this usual for RAD exams to be 2 years apart. My DD is a royal ballet JA and elmhurst as well. Seems a long time to me. Anyone had any experience of this

thanks 

Anna C I have only approached her dance teacher regarding payment for exams, asking how expensive they are and when she will be doing them, just so that i can put some money aside for them.  She immediately thought I was questioning her, I did explain that I wasn't.  I have 3 other children and need to budget money for dance fees, exams, etc as the other children also have activities.  She just said that it will be later in the year, i explained that i thought it was sooner as there were exams being taken by other children that when she said my dd would stay with her cohort.  I didn't feel I was being pushy just asking a question but obviously she thought I was.  I had spoken to her before about the children in her class being mean to my dd, calling her a show off etc ( all the girls in the class go to the same school and are the same year group) she was quite annoyed with me and said she'd spoken to the girls and she believed them when they said they hadn't been mean to my DD  (also said this to my DD that she believed the other girls!!)  She said that it was obvious that my dd wanted to dance with the older girls but that the older girls didn't want her to dance with them.  She was under the impression that she had made it up so she could go up to higher grade with the older girls.  I can understand the teachers do get annoyed if parents are constantly complaining. It would drive me mad.!!!