Moneypenny

I still have the following Elmhurst uniform items, which I haven't been able to sell on. I am loathe to throw them out, so I am happy to give them away if anyone wants them. They were all purchased new for dd in Year 9 and are in very good condition. 1 x Zip up fleece jacket (11/12 yrs) 3 x Polo shirts (11/12 yrs) 2 x Sweatshirts (11/12 yrs) Please pm me if anyone is interested. I can ask dd to drop them into school after next leave out.

Also cannot praise Opes enough! The teaching is fantastic, I cannot believe how much work they do in one week, loved the performance, so much output.

Gollyrox, I do hope your ds feels better about things after he gets to meet others today. As Angel said, they do get to mix quite a lot and in any case, the days are long and full on and there will be social stuff arranged most evenings, so he shouldn't have hardly any time at all spent on his own. If you are still worried after today though, don't hesitate to contact the house staff, they are lovely and will want everyone to feel comfortable and get the most out of the week.

Looking forward to Friday's demo too. I know it will be short, but it will be absolutely lovely. SBS, cannot recommend YBSS highly enough, it is a fantastic summer school. Go for it!

I have the following shoes for sale: - Roch Valley, black canvas, Cuban heel, character shoes, suede sole, size 4.5, excellent condition, £6 - Roch Valley, black canvas, Cuban heel, character shoes, suede sole, size 4, v.good condition, £5 - Katz RAD, black canvas, Cuban heel, character shoes, suede sole, size 4, excellent condition, £6 - Bloch, black leather, low heel, laced, tap/jazz shoes, toe & heel taps, Bloch size 8/UK 5, excellent condition, worn barely a handful of times, £12 - Tappers & Pointers, black, leather look, low heel tap shoes, size 4, no laces, good condition, £4 - Katz, black canvas, low heel, laced, tap shoes, size 4, good condition, £4 Packaging & postage £2.80 per item in addition to above prices, UK 2nd class post. Please pm if anyone interested.

I have the following Elmhurst lower school items for sale: 1 x Zip up fleece jacket (11/12 yrs) £10 3 x Polo shirts (11/12 yrs) £3 each 2 x Sweatshirts (11/12 yrs) £6 each 1 x Formal skirt (24" waist / 24" length) £15 Plus postage. All purchased new in year 9 for dd and in very good condition. Please pm me if anyone is interested.

Dd has a normal savings account with a cashpoint card, but what has been most useful is a pre-load Mastercard. I load it with a monthly allowance and she can just use it anywhere like a normal credit card, except she can't go into debt as you can't spend any more than is on it. She doesn't use it to draw cash as that costs 99p per time, but all other transactions are free. An adult has to be the primary card holder, but you can then apply for additional cards.

I agree it's frustrating to get a no without any idea whatsoever as to why, and we have been there. However, if it were possible to ask for feedback I should imagine that every single parent of a child who received a no would ask for it and the schools would be inundated. These schools audition hundreds of kids every year and I just don't see how they would have the time or resources to provide feedback to everyone. At the end of the day, every member of staff is involved day to day in actually running the school for the kids that are already in it and to provide so much feedback to so many people after several auditions would be incredibly time consuming and not best use of their resources.

Have you tried SportsCover Direct. They specifically cover ballet as one of their listed activities.

Well I have to say that I'm quite impressed with GMs ... Dd normally wears freed studio pros with the full hard sole and had been getting through at least one pair per week in upper school, however, she got a pair of Gaynors at Easter and they've stayed the course for about four weeks so far!

I definitely do not feel that there was a lack of academic focus or indeed stretch for my dd in lower vocational school. As Peach3 said, there can be slightly less choice of options, but class sizes are much smaller and my perception was that whilst the dance side of things is clearly the main focus and reason for being at vocational school, these young people are driven to achieve academically too. I don't know how many gcses children sit in non-voc school, but dd has 10 very credible gcses. The gcse results a dd's school last year were excellent. Just my personal experience.

I think they are around £80.

My dd is in upper school, so doing pointe work every day. She has for years worn freed studio pros with the full hard sole and in upper school has been getting through at least one pair per week. However, she recently purchased a pair of GM's and whilst she says they have taken a little getting used to and that they feel different, they have lasted for three weeks so far and are not dead yet. I too would not have bought them whilst dd's feet still growing and if she had little experience of pointe work, given that they are a bit different and so expensive. Dd is very happy with them.

In the first two terms of upper school I have purchased 19 pairs of point shoes. Dd gets through 1-2 pairs a week, more when there is something extra going on at school. I expect I will need to buy around another dozen or so pairs this coming term, given that there will be lots of work for the end of year show. She always has a hard shank and they still don't last long.

I've been keeping a running total of ballet/dance uniform costs through dd's first year of upper school and the amount spent after two terms is eye watering!

Or Dancing Boutique.

How terribly distressing for you all. I do wish your daughter well for her recovery and I hope your dd got through her audition ok today. Best wishes to you all. x

Yes Tulip, it is. I'm so glad we're not going through upper school auditions this year, it makes my stomach churn just thinking about last year. The auditions just seem to go on and on and on and for those dc already in vocational school, they are under particular scrutiny all year right from the start of year 11. They know they have to be on their game all year, not just for the auditions and that there is so much competition for places. We all know just how much it means to our dc if they get the offer they so desperately want and I just remember feeling an overwhelming sense of relief when it was all over last year.

Upper school offers from Tring were quick last year, within the week, and they only gave two weeks to respond. Good luck to everyone waiting.

Totally agree with your last sentence Zoozoo! It really is not the end of the world to be turned down by RBS ... we applied to RBS lower school only twice and dd made finals both times. We didn't apply again as she went on to train at the school we had to turn down for year 7 and has just never looked back. Very best of luck to everyone waiting for results, it is such a stressful time.

6th form offers for Tring came by post last year ... Quite quickly as I recall.

There can be all sorts of twists and turns where places are concerned. Places that aren't there at audition time or that have been offered elsewhere can become available very late in the academic year, for all sorts of reasons. Sometimes a bed may be available, but if a school doesn't see what they want at audition, they may not necessarily fill it - a few years ago my dd went to finals at WL for one of the later years and they didnt offer anyone a place for that year. We've also had to give up a year 7 offer as late as June and when dd then auditioned again, she did so knowing that there were no places available for that year. However, she was wait listed and we got a call in August offering a place.

Fantastic news Katymac, many congratulations to your dd, it is such a relief when one of those dream offers lands!

The long summer break is a nightmare, I think dd did less dance last summer than she had ever done and was climbing the walls. The first week was fine .... Lots of sleeping in, then she did a summer school for two weeks after which total boredom set in. Mind you, it doesn't help that we live rurally and nowhere near London! This year, we're hoping to line up a couple of summer schools, two weeks are already sorted, and then find a few 'back to school' classes at the end of Aug/early Sept.

Last year it was a full two weeks for results from Rambert.