AllAboutTheJourney

The £950 covers both the tuition and the boarding. The price is broken down on the website this year - £630 for tuition (i.e. non-residential option) and £320 for boarding so a total of £950. That's for the one week courses at White Lodge, which involve 5 nights of boarding and 4 and a half days of training (as the course tends to finish at lunch time on the last day). The 2023 equivalent course was (if I remember rightly?) £890 so it has gone up a bit - perhaps not surprisingly.

My two children have both loved the RBS summer intensive (older one several times now) but yes, it's a lot of money. Having said that, I am still likely to send my DS again next year, if he gets a place, simply because I haven't been able to find any other residential intensive which offers an equivalent experience for younger boys. A week of ballet in a class full of 10/11 year old boys - when he is often the only male for miles around - was an exceptionally positive experience for my DS. If anyone knows of any other options which offer similar then I would love to hear about them. We do love YBSS but the number of boys in the youngest age group is often low.

Just in case anyone else is waiting for information about this, I emailed today to ask for timings etc and apparently an email went out last week about it. I didn't receive it for some reason (strange as I have never had issues with any Associates emails before) and I know others who are in the same position so just mentioning here in case anyone else is sitting waiting for further information.

I'm glad they enjoyed it - I wasn't sure what to expect from the online class and was in two minds about accepting it (we were offered it last year as an alternative when we withdrew from the JA programme) but found it to be well worth it and my DC really enjoyed it. I would agree, the content is almost exactly the same as the in-person classes and the groups were small enough for individual corrections which was great. Hope everyone else who has started JAs either online or in person this year has had a good start to the year.

I’m think the reference to ‘minimising stress’ was in relation to the management of the y6 audition year, in terms of how many schools to apply for and which ones. It is potentially a long, stressful, busy and very expensive year once you factor in the various rounds of auditions for several different schools. It is very hard to reply about the various schools without giving personal experiences (which can vary drastically) or anecdotal accounts (quite rightly not allowed). I think to be honest you will likely get a feel for each school during the audition process which will make it clear which ones suit your DC and also you as a family.

Sorry didn’t actually address the first post - thanks for starting the thread @Thelittleswans. We are applying for Y7 entry but unsure whether it’s the right pathway for just now or not. Will only be applying to WL.

It would be good if they did make the homestay information more readily available. I’ve heard great things about the school but there’s no way I’d let my DC apply/attend an audition (with the related travel costs) without knowing more about the chances of accommodation. Maybe it’s something that will change with the re-brand etc - I hope so as at the moment it just feels completely inaccessible.

Is it no phones at all or just phones to be handed in overnight? As above, phones handed in overnight is normal at some of the vocational schools so that’s not surprising in itself. If it’s no phones at all then that’s a bit unexpected (and unusual) but I would also say that another summer school we attended this year were cracking down on phone use throughout the day too. It wasn’t a blanket ban but phones had to be handed in before each class as well as overnight. This was towards the end of the summer and the rules had been different in previous weeks so I can only assume it was due to people not complying with the rules earlier on.

Love all these responses - some new ideas for me! I tend to be killing time either in Richmond (where I walk along the river or through the park and generally sit in Itsu to eat/work a bit) or Covent Garden. The ROH is a great place to work generally although more for a couple of hours rather than a full day - there are power sockets next to the big table in the ground floor cafe (behind the shop) and also on the terrace and at the side of the small tables in the area overlooking the Paul Hamlyn Hall.

Do you know where they are moving Dundee to?

Thanks for reminding me - it’s dire isn’t it?! Not expecting to hear much from DC this week - any excuse not to call!

It’s definitely happening 🙂 Very much looking forward to watching this for the first time on Sunday.

It’s fine to miss a small number I would say - but yes you need to email in advance and say they will be absent. We missed 2 online classes due to a clash with another associate scheme and then another one from illness and they seemed absolutely fine with that as long as we explained it.

While I think the online RBS JA programme is great, I would tend to prioritise in-person classes if you are able to get to them relatively easily. I have no direct experience of Ballet Boost but people seem to rate it highly. Having said that, if your DD is very keen to try again for RBS JA's next year then the online RBS course could be beneficial. How many of the online RBS sessions would you miss if she did both?

Yes no hairspray - not allowed aerosols. Gel spray is fine. Would also add a book/kindle. The list also says character skirt and shoes if you have them.

Yes totally I’m not blaming them for only using London kids - it wouldn’t be manageable at all otherwise. It’s just an added bonus of being a London/Eastleigh JA.

Nor do Newcastle or Dundee 😂 But yes, it looks like a lovely experience for the London/Eastleigh groups. Birmingham JA's often get asked to participate in BRB Nutcracker I believe.

Anyone got a DS attending Week 1 (age 10/11 group)?

Hi - sorry can't help with a lift either but just to say, in case it helps, that we have had various issues with train strikes falling on drop off/pick up days (including YBSS at Easter if I remember rightly) and generally a few trains do still run, there are just not as many as normal. Nearer the time they will likely announce a reduced timetable but she may still be able to get a train. At the moment sales are suspended until they finalise what is running. The LNER website says that more info will be out tomorrow including details of their reduced timetable. We are also affected (although travelling the other way for Week 3 of YBSS) but I'm hopeful we'll still be able to get a train, albeit it may be very busy.

Agree with all of the above however some of those schools are more classically focussed than others. I imagine all are great in some ways for the right kids though - everyone wants different things. I do think you get a sense of a school from going through the audition process but I think it’s worth balancing that with the cost and time it takes to do this round of auditions, especially if you will need to travel far and stay in hotels etc. It can be a busy year! I absolutely do agree with keeping an open mind though - we know a lot of people who’s preferences and eventual decisions on whether or not to accept offers changed significantly throughout the year. Slightly marking my place here as my second DC is currently thinking about whether or not to apply for any vocational schools next year (for Y7 entry). We will likely end up being one of the many people who will (unashamedly) ‘tick the box’ to see what happens because having been through this process once already, I am well aware that DC’s preferences and our preferences as parents may well look very different by results time and I’d like to keep our options open.

Sorry I just wanted to clarify my own post re shoes. I've just received the info pack and I see that it is now canvas shoes for the girls (not leather like it was a couple of years ago). I'm out of date - apologies!

I believe they are doing Konservatoriet at Holland Park but I'm not sure if it falls under the Upper or Lower school performances.

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.