Lara Eschler

18 minutes ago, The red shoes said:

So for finals regarding boys... I’m assuming they don’t have to wear their JA uniform and can wear any leotard and shorts? Thoughts? 

Yes, they can wear anything but I think we are sticking to the JA uniform for consistency and it is similar to the year 7 uniform I think. 

On 16/02/2021 at 23:10, Bunny said:

I daren’t book my DS’s appointment for an LF test yet as it says within 48 hours of the final audition, so I didn’t want to risk booking it for the 10th at say 1pm and then finding out his time slot is the 12th at 3pm or something and it being out of the 48hr period! I did consider booking one for as late as possible on the 10th but if he then gets a morning slot on the 11th it would need to be done earlier as we’d have to travel to London on the evening of the 10th so for us it’s impossible to book until we know his timeslot. Hope we find out soon!

it is complicated but when you got the test results it just says the date on it not the time the sample was taken. I assume they will go by date rather than exact hour. If you live somewhere where they offer it for free, you could book it and then it does give the option of cancelling or changing the slot. 

9 hours ago, BalletBoyMumma said:

Well, you have all done so incredible well without local teacher support then. That’s very impressive! 

@Lara Eschler we’ll gladly be his cheerleaders at any opportunities to watch (if we are lucky enough to get any before the year is out). I really love seeing the other children do well. Your DS is doing wonderfully and should be very proud of himself.
It’s a lovely class but we’ve found this year particularly tough as there’s been hardly any chance to build friendships among the DCs (like there were in his JA class last year). DS is ALL about the social side of dance. 

Thank-You so much! hopefully there will be more opportunities to socialize. They did not get the same experience this past 2 years, it is sad as their JA programme is nearly over. xx

We had to change ballet school mid October because of the lack of support, then went into the November lockdown so we are grateful for the support from a couple of online teachers and the various associates classes. When ds started JA in year 5 and saw that other children had teachers come and watch their local pupils  at JAS he did feel sad not having that type of relationship.  Sometimes I feel like publicly posting the  destructive email response I got from this ex local ballet school about my ds ability when I initially asked to set up some private lessons  to help with the video auditions (but I won't). In a way zoom classes have opened possibility of getting far better training for us. 

3 hours ago, The red shoes said:

Your lovely ds has done do well with all these offers and finals!!! Going to be a headache deciding on the best one as I’m sure he will get in to them all xxx 

Thank-you so much! you are very kind. We are very happy with the offers so far and glad he will get to experience a real final or two. I am also so relieved the home videos did not affect him negatively because I really really struggled with them. Any rejection that follows won't be based on those videos at least. I feel like I am off the hook. 

2 minutes ago, The red shoes said:

Just out of curiosity, can I ask how many of the yeses for Elmhurst are young dancers already? Xxx 

DS had a place for year 5 but then got JAs in London so could not do Elmhurst though he would have loved to and had started going for a couple of sessions in June of year 4. 

Well done everyone  no matter what you got!

DS is going to the Elmhurst final!  It is interesting to see the different styles of email responses form the different schools or programs. It was not very congratulatory in the wording used but I am obviously very happy. 

1 hour ago, BalletBoyMumma said:

DS is currently in a group Zoom session with the Head of Boys at Hammond. The teacher seems really lovely. Very precise but in a really encouraging, attentive way (usually that doesn’t come across so easily in such a large Zoom class, we tend to avoid the large classes as they can feel quite impersonal and DS feels a bit lost). 

 

Slightly regretting not broadening our opportunities this year. Hopefully open days and workshops can start going ahead again soon - it’d be lovely to get a proper feel for what’s out there for the future. 

Oh, I was going to signed up for that with Mr D, and then got sidetracked, I have not been organized for this half-term but I guess we all needed a break. Glad your ds is enjoying. xx

2 hours ago, BalletBoyMumma said:

What is everyone doing for the lateral flow testing? It appears our LA don’t do free testing for anyone other than workplaces with 50+ staff. Do others? 

I think I booked mine but seemed too easy to be true just put the name and my email, they did not ask for anything else. I booked it for the 10th of March. Did you put your postcode on this link? 

https://www.gov.uk/find-covid-19-lateral-flow-test-site

they might decide to accept those for Spring intensive. 

45 minutes ago, The red shoes said:

Try clicking on the words that say “ this link” as that’s what was underlined in blue on mine xx 

Hope we get confirmation of the audition slot soon to make arrangements. Worried if dc will go back to school on the 8th they might catch some sort of cold right before the audition. 

10 minutes ago, Farawaydancer said:

 

However, not assessing out gives time to those who are ‘slow burners’ like my ds. Not all children develop at the same rate. Each school is very different, if you’re lucky enough to have a choice you really just have to go with the one you feel will be right for your child. 

My ds is definitely a 'slow burner' wish we had another a year. I would be concerned about the disruption to academic progress from being assessed out, also if a school heavily assesses out , it begs the question about the reliability of their initial assessment process in determining potential and also about the efficacy of their training. Any concrete examples about what could go wrong for boys for instance? 

Just now, ponklemum said:

Do you think Elmhurst will follow soon? Xx

Nothing in the post for today. Hoping for an email.. 

53 minutes ago, Mum of unicorn dancer said:

I second to that as it has very nurturing environment- at least what we can see from her associates and I think kids doing academically quite well too. 

Same, while ds just joined associates this January and it has only been on zoom, he really enjoys the class. I appreciate the way communication has been with me , very approachable and personable and yes academics seem good for year 7. 

1 hour ago, Nath said:

WL usually sends students they assessed out to Young Dancers Academy. I hardly consider that ‘helping’. 

Interesting you say that, YDA actually seems the best fit for my ds at present for year 7 and for us as a family. 

3 minutes ago, Whiteduvet said:

Presumably the loss of funding isn’t the loss of a place: if you can find the funds you can continue? Just for most it would sadly result in the same conclusion. 

So would MDS funded pupils go through more rigorous or separate assessments each year? I am just realizing how little I know about everything.  

9 hours ago, junedancer said:

 Current WL pupils were told yesterday if they have places for next year: in the case of Year 9s it will be a place for Year 10 and 11 and for those in Year 11 it will be a final audition for Upper School.  Those in lower years will be "helped" (not sure how officially)if they wish to get finals auditions at other schools and those going to Upper School will have been applying elsewhere anyway.  Not all choose to stay and will have planned to leave at the end of the year from all year groups.  Some decide to leave the school before the end of the summer term but most appear to stay on and finish the year.  We know personally of those who have decided the school wasn't for them and had planned to audition elsewhere, those who have been assessed out and found places elsewhere and those who have decided dance is not for them and left.  The same will happen at all vocational schools.

Glad to hear pupils would be helped applying elsewhere as most deadlines would have passed for academic schools as well. 

8 hours ago, junedancer said:

Elmhurst does assess out but not in the same way as WL.  They have a clearer assessment and improvement system where you have a series of "warnings".  Tring also only guarantee funded places for a year at the time so effectively assess out also.

I also thought Elmhurst gave you a 5 year commitment to training dc. Does Tring assess out self-funded places? 

Hi everyone, 

I just  have a question out of curiosity, I see that WL confirms offers for the following year to existing pupils at round this time. This would be too late to apply to other schools, so I was wondering what do families do with the uncertainty, do they apply to schools before Christmas just in case? And for children not given a place for the following year, do they stay until the end of the school year? This is just a a curious and naive question not meant to upset or annoy anyone or make a judgement on a school. Thank-you. 

1 hour ago, Asta said:

I’ve got an email from RBS. The results will be sent today for the UK residents. However, international students will wait a little bit longer 

1 hour ago, Asta said:

I’ve got an email from RBS. The results will be sent today for the UK residents. However, international students will wait a little bit longer 

Hope you hear soon!

2 minutes ago, PurplePirouette said:

Congratulations to all of the dc making it to finals in these unusual times, such fabulous news.

 

@Lara Eschler my dd is in the workshop with your ds at the moment and I was so excited when he shared the news after the lunch break!! If you heard a very excited mum shouting congratulations in the background, that was me😆 X

Thank you  ever so much @PurplePirouette, are our dc in the Saturday class together at YDA? Xx

17 minutes ago, MrsR said:

WL by email

Thank-you @MrsR I got your email notification first and then a final invitation for ds. Hope the logistics work out and well done to everyone!

5 minutes ago, The red shoes said:

Me too.., I’ve geared myself up for it all day. Had a rubbish sleep too. This waiting is so unfair... just put everyone out of their misery so we can move forward! 

It is not even 4pm, let's all keep on refreshing, lol ....JA email was at 5:36pm in 2019. Wish I drank but I don't. Happy half-term, refreshing and stalking postmen everyone!!! 

16 minutes ago, Raquelle said:

I've had 2 views from elmhurst but only one view from royal! Can't tell for how long. However my tring video didn't look like it had been viewed but she got an offer (non funded)...I don't really understand computers but I wonder if it is possible to somehow download the video without it showing as a link?! X 

Regarding Tring, does your dd attend any courses there? I also can't really tell views from tring and ds has unfunded offer and does CBA and has done other courses there. Just wondering whether they might have asked teachers who taught dc there..

35 minutes ago, rowan said:

I’ve said this before, but I think it’s best to regard the dance vocational schools not as vocational schools but as normal schools with a specialism in dance, just like many other schools might have a specialism or focus on a particular area.

Absolutely, to us academics are really important for instance. His current very academic school has mandatory rugby, hockey, cricket and football which he does not enjoy and it is challenging to do ballet afterschool finding enough classes locally and the time and then running and traveling to associates schemes on the weekend. Hence, finding a school which has ballet on site, no mandatory rugby and good enough academics seems amazing and not necessary a commitment to a career in ballet. Another important factor at this young age is how the school interacts with parents in my opinion. After schools had agreed to not audition until January, they  initially set the deadline to November for parents to submit the homemade video which in my opinion was not really in line with what they previously published as vocational schools supporting applicants and not auditioning until later, etc. and caused a huge amount of stress. Also, the agonizing wait at present just to know if someone is invited to finals while other schools have already offered places. Auditions are always stressful but there are ways schools could try to make the process less stressful and that is probably the type of school I would chose. 

I am grateful for the offers so far but sort of dreading having to deal with rejections and then a weekend full of ballet zooms.