BalletBoysDad

Interesting, haven’t officially been given confirmation yet in Birmingham (as far as I’m aware).

My DS is a Birmingham JA. I don’t believe we’ve been given any communication yet asking if we would like to continue into Y6. Though assessments were only last Saturday, and there is one more class before the end of term. Not sure if we will be asked to confirm or if it will just be presumed as you have to give a terms notice, so that opportunity would already have passed. The only communication regarding Y6 from September was sent in March, asking if our preference would be for 24 or 32 sessions, as they are hoping to return to the pre-covid structure, which would mean longer classes and possibly the ability to have bigger groups. It didn’t explicitly ask if we would like to keep our place, like other have said I think it’s presumed you’ll keep your space unless you advise otherwise. This is presumably the purpose of the SWL. My DS got SWL in 2019 and I’m sure they said it stays ‘active’ for the first few classes of the new academic intake, as some people might start then drop out for whatever reason. But if you don’t hear by around mid October then presume it has closed.

Nothing yet. I have a feeling drop off and collection times will be staggered, as I queried pick up time on the Friday, and was told ‘some time between 3pm and 5pm’. Maybe we will know after the next government announcement re: road map etc.

Yes, I’m imagining (from what I read about spring intensives) there will be multiple groups/bubbles, and staggered drop off and pick up times. Just hoping this information comes sooner rather than later.

I asked recently as it’s my partners 40th that day, and wanted to book theatre/dinner etc, and needed to roughly know what time we could be back in the West End. I was only told ‘pick up is some time between 3pm and 5pm’ so hoping that we don’t have to wait too much longer for formal/fixed timings.

I have one very excited DS too 😄

My DS is week 1 also. He’s a Y5 JA at Birmingham.

Someone somewhere (I don’t remember the exact conversation or why I was lead to think this) along the line told us there were around 80 JEP children presumably over Y4 and Y5. Divided by (I think) 10 centres that would be around 8 children per centre? Someone we know said their child is in a class with 12 children, and that class name has a ‘colour’ name so there are presumably several groups. In a ‘normal’ year when they would have taken more children compared to last year, I think for sure some of the SWL children would definitely have got spaces. Given we’re not clearly out of social distancing yet, it’s hard to imagine they’ll suddenly expand to much bigger groups. So maybe number will be greater than last year, but still a touch restricted. Just a gut feeling.

Thank you @Macy1that makes sense. If you were offered a place with the opportunity to audition for funding, I understand why someone would await the outcome of that funding audition before deciding to accept their offer.

Going into highly speculative territory here..... so in theory, a Tring applicant could be potentally audition somewhat earlier than Elmhurst and Royal, be offered a space on the basis that they are able to pay the fees if necessary, still have the possibility to be invited to the funding audition at a later date, and that funding audition date would also be much closer to Royal and Elmhurst finals. SO, I wonder when they expect you to commit, on the basis that you might want to await where an Elmhurst and Royal audition gets you?

I did read online that student who have marked that they are able to pay their fees without assistance are still allowed to audition for funding: Step 3 Following the entrance audition you will be advised whether or not your son/daughter has been successful for a place at the school and, if suitable, they will be invited back to the final audition for a School Scholarship, a Music and Dance Scheme Award or a Dance and Drama Award (DaDA). If a parent indicates on the Application Form that they are able to pay the fees this does not preclude their son/daughter being considered for funding.

Congratulations to your DC and you for their new journey starting in September! I don't envy the multitude of parents who had to make seismic life-decisions for their children via zoom! What a crazy journey and experience, probably adding an extra layer of stress to something already highly stressful! I'm a research freak, so find this forum invaluable. At this moment in time, I am treating every school as a worst-case scenario that we pay for it, so I am considering this process with eyes wide open, (as far as they can be haha). I do wonder what those additional fees might add up to. I'm sure they're highly variable from school to school, but I am sure they're not a small or insignificant number either, on top of the already enormous fees.

Thanks for that info. From what Elmhurst emailed yesterday, they seem to tentatively be saying prelims in January, though I imagine its all very fluid and might change should 'normal' be a return to how things were organized pre-covid.

Ah, thank you, that now makes sense. Given there are (I believe?) fewer funded places at Tring and Hammond than Royal and Elmhurst, if you are offered a place and can actually pay for the fees, you would inevitably get your offer sooner for Tring... So the Tring 'funding audition' runs closer in date to the Elmhurst and Royal finals? But you could be offered a place sooner if you are in a position to pay for fees. I wonder how many children go to funding auditions, and how many places are offered, or if that's highly variable year on year.

Thanks for that information! So if Tring offer prelims on a roughly 3-weekly basis from October through to January, do they still offer finals in February or March all at the same time? From those that posted their auditions and successes on social media, I seemed to get the impression that Tring finals and results were released quite early compared to Royal then Elmhurst. Or maybe finals were all that same gruelling week, but Tring gave results sooner? Elmhurst say they open applications beginning of November, hold prelims in January and Finals in March. So like you say, it seems Royal open a month earlier in October, but probably still hold prelims in January and finals in March. So Royal and Elmhurst are pretty much working towards the same-ish dates...

When I look at the relative handful of classes left up until July, and the fact that Y6 starts around 14/15th September, I’m starting to feel like we’re pretty much in Y6 already 😂

That feels really important and reassuring what you just said, that its maybe only when they come out of the auditions that they realise its what they really want to do. My DS has a chance to do summer intensives, so that will be a great opportunity to see if boarding is for him. I know its only a week, but at least thats something to form an opinion on. I did actually just get an email back from Elmhurst, and it appears to be submission of application/photos in November, then they select who to come for prelims in January, then finals in March. The dates don't appear to be much different, though (fingers crossed) the submission of videos was purely because of the pandemic and they will revert back to live prelims. 3 auditions over 4 days (with all those lateral flows tests etc) doesn't sound like its for the faint-hearted!!! Though glad to hear that there we friends and memories made in the process! x

Sound advice, thanks for taking the time to offer that. Much appreciated. This is also being considered in the 'landscape' of arts-based learning, such as also applying to schools such as ArtsEd etc, not exclusively a ballet path. I've thought similar to you before, that I can do all the research, 'find various paths' so to speak, but the rest is all down to him, and it will be his talent and effort that will do the bulk of the work. I shall certainly be attending open days to get as much insight as possible, hopefully things will start to become more open and children can attend so they get the 'buzz' of wanting to try, rather than just having applications arranged. I have thought about the competition for funding, and how disappointing that must be to get an offer that might not be possible to accept. We wont be applying for anything that we couldn't pay for without funding, as that must be such a bittersweet outcome.

Thanks for that advice! Yes, I really do hope we get to see in person, and as you say gut-feeling and intuition will hopefully be very important too. Elmhurst is the school I am most curious about as in a way its the one I know the very least about. My son does Tring CBA, and although that associate scheme doesn't take place in the actual main building, those glass studios do give us parents some degree of visual insight, and I find his tutor very happy to talk about progress etc. My DS loves it, and in his head definitely wants to apply to Tring. I like what I have seen so far, but appreciate there is a LOT more school, building and environment to see, and the CBA programme might be very separate to the school. But it has made my DS say he definitely wants to apply! Likewise with JAs, although he has only done it a short amount of time, I find the tutor really approachable and completely wiling to offer thoughts and answer queries. Elmhurst is the one I know least about as there isn't really much student feedback, or much correspondence, so I don't have anything intuitive to form an opinion on. I'm sure its a fabulous school, but an open day would definitely help me understand more about the 'vibe'.

Thanks for this, it did cross my mind that IF (and hopefully when) schools can offer physical open days, that autumm half term might be roughly when they do it.... Following everyone's current journey applying for Y7, it felt painfully long and drawn out. If prelims were this side of Christmas or early January (whether invited or not), that would feel slightly less stretched out than the process everyone else has recently endured this year!

Thanks, I'm glad I'm not the only person giving this some thought, as I do have a tendency to over-think these things.... I was looking at my DS's ballet class dates to the end of this summer term and saw that most finish early/mid-June, and start back mid-September, and thought 'blimey, he will be in Y6 in the blink of an eye!'

This might sound ridiculously premature, but I'm curious as to what dates people think vocational school applications might look like for Y7 entry in September 2022. I'm presuming that dates and deadlines for this current application year might have been extended to offset some of the extraordinary challenges applications for September 2021 entailed. I do seem to remember posts saying deadlines were aligned from the major schools as a consequence of the challenges bought by lockdowns and Covid, but have they been wildly different in the past? As a Y5 parent, I have anxiously followed the journey of all the current Y6 children and their parents/guardians, and am probably amongst the many people who learn a great deal from those in the year above. But I'm curious what dates/deadlines might have been like 'pre-covid', to try and get some rough idea of what the application/audition season might be like for the next academic year, and what dates we might be working towards. I'm sure the autumn 21 term will be upon us in the blink of an eye, and this suddenly wont feel quite so premature!

Good that it was a great opportunity to ‘test’ homesickness. That must be a relief! My DS struggles to switch off at night so I’m sure if he’s paired up with another night owl, there might be a distinct lack of sleep 🤦‍♂️ He did 3 consecutive days of 10-4 over Easter and he was very tired by the final day, so hoping this isn’t too much of a struggle for him. Only one way to find out I guess....

Great that he enjoyed it! Must have been a great experience given last summer’s in-person cancellations. It will certainly be a test of my DS’s stamina, as he’s done daily classes, but never a full week of full time dance. I imagine a lot of complaining about achey feet when his time comes 😂 Do you think your DS was in the only mixed group/bubble with boys in? And all the other groups were girls? Very few boys then in the grand scheme of things if that’s the case...

Thanks for that! Interesting and slightly unpredictable mix then. Did your DS enjoy the week?