Dancers Dad

How good was that show? Absolutely brilliant, loved it.

Agreed. How is it the end of the first year already?

Looking forward to this show. Also looking forward to it all being over so the students can just go to sleep for a few days!

6 hours ago, Mjdb said:

We will be there on the Saturday.

I can't believe how quickly my dd first year has gone !! 

I'm sure all the students starting in September will have a fantastic time, just as my dd has.

Mj

We're there Thursday and sending some grandparents Saturday.

And ditto re: almost the end of the first year. Some days it feels like she's been there forever, other days it still feels brand new. And quite a few days, we - and she - can't quite believe she is actually there.

Thanks everyone - I did finally get through on that number!

4 minutes ago, Jo Jo said:

No this is a direct line to Artisan. Dave doesn’t work at the weekend.  I do have his  email address if you want it. 

Thank you. I'll keep trying that line. No need for the email atm thank you - I need to sort something out urgently today. Thanks very much.

17 minutes ago, Mjdb said:

Dancers dad .....hope this helps 

 

Mj 

Thank you - I did see that but was concerned it's a Bristol number and I might be ringing someone in Bristol about a Manchester property at the weekend when they're off! But if other lines of enquiry get nowhere, I'll give it a go - thanks very much.

Hi all. Does anyone have a number for Artisan Heights direct please?

Northern Ballet School takes first-years beyond 16. Most are 16-18 but there was a 21-year-old this year too.

2 hours ago, balletbean said:

 Whilst on paper it may appear that they have gone over and above their duties in offering alternative rooms I don’t agree with their policy at all. Having done a move for just two weeks I can appreciate the upheaval a move like this makes and that’s with parents having to make the additional journey to Manchester to help them.  
We too had the ‘no guarantees on who your DD will share with…..’ comment. Needless to say that comment didn’t last for long when I kindly but firmly reminded them the duty of care due to their ages and that as a flat they shared many items between them all. They also offered each other emotional support due to the pressures of their course and their ages. No harm in keep reminding them. They do tend to forget. Conveniently sometimes. 
Whilst also informing them that they cannot possibly accommodate 16/17yr olds with Uni students that could be drinking and have alcohol in their flats 😉pastoral and duty of care again something they pride themselves on apparently. 
 

Be firm be polite but don’t accept any of their silliness. Worked for us. Whilst the girls still had to move they some how managed to find a flat to accommodate them together despite saying there was no room. 
I honestly thought they had left all that in the past and learnt their lessons. Sadly I’m mistaken. 
 

Good Luck. 

Thanks for this. You're right - it's not good enough. Good point about sharing items in the flat - hadn't thought of that. I think I'll go to the site manager next.

21 hours ago, balletbean said:

Mmm. Interesting. 
I have read it as :- 

emergency, which the move most certainly isn’t 
Whilst I can see they do include the line ‘if we consider it necessary or desirable for any reason’ I think planned refurbishment is a stretch too far. They know the tenancy contract dates the onus should be on them to plan around those dates not ignore and override them. 
I’m interested to know where they intend to accommodate the tenants for up to 6 weeks of their tenancy agreement. And will they cover costs involved in the move.
Certainly won’t be a hotel for that length of time either and their ages as many hotels won’t permit it without an over 18 present. 
I feel this might be the right time for an email to the CEO 🤨 
 

I do feel like the 'or if we feel it necessary or desirable for any reason' is their get-out clause - although I agree with you that the reason shouldn't be poorly planned refurbs. I suspect, though, that it may not be poorly-planned at all but deliberate: ie they use this clause as part of their refurb planning process now and ignore the collateral damage of upsetting students and families.

They're moving them into either Artisan or Rosamund. Artisan is nice and close. But that's not the point. There's no guarantee of moving with their current flatmates, nor only NBS students. They've offered help with the move and £100 but that doesn't even get close to matching the inconvenience and upset. 

20 hours ago, balletbean said:

Unfortunately I would put it down the B.
As this turfing pupils out isn’t new to them. NBS pupils seem to catch the brunt of it all as their term finishes so much later than the majority of the Uni students. 

Unfortunately, it seems their contract is written in total awareness of their own incompetence! 

'for any reason'...

3.2 We reserve the right at any time or times during the Length of Stay to move you to alternative accommodation (which may be in a hotel) for the purpose of carrying out emergency repairs to the Room and/or the Flat and/or the Property or if we consider it necessary or desirable for any reason, to include to avoid difficulties between tenants or for the better management of the
Property PROVIDED THAT:
3.2.1 you are given reasonable notice (except in emergency);
3.2.2 the alternative accommodation is of substantially no lesser standard than your Room/Flat; and
3.2.3 you will occupy the alternative accommodation on the same terms as those of the Tenancy Agreement, including the Rent payable.

9 hours ago, balletbean said:

Oh my goodness they are still doing that!! I thought they had stopped with all that messing about after last summers fiasco. My DD had to move out of Parkway Gate for the last two weeks! Yup. The entire pack-up, clear out and move into Medlock for just 14 days. Was supposed to be a week earlier (so 21 days before the end of contract) but fortunately the Deputy at NBS stepped in and pushed back the get out date to enable the show to go ahead without the girls having to pack up. 
I do have the CEO’s email address if required. It did work on another matter covering the end of term. 
 

ps if you signed a contract for a particular Medlock flat, double check the wording (I’m sure you have already) as there was no clause in ours that allowed them to force a move for their convenience but only worded due to fault of the occupants or for a structural issue affecting Health & Safety. 
 

I haven't had time to read the contract yet but will do this weekend. It's very poor. Either a) they knew this would happen and chose not to say and therefore gained booking through false pretences; or b) are so incompetent at planning that they didn't know this would happen. Don't know which is worse. Thanks for the offer of the CEO's email address. I shall do some investigating and come back to you if dissatisfied thank you.

As for all the other posts about people looking forward to next year - it's lovely to hear. These hiccups come along but they are hiccups only, and my daughter has loved NBS this year.

8 hours ago, balletbean said:

That’s is strange as uS have always ensured that NBS pupils are not sharing with Uni students unless explicitly requested. There is a duty of care due to their ages. There was a mishap one yr where a 21yr old male Uni student was placed with NBS girls. A few choice words over the phone by us parents soon saw the poor chap relocated. Before he even had chance to walk in the door. 
I do have the email address for the CEO of uS if anyone requires it if they have concerns over duty of care/welfare at Medlock of the younger NBS pupils. Contact does produce results  where all other avenues have failed 😉

Unite not covering themselves in glory atm tbh. I've said before how helpful they can be - usually individuals rather than the whole org - but we had an email the other day from Medlock telling us that our daughter will have to move out and into another property for the last half term so they can complete their refurbishments. Needless to say, I've sent a long email back with a lot of questions... 

I know there are 4 rooms left in my daughter's flat in New Medlock. Three 17 year old second-years (in September - they're first years now) who would welcome any first-years and help them settle in. 

26 minutes ago, mum5678 said:

Hi all, 

 

Just seeking some thoughts from fellow dance parents... 

 

DC has accepted a place at NBS and as a matter of courtesy wrote a couple of very nice, carefully written  "thanks very much, I'm honoured for the offer but I'm going to decline on this occasion" emails, which we felt kind of needed to be done in our particular circumstances (one school had offered to fund some of the course and from another school the head phoned us one day to ask why we'd turned it down! 😬)

 

Both schools responded with.... let's say 'snotty' at the very least (but actually unpleasant would be more accurate description) emails back. Obviously we won't respond further, but it got me firstly worrying that we'd done the wrong thing by being what seemed to be polite enough to reply to them, and then about any bridges that might have been burned by DC choosing a school that isn't theirs in terms of work later on (both schools are linked to companies). 

 

Anyone else had any experience of this? Surely all schools get offers declined?!  

I do remember spending some time with our daughter who turned down a couple of places in favour of NBS, writing as nice a 'no thank you' email as possible - same as you. One replied curtly and the other didn't reply at all, so you're not alone. The two weren't linked to companies though, so we didn't have to entertain that worry. Having said that, what more can you do?  I'd try not to sweat it if I were you.

I suspect you will get strong advocates on both sides here and will ultimately have to find your own criteria to make the decision on.

My daughter has loved NBS in her first year and we're really pleased with our/her choice. She's very ballet-focused but has enjoyed (nearly) all the other styles too, which have definitely helped her as a more rounded and confident dancer.  NBS is very focused on preparing students for a career in dance, which is to their credit, but of course there are very few careers available in classical ballet, especially if you're not at RBS or Elmhurst, so they are quite selective re: who goes on to pursue the classical route from Year 2 onwards. My daughter hopes to be one of those...

(All students continue with ballet throughout I believe, just the focus/volume is different depending on which route they take).

8 hours ago, Hairpinseverywhere said:

DD will be in flat 51 at New Medlock, there a 3 more spaces left, believe it’s the last en-suite put aside for NBS ☺️

Mine's in 51 now! And yes, 50 is right next door.

We enjoyed the show this weekend. So great to see these young people doing what they love and learning so fast.

11 minutes ago, Jo Jo said:

Is anyone going to watch the NBS dance performance this weekend. 

Yep - party of 5 heading up the M6 on Saturday.

Northern Ballet School in Manchester takes 18 year olds.

On 20/02/2022 at 20:35, mum5678 said:

If they don’t mind having a boy with them he’d be delighted…. He’s pretty well house trained and doesn’t smell! (I have 3 boys…. It’s a thing!😂) He tends to get on really well with girls in general - I guess you kind of have to when you’re a male ballet dancer! 

Just to add - I've now spoken to my daughter and it turns out I'd made far too many assumptions 🤦‍♂️. She'd be fine with a house-trained, unsmelly boy! The other two girls she's moving in with actually live with a boy currently apparently - don't know how this hasn't come up in conversation in the last 5 months!

13 minutes ago, mum5678 said:

Yes, we’ve been chatting with Zobia… she’s fab! 🙂

Yes, she's lovely. Definitely cares.

4 minutes ago, Mjdb said:

When we originally booked NM I found that the staff ( was Easter then I think Zobia not sure if it has changed again )  were very mindful of ages of NBS students & not mixing uni & NBS students as their days are so different. I would just suggest talking to who is now over sales & voice your concerns & get as much info / reassurance as possible. As a mom I know how difficult it is for us to place our dds or dds in the hands of someone else & we have to get it right! 

Mj

Zobia is still there and helpful (it was Eszter before that). They definitely do all they can but it's still worth keeping on top of it. A 20 y.o. uni student appeared in my daughter's planned flat of 4 - until I explained that this wasn't ok and wasn't what they'd said. They did change it.

Apologies, I stand corrected re: mixing in Medlock. But agree that having a uni student would potentially be a far bigger issue because of completely different timetables/lifestyles.

54 minutes ago, mum5678 said:

If they don’t mind having a boy with them he’d be delighted…. He’s pretty well house trained and doesn’t smell! (I have 3 boys…. It’s a thing!😂) He tends to get on really well with girls in general - I guess you kind of have to when you’re a male ballet dancer! 

Ah 😬😁. I don't think that would work (or even be allowed by Medlock I don't think, especially with them being under 18). Sorry, I hadn't realised.