NotadanceMa

Congrats to all !! My child did 3 EYB’s. They have danced with BRB and LCB, and their experience with EYB, every time has been just so positive and their favourite. As a company they are professional, organised, with consistently wonderful performances. The dance classes and subsequent rehearsals are really well structured, with a complete run through at the end of every day. The staff are lovely, I notice they have new principal dancers, all of whom have years of fantastic experience. They are kind, patient and take no nonsense from the children. They expect respect and good behaviour from all involved. As my child’s first introduction to performing then age 9, now 14, it was an experience, and they have had many others since, that has been one of the best ballet experiences to date. As a parent I absolutely love them as a company, and having chaperoned and been involved with everyone apart from NYB, it is the one I would choose to return to as the best experience for any child. I hope you all have a really lovely time.

Just want to say Thankyou very much to all of you that took the time to PM me. All the messages I received were really helpful.

I was wondering as there are parents on here from the 4 main vocational schools could you tell me how Health and Well-being is built into your child’s vocational training schedule. I don’t mean children popping off to see pastoral care staff I would like an idea of how children are supported to learn about taking care of themselves physically and emotionally through sleep, eating, days off, down time, relaxing, overtraining etc etc I wanted to know if anything is on offer does it form a part of the schools timetable in the same way as a music, dance or academic class. I am interested in year groups from Y7-11, LS. I would be interested in hearing from non-residential vocational training programs as well. If you don’t feel happy about a public conversation could you PM me.

In short if I could have afforded to keep up with the driving (so much driving) and amazing training opportunities available outside vocational I would have done. we turned down vocational offers each year until Y9 and even then it was an immensely difficult decision. I did not want my child in vocational before 16, but we knew ballet was over if we turned down this offer. workshops, training opportunities, performing, 1:1 coaching etc associates, brilliant local lessons is ABSOLUTELY enough to wait until US auditions if you have the time and can afford it. Also no assessing out involved. 😊 We also Home Educated, but my child got to the stage where they wanted to return to a school setting as well, this also influenced the decision for vocational. If my child leaves, that’s dancing in any serious form done for them as we cannot afford what is needed between now and US auditions. Sometimes talent and potential are just not enough unfortunately. Sorry to OP this is completely off topic.

I think it’s difficult for people like our family who qualify for funding. Vocational training funded places offer an attractive shiny all inclusive package for families on low incomes. The offers are hard to resist, as good quality local ballet training is hard to find as you progress up through 14-16. There are very few world renowned professionals nowadays that I have read about that come from significantly disadvantaged backgrounds.

I know Australian children are for the most part home educated and ballet training is non-residential alongside until Upper Schools, entry into PdL and prestigious comps that then get the child seen by AD’s.

@Medorai did not answer your OP question when I replied. For me the positive in being assessed out, is that your child is no longer in a system that doesn’t accept and value them where they are at that moment in their young dance training life.

I do know who she is ❤️ I’m so pleased to hear she is happy, supported and out. X

I plan to have ‘the conversation’ over the Easter break. Have already applied to some new associate programs like Rambert and CAT associates just in case. I think it’s interesting that my child has lost their love of classical ballet. They said they absolutely hate the culture (their words) My teen was Home Educated prior to vocational so school application not a worry for us. ❤️

@valentino u make a great point about doing whatever is possible for your child even once inside the system. For me I am constantly cheerleading from the side, checking in regularly, listening keenly to see if and when I may need to step in. Reading between the lines, the subtext. my child has only just started, last September and Y9. Not allowing radio silence, creating space for conversations We mark things out of 10, still only at a 6 out of 10, academics brilliant, but dance less so. The areas that are still very much lacking the most for me as a parent are pastoral care by which I mean proper emotional care and support for children from Y7, that is as much a part of the timetable as repertoire and barre. And of course the well established entrenched classical ballet culture of teaching; I was taught this way 20,30,40,50 years ago so now I shall do the same to you. And IME still remains mostly unchallenged in vocational ballet training. Of course there are absolutely amazing vocational teachers out there, but for lower school pupils there should be an environment of nurture and meeting the children where they are at in order to get the best possible outcomes for the child (not the school, not the teacher). An excellent teacher changes their approach to include all children, with their best interests at heart. 7 Y9 girls from a cohort of 12/13 is unacceptable and to me says more about an establishment and it’s training methods than it can ever to about any 13/4 yr old girl. Yes really and if we as parents cannot see this then we are really not paying attention to what is going on.

Tring don’t wait for acceptance and then send some more, they send all out Yes and No at the same time. My friend got her letter the Monday after our Saturday letter. it will be Royal Mail that’s the delay.

My teen had to pull out of the auditions because of injury. We received an email yesterday inviting them to the Singleton audition for the Senior Performance Company in May. Complete surprise as we had ruled it out entirely. Teen very pleased as was looking forward to auditioning for performing again. Covid meant a lot of virtual auditions which they absolutely hate. We have a lounge the size of a postcard. Good luck to everyone for the next round. can anyone tell me why they are all differently named auditions and not one big round of finals. NYB is the one performing company my teen has not danced with. So this is a new experience for them.

Our MA results came out in May. RB are usually creatures of habit.

Of course they are being assessed out. It is disingenuous to perhaps suggest otherwise. Yes all credit to the children for getting through the 3 years, or the final 2 years, however RBS/WL is not anywhere I can see, advertising two separate training programs for Lower School. I could be wrong, but assessing out is still happening, just not from end of Y7 as it was with my child’s cohort. All the children I know entering at Y7 will be anticipating/hoping to go all the way through. Caveat; those choosing to leave at any point.

Any vocational training school can and do whatever they like. Yes even if you don’t tick the box. They can offer a place straight away pending an ok physio. my child was contacted the day after the Elmhurst prelim auditions and offered an immediate start place pending physio. They were also invited to WL finals after only ticking MAs we didn’t tick the FT box. Last year my child was asked if they would audition for a Y9 place by Hope Keelan. We didn’t tick a box, they received a Direct Entry Award from her as well (They didn’t take anything up as they already had a place elsewhere) Children can and are offered places from a variety of SIs. Prelims, Workshops but particularly SI’s as they are ideal as they get to see the child over a considerable amount of time. if you want your child to be considered for full-time you can still contact RB before the SI and ask them to tick the form so an assessment can take place for your child. Either way if schools like your child and want them they will let you know.

Yes they are. A boy last year was offered a place at WL from the SI. Two boys had asked to be assessed/considered for a place (ticked on application) one was offered.

They didn’t used to, it happened I believe since Covid. In the past in the finals there were always international students.

They don’t move generally classes, they stay with the same teacher throughout.

I’ve never known an MA to be assessed out in classes over the last 3 yrs. I found the assessments a somewhat paper exercise that meant very little. There was no paper work or marks just an email saying your child is through to the next year. It is independently assessed usually by Mr Annear for boys not sure for girls. It’s not in my experience ‘a thing’ to fret about in anyway whatsoever.

You are right about funding, no checks are done beforehand. I shall speak from first hand experience, we are in the full funding threshold, I am an unpaid carer for my partner. My friends child was invited to MDS also having ticked the funding box and they are in the very top end of the threshold. It does say on the award letters from Tring if you do not need to take the MDS please don’t as there will be another child that needs it. I find it very hard to talk about funding because in my experience on my journey alongside my child since JA Y6 I have met with so much push back from parents. One comment always sticks in my mind when I was talking about funding and without which my child would be nowhere; a mum said, well I have 3 children’s school fees to pay for so where’s the funding for my child?? People often conflate funding with an absence of talent IME, believing that children are given places to fill quotas above other children. My child has worked hard and has talent and potential, but needs funding in order to progress through the system, without it for them talent and potential mean absolutely nothing. Our journey has been a lot of luck and funding applications. The Royal have an amazing financial assistance system for their associate program once you are in it which allows includes travel and uniforms, without which my child could not just take up their offer, but wouldn’t have been able to afford the associate tracksuit. It is a contentious subject and probably not for this thread. Good luck to all re MDS.

Last year was an in person final it was amazing according to my child!! Harder though than all other finals done previously. They were auditioning for funding for a Y9 place.

Elmhurst and Royal do it differently to Tring. The former two have the most amount of MDS awards for the Y7 cohort and thereafter it really is very hard to get in if you require a full MDS. I was told this by Emma Northmore who put me right when I thought MDS were available to anyone who might need them whenever they applied. My bad, they are not. Of course there are scholarships if a school really wants someone and there is no MDS funding available; but this is still rare. As I was told these schools are a business. The way Tring do things is for me by far the best way, with an audition for those children who meet the MDS criteria and they know they want really want them. They then compete on a completely level playing field for the award. I love the transparency and openness of this. A FOI request would give you specifics. What I didn’t realise was that the threshold for MDS was just so incredibly high. I would be all for a lower threshold, with more funding available for families on the lower end of incomes to ensure children with talent from low and no income families are better represented. (They are not well represented because ballet is so expensive.) Don’t get me started on this!! I apologise for the transgression.

There were 60 children in the final last year years 7-11 (someone auditioning for US place) there were 6 MDS awards across the years. And they had a physio assessment.

If you audition and are accepted by a school then of course there are possibilities. And no it’s not too late. X

Just an alternative if your son does initially struggle with a dance belt. I bought some close fitting undercrackers and ordered from Amazon a foam insert which I shaped into a protective secure pouch and sewed inside. My son wore this until he was 10 without issue. He then wore the Katz dance wear belt as it was the silkiest softest one we could find in a thong and my son said he didn’t even know he was wearing it especially up his bottom. 😁 He prefers the thong now to the full pants as he finds full pants too restrictive. I remember the first year he did EYB age 9, one of the other little boys had a dance belt made out of his regular pants and the cup of his mums bra sewn in as support. Obviously boob size would matter for this option.