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Moonbeam

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Everything posted by Moonbeam

  1. You know you're absolutely right. The trail tonight was wonderful, dd loves it and I love it too, the only downside is for a 1 hour class it was 3.5 hours with travelling time, which isn’t ideal but if we can fully move then maybe the weekend will work better.
  2. They’re not compulsory which is why it’s so frustrating that they won’t let her move on, I am hoping to take her to a trial tomorrow night for a grade 1 class as I believe continuing in the same class during primary ballet for another year isn’t a good use of her time or my money and I think it will definitely put her off as she’s not been rewarded for the hard work she’s already done and is just expected to wait without explanation from her teacher. I’ve told her the reasons the teacher gave me but I don’t think she understands why they’re not holding a rad session in November I really feel quite loyal to the school but I don’t feel that is the way the school are behaving and it makes me quite sad that they don’t value part of the school enough to be reasonable about it.
  3. There probably is a feeling that if my dd was moved up then others would be asking for the same thing. It’s such a hard balance as they both like where they dance but the questions are being asked by my dd about why she’s not being allowed to learn more and I have spoken to 2 other schools that have said they’d start her in grade 1 but they’re both a bit further away than our local school which is handy. I’m just trying to help develop her confidence as she can be quiet and I would hate this to put her off dancing if she becomes bored of the syllabus that she’s said herself she knows well and wants to do more.
  4. They do focus a lot on competitions and do a show annually which understand is a lot for a school to cope with. My dd wants to learn more ballet and doesn’t want to repeat the same class she’s already spent a long time in and we did ask if she could move on and were told “we don’t do that here” meaning without the exam she won’t be moved on even though they have a 5 year old that just joined in the primary class and my other dd is 6 and still in pre primary. I can’t get my head around what they’re doing if you join you get put into age appropriate classes but if you’ve been there you can’t without the exams.
  5. That really is quite a disturbing “confession” isn’t it. All children learn at their own pace so to say they all need 18 months is quite unfair on the ones doing extra practice. I have a class I would like my daughter to try out and we’ll take it from there, she’s not keen as she’s been there for 5 years but I’ve explained this is for her and if she doesn’t like it she doesn’t have to move. I’m hoping she enjoys the challenge of the grade 1 class as I think she needs to hear she’s doing well just now.
  6. Thank you, I’ll have a look at Linda Lowry. I was really interested to see that the royal conservatoire of Scotland did RAD grades for children, the classes started last week, also they said they prefer if the children have taken the primary exam before commencing grade 1 but given she’s been in the class for a year and a half I’m sure this would be fine.
  7. We are just outside Glasgow.
  8. I completely agree with all of your points, i know sometimes children aren’t ready to move. I’ve never been a pushy parent and have been more than happy to let them progress when the dance school have said it was time but seeing my child at her pre primary exam in a group that were all a year below her and the quality of her dancing made me question it when she wasn’t sitting her primary exam the following March and I was told it would be November as 18 months between exams is how they do it. I let it go but to find out that’s not happening not because they informed anyone but because my dd came home 2 weeks in a row telling me exam letters had been handed out and she didn’t get one so I asked if she was mistaken and when they’d be out to be told she wasn’t sitting her ballet exam until next March. I don’t see I have any other choice as I’m not happy with the decision to not hold a RAD exam in November and there is no compromise to be had as they won’t move her up. My dd is very upset as she can’t fully understand why there isn’t an exam in November and has been getting told she’s moving up in November to find out, not from her teacher but me that that isn’t happening. I am in the process of making enquires elsewhere, they have a non core trial on Friday but I still need to find a ballet, tap and modern class for them both.
  9. The more and more I think about it we definitely need tonic her or I fear she may want to stop ballet at some point in the not too distant future. I would like her to continue as long as possible as I believe it’s very good for her even if she never goes on to dance in any other way other than for fun.
  10. She really sad about not sitting her exam and I am worried she’ll be put off as you’ve said under stimulated. The 14 year old I mentioned has been dancing at least as long (5 years) as my daughter and probably a lot longer I just can’t comment on how long. I know the children that start at the school are put into class based on age and one 9 year old that hadn’t danced before went straight into the grade 2 class when my dd won’t be allowed into that class until she’s 11 even though she started dancing before 3, it just doesn’t make much sense at all.
  11. Thank you, it’s crazy to think that this school keep them at each grade between 18 months and 2 years when most comments I’m receiving are saying it should be a lot quicker. I think there’s some girls at age 14 just sat their grade 3 but I may be wrong. It certainly doesn’t seem to pick up at any point down the line so I’ll keep my research going for other schools and see if we can get lots of trials to find a nice school that wants to push her a little bit or at least let her grow xx
  12. I think they’re going to have some extra busy weeks coming up soon while we try out a few new classes. How long did it take you to find a new school you were happy with?
  13. I was going to approach them again and ask if they would let her do both at the same time as that would at least be a compromise however I’ve just checked the timetable and the classes are at the same time unfortunately. I think you are right though, I don’t think they would accept her doing it anywhere else anyway. Feel a bit stuck again as the reason we didn't actually move them both last time was given was given the timescales the earliest she would be able to do the exam with a change of school would have been November anyway and we thought we’d be as well just waiting and then making a decision after she’d sat the exam and now we’re in the exact same situation again except I have a very unhappy girl this time that feels like she’s not getting the chance to move on. I’ll keep looking at the other options and keep speaking to as many teachers and mums as possible to make sure I make the right decision for them both.
  14. Thank you, that is reassuring to hear. I told my daughter last night that she wasn’t sitting her exam and if you’d seen the look on her face 😪. Today brought more questions once she’d thought about it, she asked why there wasn’t a rad exam and I explained again they didn’t have enough numbers and she told me how sad it had made her and how much she was looking forward to the exam and moving into the next class and said that’s her in that class for another year and said again how sad it made her. Do you happen to know if there’s any way for her to sit the exam in November at another dance school?
  15. That’s a really interesting point a monthly session would be a fabulous start. I’ll have a look and see if they do a monthly one ☺️ Thank you so much for replying xx
  16. The associates scheme isn’t very close to us and would mean she wouldn’t get to dance as much as she also does ISTD modern and tap. There are other classes she can attend and we’ve spent a lot of time today looking at them but I do think trialling them before we decide is definitely the best way. I’m not even sure how confident I would be putting her forward for the associate scheme given how far behind she is, there will be girls already in grade 2 classes at her age.
  17. Thank you. It’s so hard isn’t it when you want to support your local school and you do feel so loyal to them. The associate schemes look fantastic, that’s a fantastic achievement! Well done ☺️
  18. We usually pay more than the exam fee to cover extra prep lessons but I can’t remember how much we pay in comparison to the fee.
  19. It looks like that to me too and it’s quite sad as we’ve spent 5 years at that school.
  20. Thanks Fiz, I may have to look at moving them both as my youngest is 6 and hasn’t even sat her pre primary yet despite dancing there for 3 and a half years. I think we may have to move to ISTD though as all other RAD schools are a bit more of a travelling distance for us unfortunately.
  21. It’s altogether possible she’ll lose interest Fiz as I’m sure none of the things she’s learning just now are challenging. Can I ask what age she was when you moved her?
  22. That sounds like the way it should be Parenttaxi, I couldn’t agree more that there is a very rigid approach to everything and I feel really sad that it’s not taking the children as individuals into account. They’re clumped together in groups and if this exam display is anything like her last one, when she finally gets to sit it that is, then she’ll be one of if not the oldest child sitting primary exam as she’ll be 8 and a half by then. I just hope she’s still enjoying it by the time that happens, that is if we don’t decide to move her to another school.
  23. I might see if I can find somewhere that she could sit the exam but I think even that would then mess the class numbers up as everyone seems to move on in groups rather than individually.
  24. My daughter will be 8 soon so I think she should be moved to the Grade 1 class and is ready to be challenged more too. Point blank refused to saying they don’t do that there and I think it ultimately boils down to the fact that if my daughter is moved without examination then others will request the same too and that would mean less income for the school but I may be wrong as I don’t know how much income is generated from examinations.
  25. Update is there’s no budging on the class she’s in and they don’t have enough numbers to have a RAD examination this November. Now I need to work out if it’s just me being annoyed about it and what’s best for my daughters xx
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