Pups_mum

Just to update on this - the costume from Crazy Ladies arrived bang on time and i'm very pleased with it. the lady i spoke to on the phone was very helpful and even suggested they could different colours to the ones shown on their website when I described what dance it was for. The dress looks lovely and I thought the price was extremely reasonable. I had really planned this as just a "stop gap" until I could get our regular dressmaker to make something but I won't need to, this one is great. Hope it's ok to make such comments here (I have no connection to the company beyond being a satisfied customer) but on this experience I can definitely recommend Crazy Ladies - lovely dress,excellent customer service and sensible pricing.

It makes me feel better to know that I am not alone! I am going to have to tackle the issue of new school shoes on tuesday and i know it will not go well. I have a real thing about slip on "ballet flats" for school. I see so many of DD's friends slopping about in badly fitting, totally unsupportive shoes and i can just imagine their clawed toes inside struggling to keep them on. Bleurgh! Her school has really quite a strict uniform policy and stipualtes a maximum heel height for shoes, but no minimum. Personally I think that this kind of totally flat shoe is nearly as bad as high heels. So far, my battleto keep her in shoes with a slight heel and with straps has succeeded (Skechers and Geox seem to have some styles which we can just about agree on) but as she gets older it's getting harder and harder.

My DD's friend is going post A level but I do know someome else whose son was thinking of going at 16 so it looks like both options are posssible. I think you can download the full prospectus from their website which might clarify things further.

I was thinking that they were probably 6th form age.

A friend of my DD's is going to Preston College to do a course that includes teaching. http://www.preston.ac.uk/index.php/dance-academy I believe they've recently spent a lot on upgrading the facilities there - DD's friend was very impressed when she went to look around.

Thanks for all the suggestions everyone. All those recipes sound excellent. We had a lovely day yesterday. The sun shone (yes, really!) I made some quite passable biscuits and flapjack, and my son won 2nd prize in the children's handicraft section with a model of a pterodactyl made from an old pointe shoe, a wire coat hanger and worn out ballet tights!

Absolutely nothing to do with dance, but I'm sure there must be some accomplished cooks round here who can offer me some advice! Our local agricultural show is on Wednesday and my children's school have asked for donations to their fundraising cake stall. The only problem is that I'll be at work all day on Tuesday so I'm going to have to bake my contributions on Monday. Can anyone suggest any good recipes for cakes or biscuits that won't go stale in that time? I don't normally have to worry about the longevity of cakes as anything I bake at home usually gets snaffled up before it's had time to get cold so I'm not sure what to do. Any suggestions would be gratefully received.

Thanks for all the suggestions everyone. I've ordered a costume from Crazy Ladies which should be here by Wednesday. Phew!

i thought of that but they only do the ball dress type outfit rather than the peasant girl one, plus I don't think they'll have a big enough size - not many 14 year olds dress up as Disney Princesses lol!

I know this is unlikely, but it's worth asking! DD has a new festival Song and Dance routine, ready to perform in a couple of weeks. Negligent mother has forgotten to get a costume unfortunately and it's now waay too short notice for our usual dressmaker to make one. We are off to London this afternoon and then to Birmingham on Weds (accompanying husband on an exciting business trip!). Does anyone by any chance no anywhere in either city that sells "off the peg" costumes? She's singing a song from Disney's Sleeping Beauty and needs a kind of peasant style dress. Or alternatively, does anyone know anywhere that makes cstumes to measure VERY fast?!

I don't think it's a bad thing. As others have said, lots of stately homes etc do this sort of thing to supplement their income and I'm sure it will all be carefully done. Times are tough, and the costs of maintaining a Grade 1 listed building of that size must be enormous. We looked at buying a listed house once and the rules and costs of maintenance put us off the idea, and that was only a comparatively small family home.I can't imagine what maintaining WL must cost, never mind the running costs of the school itself. I think the RBS should be commended for looking at different ideas to remain financially viable rather than simply raising the fees and I wish them success with the venture.

Yes, that's true. My DD's teacher is a wonderful, generous lady and I know she has done a lot for talented children from lower income families over the years, but she does have a living to make too and can't help everyone.

That is a wonderful story Anjuli. Hats off to all those involved.

Or maybe split the audition 3 ways, into junior, intermediate and senior groups? The age range in the senior audition always strikes me as huge. There are tiny little pre pubertal 12 year olds alongside young ladies and men who are pretty much adults. I know they won't be exactly judging them against each other as they'll be looking for a range through all the ages, but I think it can be off putting for the younger ones.

Well done to your DD. We're big Ballet Cymru fans in our family. I love watching their productions - always interesting and exciting - and DD has thoroughly enjoyed the workshops she's previously done with them. If the workshops are anything to go by then the associates will be absolutely brilliant. Wish we lived near enough to audition.

Unfortunately 2014 is DD's GCSE year so I am desperately hoping that the Newcastle visit doesn't clash with her exams. it would be a lovely thing to do after the exams but I'm not so sure it would be good for her to do it before. (Well I'd probably let her to be honest but I think my husband will take some persuading!)

That looks like the full programme for the year then. Nothing suitable for us this time unfortunately . Fingers crossed that 2014 brings something do-able. Best of luck to anyone auditioning for any of the 2013 dates.

Lovely news. I bet she's thrilled.

Ooh, how exciting. That does sound hopeful doesn't it? Hope you get good news tomorrow.

Unlike many of the DCs on here, my DD doesn't aspire to a career as a professional dancer but she still takes her ballet quite seriously. She's very happy today as she's just learned that she passed her RAD grade 8 with distinction.This is the realisation of an ambition she set herself when she was 6 when she decided that she wanted to pass all the RAD graded exams with distinction so she's feeling quite pleased with herself today. She's the first person from her school to ever do grade 8, and also in the last 12 months she's passed Intermediate with merit and grades 7 and 8 with distinction which I think is an achievement she's entitled to be proud of. Big smiles all round here today - I hope there's also good news for anyone else receiving RAD results.

My DD's teacher (and hence my DD) call it a fish - I didn't know there was anothr name!

I've had good service from http://www.expressdance.co.uk/ previously, and also http://crazyladiesdancewear.eu/cart2010/index.php

Off topic I know, but still growth related! I've recently been doing some family history research and have accessed my grandfather's WW1 war record. It includes his medical record and i was amazed to read that his height, weight and chest circumference as a "fit" adult male in 1917 were almost identical to my 14 year old DD's current measurements. He had been on active serivce since 1915 so I imagine he was not at his peak of health but I was still really surprised by the comparison. I assume it's a lot to do with changes in nutrition in the past century and I think it's interesting how our perceptions of "normal" growth and stature must have changed since then.

I would think that there is some kind of connection actually. My middle child has always been very small for his age and has investigated for any possible growth disorders. One of the tests he has had done is xrays to determine his "bone age". This I believe is done by assessing how many of the epiphyses have closed. His "bone age" is younger than his chronological age ie the skeleton is less mature than would be expected for his age. The paediatrician told us that this means that he is likely to continue to grow for longer and thus reach his adult height later than his peers. If that's the case then it seems reasonable to me that the opposite would also be true.

I recently had good results using some dilute biological laundry liquid and a sponge,taking care not to get the shoes too wet, but I'm not sure that would work after using calamine.