Raquelle

Aw she is...moments of home sickness bit generally loving it...feel free to pm me further down the process if you have any questions...Good luck with everything x

Hello. My daughter is a year 7 newbie in Elmhurst. Such a good idea to ask for different perspectives..... It's probably a bit early to tell for us but so far our experiences have been very positive. At this point last year we weren't even sure whether to apply and she had only just started associates...in the end we applied just to keep options open and it was only during auditions when my dd saw the school that she decided she wanted to go. Even when we got results it took a good few weeks of mulling it all through before we made the hard decision to let her go...its not easy and we all miss her terribly but she seems happy and I can't believe all the experiences she has had already in just a few weeks! X

Hello. RbS and elmhurst have around 14 spaces for boys and girls which are all mds (means tested)...Hammond have a mixture of mds and fee paying places (less mds places than elmhurst/hammond). I think most get invited to finals and then the they offer mds to the top dancers then others are placed on a waiting list and if people give up their mds places they offer them to those on the list...I think some years they have a small number of bursaries? Tring also have mds but the least amount for all the schools (I've heard about 3 per year but not sure how accurate this is). They don't take many to finals. Those who aren't offered mds are normally placed on a waiting list for it.....we got an offer to Tring but not funding finals so we weren't able to accept. Moorland and Yda don't have mds but they do offer a small number of bursaries or awards I think? Good luck with the auditions...its a rollercoaster we went through it last year and Dd is happy at Elmhurst now. Hope this helps xx

Seems like it varies by centre judging by some of the responses here...Our teacher in Bath was quite relaxed and we saw a mix of buns and ribbons! Some had it wrapped round and tied, sometimes the bow was at the top, some had it at the side and some at the bottom...I found the best way for us was to use a short piece of ribbon, then tie a small bow the size you want and use a kirby clip to stick it into the bun rather than wrap it round and tie it...xx

Hello! We were in your position last year...what a rollercoaster! Dd off to elmhurst in Sept! We went on all the open days (all virtual so hard to really get a flavour of the schools). I was under the impression that all the schools seemed to do a similar amount of dance (around 4 hours daily as you say). We applied for the 4 doing mds although Moorland looks lovely and I know they do bursaries. YdA also seemed a lovely school with bursaries, however we live quite far and they don't have boarding houses so wasn't for us. Good luck with everything xxx

Everyone in Bath took mats...mostly the thin ones you could roll up and carry. X

My dd was doing 45 minutes of ballet that age plus 45 minutes jazz and tap. I followed her lead and at that age she wasn't ready for much more training....We increased her training this year heading into year 6 to give her a fighting chance for vocational school auditions so she started 2 associate schemes (8 hours a month total) and did an extra ballet class with her local school plus contemporary....as long as your DD is happy and enjoying dance at her age that's the main thing. There are some lovely associate schemes around and most are looking for potential at that age so don't worry too much about having to do loads of training ....also English youth ballet is lovely for performance experience too. As others have said it's quality over quantity and also enjoyment over anything else xxx

My daughter will turn 11 on 9th July so she will just be old enough! She is currently grade 4 and 5...but hasn't started her intermediate exams yet though and isn't on pointe would you say she would be ok to try this class? Thanks!

Congratulations! It is a lovely scheme and they take them all back to basics so it isn't difficult. A lot about posture etc. So your daughter won't stand out...she obviously is showing a lot of potential which is what they are looking for. Best of luck xxx

Absolutely! We were a no year 4...swl year 6 but got in off that and off to elmhurst with a mids offer this year! They change and improve so much when they are little. Congratulations all xxx

In terms of numbers they used to quote on their website that it is around a 10 to 15% chance I think of getting into JAs and as ballet boy says there will be regional variations. I was told that last year they only took a third of what they normally take due to the pandemic...hopefully with things resuming to normal there will be better odds for your DCs. Having spent the last month refreshing emails like a mad woman for vocational school results/mids results I know how you all feel! Xxx best of luck everyone xx

I totally agree quality over quantity...but there does need to be a certain amount to give a fighting chance...locally my dd does two 55 minute ballet classes per week with her dance school...even with associate classes it would definitely not be enough...I think it depends on what is available really...I so wish she could have access to the training locally but where we live its just not possible really....xxx

Medora this is why our little Dd is off to vocation school this sept. We just couldn't get anywhere near that level of training locally and she would have spent every weekend travelling down round the country to access the associate schemes...maybe it depends where you live and if you have good training on your doorstep? It's such a hard decision to send them to boarding school but it was the only way we could give her the chance to train more seriously. I think in other parts of the country though it would be possible to stay home and train and have comparable training but I'd imagine it wouldn't be easy xxx

It is difficult...but they aren't expecting perfection at that age...they do look for certain attributes but they wouldn't expect a 9 or 10 year old to have all the qualities. Often it's more about potential at this age. Our daughter had nos for her JA audition year 4 then another no year 5 for another scheme. She is now is off to vocational school! I think the nos helped make her more resilient and she worked on those areas that weren't so strong (for her it was turnout and flexibility). I suppose it depends what you want really, whether it's ballet for fun or whether your daughter wants to dance more seriously. There are some schemes which are very very competitive, and others where although you have to audition, it seems most get in. I don't really want to name names here 😀. If you want a bit of extra training i wouldn't let the audition process put you off...maybe chat to your dance teacher about potential and they can point you towards the right schemes to apply for, which might be right for your DD? When my daughter first applied I just said it is very competitive so let's just have a lovely day together...we made audition days fun one on one times together. Good luck to your DD xxx

This is such a good idea! We had elmhurst on Tuesday in Birmingham, hammond Wednesday in chester, then royal ballet Friday eve in London...it meant for us paying for five days accommodation due to the times of auditions and where we live...fortunately due to the pandemic noone was travelling so hotel rates were reasonable...an amazing experience though x

Hi Miss Emily. We applied to the big 4, rbs elmhurst tring and Hammond last year. I'm so sorry I can't remember exact amounts but yes you do have to pay to apply to all of them. Not sure about YdA and Moorland though as we didn't apply but presume there would be a fee there. From memory for Tring you have to pass a screening to apply (which was free I think) and I think originally this was the case with elmhurst too (although I think in the end everyone got a prelim audition for elmhurst). I don't remember having to pay anymore after the prelim application/audition (except for hammond) so I think once you paid, that if you got to finals this was included. It was the hotels, travel and food that cost the most in finals week. Best of luck with everything. Its a rollercoaster ride!

We got a place on the JAs in August and our friend got a mids place the same day! So definitely not too late. We know of another JA place being offered in August too!

I think it is definitely manageable. I suppose it depends what you want and how seriously your dd wants to dance...when my dd was in year 4 she was a bit apathetic towards dance so we didn't apply to any extra schemes as I wasn't going to pay all that money or travel if she wasn't that bothered! A year later she matured quite a bit and said she wanted go apply and we ended up doing 2 schemes in year 6 (1 every other week, 1 monthly). I would say if she wants to or is thinking of heading to vocational school the vast majority do at least 1 often 2 or 3....I am glad we ramped up her training so to speak in year 6 as it gave her a fighting chance when it came to vocational auditions, although I still think she does less than many! X

Basically if you're invited to finals for Tring or hammond you have a place, the finals are to decide who wins a funded place. Tring have less mds than other schools so from our experience less people get to funding finals there than perhaps other schools. This was the only school we didn't get funding finals for xx

Deadline was the 17th May for acceptance of places. Good luck to you both xxx

Hello. Just wondered if there would be any mds spaces left do you think? It's for a friend. X

Hello! It has been a crazy journey! I've had the pleasure of meeting some lovely parents including @balletdreams and many other lovely people from this group! We had low expectations and weren't even sure if applying for vocational school was right for our DD. She came out of the auditions certain that she wanted to go but even then it took a good few weeks for us to decide on her chosen school. As ballet dreams said, apply to as many as you can afford. We ended up with a choice from 2 but it is obviously very competitive. Don't worry if the initial videos or auditions are not perfect but if prelims are by video ask for help from a teacher....finals week was mad! 3 auditions within 4 days round the country in a pandemic! But so many lovely memories made! Good luck xxx

We got a yes! We will most likely be handing our place back as dd off to vocational school x Congratulations to all the yes/swl and nos. Xxx

What year is your dd? Is this lower or upper school? Congratulations to your dd. My dd is going into year 7 x

I am doing this!!! Thanks for the fab advice guys!