Interested Parent

If anyone has the 'further info' the PDE sent out could you PM me? Ours seems to have got lost in the post and admin have not yet emailed me a set. Just need to know what to take for the first day. Thank you.

There are some great free articles and videos on this website: http://www.theballetblog.com/

Try going to the dancers boutique website as they hold details of many good schools in the Bucks local area: http://www.dancersboutique.co.uk/schoolsclasses.html

If you're looking for 1 day workshops in London and you're 16 or over try the Dance Attic in Fulham or the DanceWorks just off Oxford Street. They offer daily classes in all sorts of dance styles.

I say again our feedback was positive and constructive. It helped my daughter take into consideration the comments and use that information for the better. I can only go on our experience. It's very similar to having your performance appraisal at work, you're not told you're rubbish at something but you are told how to improve based on their expert knowledge.

My DD attended an audition and was offered a place at KS Dance. After the audition every dancer with their parent was interviewed and given both positive and constructive feedback which was gratefully received. It was the first 6th form audition she did and certainly helped as she went through the audition process. I understand that this level of feedback is probably not realistic for the bigger school with more auditionees, but surely something for those who reach finals would be practical.

Please remember it doesn't always work and can frighten you when it seems to show your DD abandoned on a railway line when in fact the signal is not so good and hasn't registered back to the app. Sat staring at my DD's static signal one evening, worrying that she was still 20 miles away when suddenly she appeared around the corner so yes indeed use judiciously.

Central line get off at Holborn. Turn right out of the tube and walk all the way down Kingsway almost to the end of the main road. You'll see the theatre on the left. On Kingsway and just off it in side roads are quite a few restaurants. We went to Strada and used our Tesco vouchers ((-:

How about Judy Thompsett School of Dance. She's in Abingdon. Just looking at the DTOL website for Oxford: http://www.dtol.biz/dtol2.asp

Hi. Can you say whereabouts you live? Someone on here may know the area and what might be available that you haven't found yet.

Does anyone know if this school is providing a summer school this year?

Loving the 'meth mouse' ((-:

Is it not the case that Central HAVE sent out all offers and the next batch of offers will be based on any of the first set being turned down? If so you would expect the second batch to be emailed 7 days after the first batch as that I believe is the deadline for the first batch to reply.

Hi Angel. ENBS are part of the DaDa scheme so sadly no student funding can be applied for. The DaDa school fees and maintenance are means tested on the total annual income of the family. You'll need to check what needs to be paid towards the fees from the scales and rates info. The maximum income to qualify is now 90k where you pay up to approx 7k but the maintenance allowance figure is much lower than that.

Central finals are tomorrow.

I'm lucky in that my non-DD plays the clarinet and guitar. It's lovely to hear her practise (sadly not often enough) and we get invited to all her concerts. Musical teachers always come across as caring and sharing and everyone is appreciated for their critical role in an orchestra or band. The parents run a cafe at cost so we get cheap hot chocolate and biscuits while we listen to some wonderful band practise in the hall next door.

Exactly taxi. That is how the DaDa works. As you say Jazzpaws always best to wait it out or ring the school. Aside from DaDas, Tring does have other funds that they use for some prospective students.

I heard that the change in DaDa rules mid-auditions threw them abit. I'm assuming causing more students to apply because of the raised cut-off point?

Refreshingly honest Belljul xxx

I clearly remember those feelings you have after the 'No's' at Year 7. It felt like the end of the world and I spent many nights wrestling with my thoughts. Don't do this to yourself or your DD. Stop overthinking, wait 6 months and then talk and plan the next stage with your DD. Time allows the space for you to both think clearly. Work with her teacher and if she is still very serious about it and your teacher is reticent to give feedback, find another teacher to advise so you are clear whether it makes sense to audition next year or better to focus on ballet as a fun hobby. Every child and family is different.

It's all done in the first audition. You will be marked and placed on a list in order of marks. If you are offered a place at the school and you have stated on the form that you are applying for. Dada. They will include you in the list and work their way down the list offering DaDas until they run out of money. Then as/if students do not accept the DaDa (another place offered and preferred) they will continue down the list. Therefore it is in order of merit but the final number of offers depends on how much DaDa budget they have.

Just came out of ENBS audition and there was no point work.

For dancer starting Sep 2015 the school will want your total household income for the tax year April 2014 to March 2015. However if the school is offering a place before the tax year ends (NBS is a case in point) they may ask for the previous years income just to get an idea for their records BUT they will expect to use 2014 to 2015 to base your contribution on in Sep. You must include Self Assessment forms for self employment, P60 and P11D for PAYE (P11D for any benefits you receive at work such as private medical ins, company car etc). If you earn over 90k (the new threshold) by a couple of k it would be worth trying to reduce it. Your contribution at 90k is 7k for school fees which is considerably lower than most of the schools actual fees (ENB is 17k, Tring is I think about £30k with accomm).

My suggestion would be to email Mary.schon@tringpark.com Mary's admin will pick up this email (usually Nicky Denton) and should reply to your query.

Oh I'm really sorry about that Twiggy but stay strong. I know the office is not back until 5th Jan so I would imagine nothing will change on the system until then. Maybe phone them on Monday?