Snape

My DD and I think it is really hot, too hot ( clovelley) but she was on the top floor and we live on a farm, so others sometimes find it a little cool?? crazy people! My DD has a medium weight duvet and a fleece blanket/throw for when/if it is a little cooler.

Hi, My DD and all her friends seem to mainly wear socks. She has woolly and opaque tights but has only used them a few times in winter. If boarding, sew in labels are best. Writing in them is next to useless, there is always a big pile of grey socks at the boarding house, belonging to people who don't sew them in. The only non sew labels that seem to work are the clothing tattoos from an Australian company I think they are called stuck on you. They work well on ballet socks ( but iron them on the underside ) as I caused my child great embarrassment by ironing them where they can be seen. hehe. They have to take their shoes off for assembly. Well at least she hasn't misplaced many! They keep finding their way back. I do just sew them in the top now as Karen describes. I use sew in labels for nearly everything. You can machine sew them into most things, for a permanent and fast alternative to hand sewing.

No ballet aims, but I won't have as I have not sent them. Last year I had all the documents I needed and sent it straight away. The result was emailed 14/8 so I think you will have a bit of a wait yet! Another month maybe.

Do you mean have you received the form? I have had the form to fill in, about two weeks ago but I have not sent it back yet, just waiting for a document. If you mean have you heard the result, I think it will be towards the end of summer.

Well done mumof6s DD! Congratulations!

I don't think so. I am sure they are made to size?

Yes she is very good and really helpful and nice but she can't get the shoes we need. She told me herself to buy them somewhere else and send in my receipts to school. And yes it is great to have the mds money towards ballet things but some of the families near the bottom of the scale need that money to go as far as possible.

Yes I am not happy. For most things I do use stardust but they don't stock my DDs type of shoe. So not sure what I will do about that? And also some things are very expensive, while other things are ok. I saved money by shopping in the sale/shopping round. Also DD has funny feet and I like to have a certain fitter for her and keep an eye on her while I am there. I live so far away that would not be possible.

Well done gwtf!!! ????????????????????????

Isadora I know of at least three children turned down for elmhurst but got into Royal jas. All schemes look for something a bit different and different people choosing etc.

Just looked at last years email. We received the form via email on the 17/06/15 result of the mds was emailed in the 15/08/15. There are a lot of children to work out so people may have had them on different days and it may be different this year but just to give you an idea. Also the final audition was much later this year.

Not yet ballet aims, last year it was later, so don't worry. Maybe just get your documents ready to fill it in when it comes. I will let you know when I get mine.

Dance uniform can be washed every night, school uniform once a week ( think Friday's ) home clothes/pjs/underwear/everything else etc, they are allocated one day per week. Recommended amounts on the list are fine. The only thing I would take more of is underwear, because if they miss their wash day while they are getting used to the timetable, yuk. Keep everything else to a minimum, because there is not much space and It is easier then not to misplace things. Label everything. Even pants and socks. Sew in labels are best.

They have two bags. A school one and a dance one. They said they prefer a rucksack with two straps, as they are heavy, so to prevent back injuries. They are supposed to be black or very dark with no logos. It says on the uniform stuff somewhere. Some people do not have dark bags however. They do have a locker but tend to keep things in it just for that day. They don't store things in it for long periods. Either the dance bag or academic bag is in the locker, depending on what they are doing. Label everything and put something on the bag to make it distinctive as many children have the same/similar bags. It is easy to pick the wrong one up.

Now that is a good idea ballet aims! Once you have your starter things, stardust come every Monday I think and it is very easy to pop in and get things then. They are very helpful.

Hello boogalou, that is when we purchased it. It was a little chaotic though. It was a very hot day last year, so I don't think that helped! It was at the end of the day when you picked them up. They might do it differently this year. I just sat down and waited for everyone else to finish. Ok as long as you don't have a train or plane to catch! Bad enough if you have a long drive. It took ages! Also if you have an mds, you can't take the ballet uniform home, you have to wait until that has been finalised, then they will post it to you. You have to pay the postage. My DD was sad that she was not able to take the ballet uniform home I think it came mid summer hols, plenty of time to label it!

Sarahw we just watched them sing and had tea and cakes, then took them home for the weekend.

It is supposed to say, shoe cleaning equipment ( they obviously haven't corrected it from last year, as I asked the same question! ) Linen bag is a laundry bag for their dirty stuff.

Ps the house parents are really good!!

My DD does not come home every weekend. It would be OK if you lived near enough I suppose. Bear in mind that the ones that go home more often/ have lots of visitors, are the ones that struggle with homesickness! Homesickness is more than often caused by well meaning parents!! My DD came from an amazing academic prep school. I would say academically it is not going to be able to compete with a private school with an academic focus and all its finances targeted at that ( and no dance!) but I think it is better than most state schools. I compared the timetable when she started with three schools local to me, respected secondary schools with excellent and outstanding ofsted thingys, not that that means anything, but anyway, per subject the Hammond seem to do a tiny bit more, 15 mins more maths for example. But no PE and no DT except one term of food tech. Obviously I would guess a large proportion of their budget goes towards more dance/drama/ music things. The things my child found difficult was the lack of technology, she was used to 3D printers, everything connected and all the latest tech in every classroom, linked to home. I do believe they are working on improving this. Sometimes the printers don't even work in the boarding. It must be a disadvantage to the teachers also. I think the Hammond and Tring seem to be the best two for academics. Am I allowed to say that?

Think standard for the dance wear.

It's £620 I think for the dance uniform.

You get a ballet uniform amount. I think everyone on an mds gets that. It didn't last all year though, nearly did. I think it would last a boy all year. Girls pointe shoes add up. You only get a school uniform allowance if you are at the lower end of the earning scale. I think earning less than 10/15 thousand a year. It did say on a form somewhere.

The phone thing can be a pain as I don't get in on an evening, often until after 9:30pm and lights out is 9pm in year 7. The boarding staff let her call me just after 9 twice a week only for a couple of minutes, it does feel a bit rushed but at least I get to say night.

Well done sadie123 & your ds!