Danceonthrough

37 minutes ago, cotes du rhone ! said:

My Dd had a DaDa for upper school and is now at University with student funding. The DaDa does not affect it. Only if my Dd had gone on to turn the Trinity Diploma into a degree in Professional Dance then she would have not been entitled to a second funded degree. 

Thanks for clearing that up. Makes me open to more options now

3 hours ago, Lou Lou said:

My dd has also been offered places at KS, NBS and one other school. She has accepted her place at KS. It was her first choice (and mine too)  We were so impressed with the pastoral care and the emphasis on health and wellbeing. We attended an open day last year and my dd found the standard of teaching and the whole atmosphere of the school very inspiring.  There's a good variety of graduate destinations too. My dd decided against the BA route as she didn't want to use up student loan and we thought DaDA Funding was the better option at this stage.  Good luck with the decision making!

I’m not 100% sure and others may be able to give clarity but I was under the impression that if you receive a dada you cannot later have student funding??? Whichever funding you can only have a combined 4 years. Can anyone confirm this please?

17 hours ago, NotadanceMa said:

If a school really really wants a student they can and do offer a scholarship.  It is misleading, though I’m sure very well intentioned to suggest that fees can be negotiated at vocational schools; unless of course you can provide first hand information that this has occurred.

MDS and DaDa have the up to date income scales on the .gov website for people to look out.

They are purely income based on financials, not outgoings, they do however take into account things like siblings under 16. The fees are the fees. 

From experience I have to agree with farawaydancer that if a school really wants your child then they will make it happen with scholarship funding if you are not eligible for DADA or MDS

I’m sorry that you feel your parents aren’t supporting you. Have you had a conversation with them about applying to see what the outcome of an audition would be? Maybe if you were offered a place they might see it as a realistic option as you can take A levels alongside the dance course at Elmhurst. 

They look at all the year groups for the places so if there are 3 spaces those chosen could be all year 5 or one from each year 4, 5 & 6. They like who they like so doesn’t matter the year group the child is in if that makes sense

I am sorry that you are in this situation. I read through your post and I feel like your answer is there. Go with your own instincts as his mother as you know him better than anyone else. Childhood is short and time is precious. Every child deserves to look back and remember feeling happy. For some that will be the amazing time they had at ballet school but for others that could be that they were supported to find new ( just as amazing) dreams. I wonder how many lives have been saved by people who started out as ballet dancers but changed paths along the way? Your little boy has a whole world to explore with your guidance. Sending you both best wishes xx

3 hours ago, Jan McNulty said:

Hello Danceonthrough and welcome to the Forum!

Thank you Jan 🙂

4 hours ago, Dancing unicorn said:

We also wish we’d have kept dd at home and attended weekend classes at the fabulous dance college she is at now!
Our dd got into JA’s year 4 and had 3 fabulous years of classes building her confidence ready to go away at 11! Then she had all that stripped away in the next 3 years 🥲 The following 2 years at another voc school we stood still and it’s only these last 3 years (this last year in particular!) that she has flourished and found her passion again at the amazing college she is at now! So much so that she’s gone back for another year in the hope that the industry gets better these next 12 months. 😁 But the scars are still there and I don’t think will ever go away 🥲

Would you mind sharing which college your daughter has had such a positive experience attending. My daughter is determined to attend somewhere post 16 but I’m apprehensive. Many thanks