Moneypenny

Plume convertibles ... 6.95 a pair from dance direct ... Dd loves them because they are paler than most and once washed they go even more pale ... They look beautiful on too, lovely texture, not too thick. They do look quite pink when new but very quickly fade.

I think it was mainly non vocational, and my dd was non-voc at the time, but there were some vocational students, and the girl who won was voc. don't be put off, it was a good experience. I'm not aware of it being something dd's particular voc school actively encourage students to participate in and it was quite low key, with only around 25 or so entrants for Birmingham the year dd did it.

My dd did the genee dance challenge in Birmingham when she was 12. She thoroughly enjoyed the two days and it was a lovely experience. In fact, it was the first competition she did as we were never into the festival thing. From memory I think they took class, had individual coaching on solos and plenty of opportunity to run through. Parents then come and watch the final on the second day. Coincidentally, the girl who won the year my dd entered was actually a finalist at last years Genee competiton. I also remember another striking girl who is now at upper school. Needless to say, the standard was very good.

My dd also at tring on 30th!

I wouldn't get too hung up on the photos, just do the best you can. We have taken many photos for auditions and summer schools in the kitchen and in the sitting room and taken multiple shots of each pose and then picked the best of what is usually a very amateur job on my part! I'm sure they are not looking for perfection and as someone above said, most folks will be in the same boat. I also agree that it is a bad idea to pay for a professional photographer unless they are a dance photographer with a dance background. Also very expensive for a photographer, though we did do just that for sixth form applications this year.

The Strand Palace Hotel in central London is reasonable and is only a 5/10 min walk from Covent Garden. It's a large hotel, but room was modern and very clean when I stayed there with dd last year. I think it's also undergone quite a major refurb.

Hi Swan Princess ... All of the above schools have their own websites and information is up on all of the summer intensives for 2014. SAB and ABT do not appear to be holding any London auditions, but Ellison are on 19 Jan at the Royal Ballet School. You can pre-register on line for SAB and ABT and then follow up with the DVD upload. I think deadlines for pre registration are looming, something like 12th December. Hope that helps.

I am currently wading through pages of upper school application forms and I cannot believe we are here already and that almost five years have passed since we last went through this process. I think I am going to find this so much more stressful than five years ago as basically it's crunch time having invested soooo much on all fronts over the last ten plus years. Good luck to everyone, whatever you're going for, but especially all those year 11's having to cope with pre-appraisals, appraisals, auditions ... and GCSEs!

Pleased to confirm that my refund has landed in my bank account today.

Will do ... But whatever the result, I will never order from them again.

I too have been waiting for a refund for nearly three weeks. They have not been answering phones or emails for days. Finally spoke to someone yesterday and had email confirming refund, but am not too confident of actually seeing my money. Their Facebook page is awash with customer complaints.

Is hypermobility considered to be a disadvantage then?

I'm personally dreading the next 6 months or so ... Can't believe it's time to fight for a sixth form place already. Think my nerves will be completely shredded by the end of it. It only seems like yesterday when she got into JA's!

Hope you're talented young man has a speedy recovery and is back dancing very soon ... It's soooo frustrating for ballet dancers when they can't dance!

Would definitely get the later train ... Took us a good hour between Euston/rad last time we did it. Did tube and taxi one way and bus/tube back. Seem to recall crowded buses and quite a wait at clapham for a train. It's a devil of a place to get to!

My 14 year old non dd is tall and skinny, so I always have a problem with school uniform, be it shirts, trousers and skirts! However, yesterday I bought her some Trutex shirts which are sized by chest and they fit just right. Still struggling with school skirts as she fits an age 10 around they waist, but then they are too short!

I think pretty much most of the A1 group were vocational ... but not entirely sure.

Will also be dropping dd off on Sunday. Not sure what the traffic will be like as there are major roadworks on the main carriageway through Birmingham to Elmhurst ... all the underpasses are closed for the summer. We will have to find a different route to our normal one.

Dd said that a load more photos were taken on the second week, so I guess they will get uploaded at some point.

Dd has today returned from two weeks at ybss and has had the most amazing time ... was just buzzing when we picked her up today. After a hellish journey to York, we just made it for the demo and I'm so glad we did as it was lovely to see all the dancers. Dd was in the A1 group and although she already knew some of her peers, she has also met some great new friends, from both the uk and overseas. The teaching has been fabulous and I think the après-dance (love that) has also been ace (judging by some of the photos which are starting to appear on fb)!

On the two occasions we have previously auditioned for white lodge the finals both fell in feb half term week. Elmhurst prelims are usually nov-jan, with finals usually around first week March. As said above though, folks have different half term breaks. At least I've never known white lodge and elmhurst finals to clash.

Dd is in the advanced group too, with plenty of folks she knows and has made lots of new friends too ... She's absolutely loving it.

Dd too is buzzing and having a brilliant time ... Ballet, pointe and contemporary every day ...she's in heaven!

I have heard of a couple of other places for upper school being offered at fairly short notice this year too. We agonized over whether or not to stay on the wait list, but decided not to in the end as wanted to commit to ybss rather than possibly risk ending up with nothing.

Dd also heading up for two weeks tomorrow.