AllAboutTheJourney

Have you seen the update email which just came in today? It says they "hope to get emails out to everyone by the weekend". 

Same goes for hair for the girls I would say - unless you get specific instructions in advance or know someone in the class already, just do a bun or crossed plaits for the first class and the teacher will explain what they prefer. In some centres its crossed plaits for everyone, in other centres some of the year groups have a bun/something else. 

I’d just be a little cautious about the shoes as it depends on the centre - some of the teachers are more strict than others and will insist on the full sole leather ones (as they work their feet harder). I doubt any of them will mind if you don’t have the ‘right’ shoes for the first week though so you could hold off and see if you wanted to. 

We’ve had to send one in the last 3/4 years at least. I believe it’s just so they can see if there are any issues they would need to be aware of in class - I imagine things like dyslexia (as they often have to take notes, read things on the board etc) and it’s good to be aware in advance if this might be as issue for certain kids. 

Some of it might well be out of date but there is still some useful information in the thread linked below if anyone fancies a read. It was an equivalent Newbie thread from the year my older DC started JAs: 

https://www.balletcoforum.com/topic/20539-rbs-junior-associate-newbies/

Not really a starter (more of a re-starter!) but happy to answer questions where we can. DC with a Y6 offer. 

Well done @Ballet_dancer2020 and @BallerinaMum13 - that's great to hear (and so happy you tried again @Ballet_dancer2020!) 

Happy DC here too 😀

9 minutes ago, Tendu_mum said:

I’m trying to find the list of audition dates they had on the RBS website but they’ve been removed now. I thought they may be doing it in date order of each centre, so London would be last. 
 

I’ve actually got a nervous tummy now!  

Ha ha, yes I just did the same - I think it is order of centre as usual though as Newcastle have heard too and that was another early one...! 

But it does sound like the results are coming out faster than previously, it used to be spread out over a few days but if Newcastle, Leeds and Manchester have all heard today...... 

Thanks for the updates - sorry about the No's but glad they had a good day out (and that you have a happy girl with an Elmhurst place @sunrise81!) 

Are they coming out in order of audition centre then, as usual? Leeds was early on I think... Has anyone heard from other centres? 

6 minutes ago, kimsballet said:

How did everyone get on? I hope everyone enjoyed it! Was today in London the last auditions? Or is there another?

 

My daughter really loved the experience! And thank you for the tip on the socks for those who suggested the tights style socks!

Glad she had a good experience and the socks worked well!

I think there is one more day in London tomorrow then a few weeks' wait until the results at start of July (I think? sure I read that somewhere at some stage)

Has your DC had their audition now @Tendu_mum? Hope it went well if so and they had good fun!

11 hours ago, Danziwozza said:

How was Dundee today?xxx

Seemed to go ok thanks - though I never get a huge amount of info from DC2! There were two groups by the looks of it, the first clearly younger and the second older. Audition class was exactly as expected and as I posted earlier on this thread.

Just need to wait and see now - Dundee is a relatively small class and is mixed age and sex so I don't know how many spaces there are likely to be. 

Anyone going to Dundee today?

https://www.dancedirect.com/brands/silky/sok-silky-super-soft-ballet-sock?gclid=Cj0KCQjwpPKiBhDvARIsACn-gzDAvWKJpSqyKwLY5Z6jql2pegB4xo--eYtf5ZtyuIxVNgscUa07cGgaAmwXEALw_wcB 

I think these were the ones that DD had - not sure if other brands do them too!

On 09/05/2023 at 07:08, Dancing_Mae said:

Majority had socks on from what I remember, but I did see some with tights. My daughter had the socks on that fit like tights, so they don’t fall down and look nicer. 

We loved these socks! Literally discovered them just before DD came out of the socks stage but they look lovely on and definitely stay up much better than the traditional kind.

For those who have auditioned already, were the groups mixed boys and girls? 

3 hours ago, sunrise81 said:

She really liked it as she said the teacher was.lovely! She will be the youngest there as she is a summer baby and year 3 going for.yr 4 place......so not holding out hope! But she liked it and didn't seem fazed by it all!

Glad she had a good day! 🤞🏻🤞🏻 for the tiny summer babies - when my DD auditioned she was the same age and the second youngest in all of the many, many London groups. She was v lucky and had 3 fab years as a JA (not in London, we just auditioned there) 🙂 

I’ve just realised the first audition was today - good luck to everyone trying out over the next little while!

It’s in line with the English school age system so it goes by age as at 31 August. JA is for Years 4, 5 and 6 so it will be current Year 3, 4 and 5 students who are auditioning in the next few weeks. 

There will still be some kids who haven't firmed up on their plans for next year so if they have a Mids offer and may wish to take it then it makes sense to accept it at the moment until their decisions are final. Some kids may also have accepted a place at vocational school but they won't be entirely sure if they want to go yet - this time last year there were still quite a few decisions being made.  

I do have sympathy with not being able to firm up on your own plans but there is also likely still to be wait list movement from the vocational schools, and that might mean some wait list movement on the MA list (although as others said above, some of the schools do let their students do MA alongside school). 

It maybe depends where you're coming from but we've always taken the train to Harrogate and then either a taxi or bus from there to the school (if we have suitcases etc) or if it's just me going back to collect (with no luggage) then it's about a 30 min walk. 

It's only about 10 mins drive from Harrogate station to the school, I think we paid about £8ish in a taxi at Easter. 

@B.wightman1 It might be worth phoning them to ask if they will accept a late application first as you will need to get photos done which people tend to get taken by a teacher. I wouldn’t organise that without checking if they will accept your application as I think they are fairly strict about the deadlines.

People will be able to recommend some other associate schemes if you’ve missed RBS for this year - there are quite a few depending on roughly where you’re based. 

Current parents aren’t likely to post much on here as every discussion goes the same way. Hopefully you will get some good balanced advice and up to date information about day to day school life (in 2023) in DMs. 
 

The current system of guaranteeing 3 years training is obviously something to factor into your decision and there are various different ways of looking at it. There are several threads discussing it on here which are now locked but still available to be read (I think) if you scroll back a few pages. 

I think you might be wishing too much, sadly! But do let me know if you manage it 😆

There was a helpful answer to a similar question on page 3 of the 'Assessed out - Success Stories Please' thread from around this time last year. But please note that it was locked later on.

Vocational school is absolutely not the be all and end all but your alternative options very much depend on where you live, how much money you have, what else you've got going on in your life and what your child wants to do.