Dance.Mum
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Posts posted by Dance.Mum
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We are considering Rambert summer school - can anyone give me insight into what the course is like for a 14 year old?
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Does anyone know how many MDS are available for lower school? And what is the split between entry at Year 7 and later years?
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2 hours ago, Dance.Mum said:
Year 7 girls and Upper School are still to happen. I think all WL are to be sent out around the same time in around two weeks as @Bluebird22 has posted but I may have misunderstood. US results towards the end of the month and then MAs and SA into the Easter break around the time of the Spring Intensive.
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24 minutes ago, Millicent said:
Have the WL finals all finished? I have some friends whose DDs are in the finals but don't want to constantly ask for updates!
Year 7 girls and Upper School are still to happen. I think all WL are to be sent out around the same time in around two weeks as @Bluebird22 has posted but I may have misunderstood. US results towards the end of the month and then MAs and SA into the Easter break around the time of the Spring Intensive.
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I am relieved to hear that the GCSE offering at vocational schools is not as bad as I was beginning to think. The only school that I am still not clear on is YDA so any insight would be great.
I have been relaying this all to DC and all I have got back is but what about the dancing! I am now back to ask more about what each course does dance-wise: genres and hours etc. We are looking for a strong ballet focus and recognise that other styles are important. We know that RBS offer a taster of what they offer on the intensives but Irish and Flamenco didn't impress and never having done character that didn't go down well at another course (can't recall which now). WE have been successful in supplementing ballet with various day courses and intensives in jazz, contemporary and tap and would be happy to continue doing this. I appreciate that some of this may be on other threads but I haven't managed to find what we are looking for.
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On 21/01/2020 at 18:55, Newdancermum said:
No plans to enter but had thought about going to see it this year so have been waiting to see the adverts but not heard anything. They haven't updated anything on social media since last summer and I also noted that they never did announce the other winners from the partner schools and companies. I was beginning to think it wasn't going ahead until this thread started.
Did you ever find a full list of awards from last year?
I can't see anything this year about current sponsors and prizes. I know it's the taking part that matters but it would be nice to see what is on offer to those who do well.
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7 minutes ago, DancingShoes said:
I work at a selective grammar school and our students take 9 or 10 GCSEs depending on whether they do individual sciences or combined science. 11 would be a stretch even for the brightest children with the new exams.
Thank you - I was being to feel inadequate and couldn't workout how they would manage it! I know I didn't misunderstand so looks like some over zealous parents on the "look how good my ****** is doing" front!
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18 minutes ago, Picturesinthefirelight said:
And for comparison Tring's GCSE option blocks are here
https://www.tringpark.com/curriculum/academic-curriculum/gcse-and-a-level-options
Thank you, I found it as you posted.
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1 minute ago, Picturesinthefirelight said:
I can only speak about Hammond but most students take 9 GCSE's (the same number that ds is taking at his state school and that dd would have taken if she had attended a selective private school. As with all schools the exact subject choice varies each year according to demand but English, English Lit, Maths and Double Science are compulsory. Students are then asked to list their three other preferences in order with a reserve choice and option blocks are devised from them. At least one out of French, history or Geography has to be taken in line with Progress 8.
Other subjects on offer usually include Triple Science, French, History, Geography, RS, Drama, Music, Art & Design, Business Studies & Food & Nutrition. I looked at the option blocks at the selective school dd's friends attended that she would have gone to and she actually chose the exact same GCSE's at Hammond as she would have done there.
Thank you most helpful. I have also just found:
Elmhurst which does not give as many options
RBS option blocks, again with limited choice
Tring option blocks which appear to change every few years so you may be lucky as there appears to be more of a variety
YDA offer a BTech in addition to a list of GCSEs but it doesn't say if it an option or additional
Someone has suggested Moorland to us as it has good academics and I see they have a wide range of courses available.
I can see that to allow for a balance of academic and vocational work the number of GSCEs may have to be limited and I am not sure what, in the long run, the difference is between 8 or say 11, which is the number a number of friend's children are either studying or planning to study, will actually make. Outside the usual Maths, English, Sciences, and French are any of the others better for a dancer? I don't recall seeing Dance as an option which surprised me.
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Thank you all for taking the time to comment. This and the rest of the forum is most helpful as we decide what course of action to follow. As it is no doubt for all here, the decisions we as parents and guardians take and advice we give is so important for the future lives of our children academically, vocationally and for their overall physical and mental health. I am not sure how many plans we have now but they keep coming back to dance so onwards with my research and soul searching in the hope of making the right decision, for now anyway.
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1 hour ago, Motomum said:
Elmhurst don’t assess out at all. 😍
WL from this year group now assess out from Y7. 🙁
Already commented on what we have heard from Elmhurst.
I had read on here that WL had changed their policy, following heavy criticism, not to formally assess out at Year 7. However we personally know someone who did leave after a "conversation" so it has continued to happen. It sounds now like this is a formal policy again?
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On 10/02/2020 at 10:15, balletbean said:
I wouldn’t like to dampen anyones desire to pursuing their dreams but I do agree with not auditioning for yr11. Not just for the academic reasons as schools vary on their choice of examination boards which could have a detrimental effect on even the highest academic achiever receiving the grades they would have expected had they remained at their school. There’s also absolutely no guarantee of a place for US. That’s before the dreaded word ‘injury’ is even considered let along mentioned.
Then what?
We are all passionate about the world of dance but we can’t ignore that the rest of the business world incl acceptance at a University (even as a mature student) is based on academic qualifications incl 5 GCSE passes, 2 of which must be Maths & English.
None of us know what’s around the corner.
For us the academics has to be strong which is why we are undecided about possible entry this year. One of the things that I am still not clear about with is what GCSEs are always available and the number they are allowed to do. This also makes it difficult to assess the comparative successes of examination entrants. Each school will give their headline results in a way that pouts them in the best light. I have gone as far as looking at the entry requirements for university degrees that may be of interest further down the line and there are some who will look at the pass of certain GCSEs if you don't have the require subject at A level.
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On 09/02/2020 at 10:18, DancingWellies said:
Not sure many other than Royal formally asses out at the end of year 9 anymore. Elmhurst doesn't. It is possible to get a place but competition is still fierce. I think many schools allow people will audition for year group except maybe 11. Whether there are funded places will depend on space for boarding, number leaving, quality of people auditioning. It will vary year to year for each school.
3 hours ago, invisiblecircus said:
I imagine this is something that varies widely from school to school. I don't think RBS are looking to take 4/5 new students in Y10 for example.
Do Elmhurst assess out at all?
What's the current situation with assessing out at WL? There was talk a while ago about not assessing out in Y7 anymore. has that been implemented now?We have been given some insight into the vocational assessment at Elmhurst and were under the impression that their system for assessments was set-up such that if the required improvements were not made you could be asked to leave.
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On 09/02/2020 at 10:12, Milzmam said:
Which schools is your dd thinking of auditioning at?
Already auditioned and have offers with finals so really just doing some homework to decide if we should go for it this year or will leave it until post 16.
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On 09/02/2020 at 09:40, valentina said:
Vocational schools usually look to take around 4/5 new students in year 10. 4 boys and 4 girls. Assessments in yr 9 ( where pupils are assessed out of the school) may mean that places become available. Or some pupils may voluntarily change schools at this point before GCSE’s. Sometimes the schools just want to increase the year group. This happens at Tring even though nobody is assessed out. From our own experience, the odd new pupil or 2 is being
accepted all the way through the year groups even yr 11 and in any term. Maybe they are doing private auditions or come from wait lists or abroad, where they have experienced different education.
Paying full fees will increase your chances but a couple of the schools will offer automatic funding for yr 10 anyway.
Interesting that you say Tring do not assess out as this is accounted for in their policy on MDS awards. DC hasn't come across many dancers from Tring at intensives - non that they are in contact with anyway - so we don't have anything first hand about assessing out from there.
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Sorry for starting a new thread but I didn’t want to post in several and am interested in hearing about all vocational schools. What are the chances of being offered a vocational school place into Year 10? If you are not successful for scholarship funding (or are ineligible) can you still be offered a place if you can pay fees?
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39 minutes ago, Dance.Mum said:
As the course is accredited by Roehampton I would assume they would know - maybe ask them what happens.
Okay so I am being dim here. This won’t help with funding the Royal fees as there will be a fee associated with undertaking the degree and deny funding will be to cover that. Or I am now really confused? Sorry if I am muddying waters!
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As the course is accredited by Roehampton I would assume they would know - maybe ask them what happens.
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15 minutes ago, Jan McNulty said:
Hello Dance.Mum and welcome to the Forum!
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5 minutes ago, SarahBallet said:
Can they apply for funding via normal uni routes if it is a "degree" please?
That I don’t know - haven’t got that far - I would assume the Royal Finance team will be able to point you in the right direction.-
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Royal is around £30k a year which includes accommodation (roughly £20k fees and £10k accom not including food and travel, I think) - I understand that all students are expected to stay in the accommodation even if London based. It is rare to get a full scholarship as these are reserved for the competition winners and exceptional students and there is no MDS but they do have their own programme. Now that they offer a degree this may allow for access to other funding.
ENB is around £18k fees and they have DaDAs available. In most cases this will just contribute towards fees as the income level for maintenance is set quite low. Overall I think it does not appear to be as good financially as an MDS. If you were to compare the two (all be it that it doesn't quite work the same) you get half the amount for a DaDA that you get on an MDS - only looking at the Fees element. It looked like you have to sort out your own accommodation but they do assist with it. It is around £10k a year but you also have food to take account of and perhaps travel.
Sorry I don't have the full picture myself yet. Just seen others post so hopefully this will all help.
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Tring Park 2020 Auditions
in Doing Dance
Posted
Looking at the information we have found on the MDS scheme nationally of those with dance funding Tring and Hammond appear to have the same allocation. I did see on another thread that Hammond have a lot this year - is 13 not nearly twice the usual number.
Does anyone know which schools other than Tring allow pupils to carry their MDS into 6th Form? Their policy look pretty clear but I haven't seen anything for the other three.