Happymum Posted September 9, 2015 Share Posted September 9, 2015 Hi, I wonder what is your opinion/experience. Which of the 2 schools offers wider choice of GCSE and A levels, more prep time, better teachers, facilities efc etc. of course both schools are great and it is mostly down to child's hard work etc etc But if for any reason DC won't/can't continue with dancing and wants to go to a good university which school might prepare for it better? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harwel Posted September 10, 2015 Share Posted September 10, 2015 I can only tell you about Tring as I have no personal experience of Elmhurst. My DS is currently in year 11 at Tring. He is preparing for 9 GCSEs (quite a few of these are iGCSEs). The range was quite varied when he chose, obviously there are the core subjects but he was able to choose 3 sciences and looking at the GCSE score this year, they do very well in the sciences. In fact the academics are pretty impressive (all there for the taking, down to the child). I have found the academic teachers to be very pasionate about their subjects, very approachable and keen to give extension work to more able pupils. Class sizes in all subjects are small with streaming for English, maths, French. Some classes have as few as 5 students! The A'level selection is also very varied, I think the only vocational school that offers all 3 sciences at A'level. Plus the usual subjects of English, maths, French, history, art photography and quite a few more besides. There are lots of examples of pupils going on to 'top' universities and going on to study heavily academic subjects such as medicine and law. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JulieW Posted September 10, 2015 Share Posted September 10, 2015 Our experience was at Elmhurst and although I was more than happy with the academic teaching, I think I can safely say that Tring offer more exams and more range of subjects at both levels. However our decision on where to apply was entirely been on where my ds saw himself training. In all honesty, and I may be in the minority here, we weren't interested in A levels. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Picturesinthefirelight Posted September 10, 2015 Share Posted September 10, 2015 We have no direct experience of either school but it isvery likely that dd will move from her current vocational school at some point in order to go to a school that offers more choice in the way of academic subjects. Tring is definately one she would consider as it offers 3 a levels & more choice of subjects. Dd is interested in science in terms of a 2nd career option eg dance physiotherapy & she is currently restricted to double science for example. She was at summer school with a child from Elmhurst who told her that at Elmhurst they only do 5 gcses. However that may not be entirely correct. It might be that child is only doing 5 for some reason. I think 8-9 are the norm (ds at private selective school will do 9) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lifeafterballet Posted September 10, 2015 Share Posted September 10, 2015 We have Elmhurst experience and they offer the standard 9 GCSEs including double science. They are open to negotiation on children doing extra subjects in their own time too. This year they are starting GCSE Italian instead of French. There are choices for children of all academic abilities. Looking ahead, the A level choices look limited, compared to Tring for example, but it's a work in progress and things are changing / developing year on year. As said before, having a plan B or post dance career plan is important, but it's the ballet training that the child is predominantly there for and some sacrifices / compromises have to be made. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stirrups36 Posted September 10, 2015 Share Posted September 10, 2015 Son is at Elmhurst, where he just finished 10 GCSEs. same as the others unless there were specific reasons not to. Some also took exams early in year 10. He is doing 2 A levels - he's the only French A level student - alongside the Trinity Diploma over the 3 years, which is an Honours degree level course (Level 6). So yes, it's about wider choice. At Elmhurst, the choice at 6th form in particular is I think, more limited. They are quite upfront at all the meetings from right back at year 7, that being at Elmhurst is to prepare for a career as a dancer, and if you want a wider choice, or they feel you aren't suited to it (hence the 'assessing out' process...) than maybe a different school would be better for you. From looking at graduate destinations, there are those that have not gone down the dance route, and got into some good universities. the preparation and skills they have learned over the previous 7 years will have stood them in good stead. After all, there are no rules that say yo can only go to university at 18. If they decide to do something different, I am sure an extra year of more relevant academic study would be easy to do and looked on kindly by Universities. 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Picturesinthefirelight Posted September 10, 2015 Share Posted September 10, 2015 Sometimes slso children don't realise that 5 actually equals 7/8 eg double/triple science & English 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harwel Posted September 10, 2015 Share Posted September 10, 2015 I have to say, I think it would be EXTREMELY difficult for a child to study for 3 A'levels, a level 6 diploma (also studied at Tring) AND focus enough of their attention on dance/ballet to be able to make it a viable career choice. There are only so many hours in a day and let's be honest children that want to dance, just want to dance. It all sounds lovely in the cold light of day to say, 'yep, they can study to be a dancer and they can get 3 top level A'levels and then if dancing doesn't succeed they can study medicine as a back up' hmmmm really?! I saw how much work my nephew had to do to get into medical school and he wasn't dancing 5/6/7 hours a day too. Pretty much the same for any 'top' career choice. I think a great set of GCSEs are essential as a back up (you just do not want to have to revisit maths GCSE as an adult!). After that, A'levels can be done anytime and children/ young adults will do much better at them if they are 100% focussed - something I would imagine most trainee dancers are not going to be. If your child wants to dance, support then in that, ensure great GCSEs (employ bribery if needed) and then at 16 you will see where their passion is - let them follow that - there may be bumps in the road but with support, nothing that can't be overcome. 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Circe Posted September 10, 2015 Share Posted September 10, 2015 My dd has just started at vocational school sixth form but unfortunately has an injury that is limiting her dance, so right now I am delighted that she is able to carry on with three A levels as a diversion. I think though if she was fully fit she would drop one to concentrate on dance. It seems it would have been really difficult / even more difficult for her if she had taken up offer at a dance-only school but I guess they have ways of handling these issues too. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hfbrew Posted September 10, 2015 Share Posted September 10, 2015 It wasn't easy but at Tring ds got 3 A levels plus the Trinity level 6 Diploma. He chose Tring after several offers because of the variety of A level subjects. We researched the schools themselves for the information needed. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Happymum Posted September 10, 2015 Author Share Posted September 10, 2015 It wasn't easy but at Tring ds got 3 A levels plus the Trinity level 6 Diploma. He chose Tring after several offers because of the variety of A level subjects. We researched the schools themselves for the information needed. Well done to your son. Of course I'll research the schools themselves if my DS doesn't change his mind about auditioning next year. But I think it's also worth asking on the forum with so many experienced parents. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Happymum Posted September 10, 2015 Author Share Posted September 10, 2015 Thank you all for replying. My DS surprised me yesterday saying that he want to audition for 2017 Y7 place. He is a good dancer, is a RBS JA and won a Tring bursary for boys but he is not as dedicated to dance as his sister, and he is very academic. That's why I asked about your opinion as Tring and Elmhurst are the schools he wants to try saying that he might want to go to Uni after. Of course he might change his mind during this year and he might not even got through to finals but I'd like to be able to help him decide if needed. Anyway is it possible (time, money, logistics) to have children at 2 different voc schools? I can't imagine it and my DD just started Elmhurst this year... But who knows how long it will last? Headache! I'll give it 10 months and see How things are then. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hfbrew Posted September 10, 2015 Share Posted September 10, 2015 Well done to your son. Of course I'll research the schools themselves if my DS doesn't change his mind about auditioning next year. But I think it's also worth asking on the forum with so many experienced parents. You are right, it's definitely worth asking on here for first hand experience !However policies and subjects on offer will not remain constant and its always best to check with the schools directly as well. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anna C Posted September 10, 2015 Share Posted September 10, 2015 I have to say, I think it would be EXTREMELY difficult for a child to study for 3 A'levels, a level 6 diploma (also studied at Tring) AND focus enough of their attention on dance/ballet to be able to make it a viable career choice. There are only so many hours in a day and let's be honest children that want to dance, just want to dance.I agree that 3 A'Levels, a diploma and dance training would be a huge juggling act, but there are students who want to dance AND study. My dd is delighted that her dance course includes Anatomy and said "it was so lovely using my brain again". Had she not gone to an Upper School she would have taken 4 A'Levels. Although she can't take two of her four A'Level choices online as nobody provides them, she's asked us to buy her some A'Level text books so she can keep her brain ticking over. Whether she'll have the stamina in the evenings I'm not sure, but we shall see. I love that she wants to keep studying throughout her dance training. On the audition rounds I was impressed with the A'Levels on offer at both Elmhurst and Tring. Out of the Upper Schools we looked at, I don't think any of them could beat Tring when it came to the range of subjects offered. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Picturesinthefirelight Posted September 10, 2015 Share Posted September 10, 2015 At one point a forum member had 3 different dds at 3 different schools (but now two are at the same school). How she managed it I have no idea! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harwel Posted September 10, 2015 Share Posted September 10, 2015 I agree that 3 A'Levels, a diploma and dance training would be a huge juggling act, but there are students who want to dance AND study. I completely agree with you Anna, that's why the choice of school is such a personal thing. What you think is right at 12 or 14 May turn out not to be right for 16, depending on your child's developing character. I really don't believe any one school is better than another - they will all have sucess stories of many shapes and hue. The tricky bit is finding the right school for you. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anna C Posted September 10, 2015 Share Posted September 10, 2015 I completely agree with you Anna, that's why the choice of school is such a personal thing. What you think is right at 12 or 14 May turn out not to be right for 16, depending on your child's developing character. I really don't believe any one school is better than another - they will all have sucess stories of many shapes and hue. The tricky bit is finding the right school for you. Absolutely! And being fortunate enough to have a choice! :-) 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
primrose Posted September 10, 2015 Share Posted September 10, 2015 The academics at Tring are first class and can not be faulted. Most students do very well there. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tutugirl Posted September 11, 2015 Share Posted September 11, 2015 DS friends at Tring have just gained 4 As at AS level and the other 3 As and a B . Subjects available are many , including such as photography and other less usual ones as well as all the English , languages , humanities , sciences , Art and more . Both these students are pursuing either MT or dance courses . My DS has dropped to 2 A levels in order to do more dance classes . They certainly seem to manage academics and vocational training very well at Tring. Elmhurst were very helpful and said that DS might be able to study physics elsewhere , although they didn't offer it at A level 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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