Financially - I'm admitting defeat

[invisiblecircus]

Well the government pays for a comprehensive education, Why shouldn't the arts be included in that too? In other countries a dance education and a music education is as accessible as any other education and to everyone, whatever their financial circumstances.

 

To be fair, dance, drama, music and art are taught at comprehensive schools in the UK. Most other countries (in fact, all that I can think of) have far fewer places for vocational study in dance. We often remark about why so many overseas students go to the UK to study dance post 16, and one of the reasons is that there are so many more places available in the UK.

[Picturesinthefirelight]

For most of those other subjects (art, drama, sciences etc) you don't need to train intensively at such a young age. But you can't be a classical dancer or musician on school music/dance lessons alone (though in the good old days of free peripatetic instrumental lessins & county orchestra you could get to conservatoire entry level if you were dedicated.

 

For talented children in sport there is in most disciplines a club system. In our Area there is an LEA programme for gifted children in sport. In football the Academy system run by pro clubs & the grassroots training development run by the local authority means There is much less expense. (th expense is mainly in specialist equipment). In swimming it costs £40 per month to train at our local squad competing at national level. You can pay £30-40 per week for dance easily. I think gymnastics is probably an exception to this.

Edited November 1, 2015 by Picturesinthefirelight

[Tulip]

Me and my husband are also self employed and no way would we fiddle the books. We also have an accountant that would not allow this, how insulting to suggest that some people might.

[Tulip]

Perhaps children who are academically gifted should have access to top academic private schools where their needs could be met and their skills fine tuned. Children who may become our future surgeons, professors etc. jobs that we know are available. Sorry but if we are funding the arts then we should also be funding other talents. Nothing is free, and if you finally find some extra money, you then have to consider all the extra hidden costs. My daughters friends family haven't had a holiday for years, even though they both hold excellent jobs, dad is self employed and their child is an only child. My sisters daughter was offered funding at a vocational school but no way could they afford all the extra costs. They sadly accepted this but not once did she ever say to me and another sister who's child was also at vocational school that it was due to where we stood on the financial ladder or that I could cook the books being self employed. It was sad but my nieces parents were amazing and continued with excellent local classes and associate schemes.

[Fiz]

I hope something really good will come up for your dn, Tulip.

[Pas de Quatre]

Perhaps people on this board might like to remember that most dance teachers, unless part of a large school, are self-employed.  I would hate to think that any of my pupils parents thought it meant I could fiddle the books.  An accountant prepares my accounts each year for submission to Inland Revenue and IR have never queried any items.

[w445403]

We pay £300 a month for a minute shared flat. It has two bedrooms both with bunk beds, no TV and no Wi-Fi. The kitchen/living  area is tiny, enough room for one at a time in the kitchen and the living area only has 3 chairs and nowhere to put a table. It does however have a small ensuite (which the boys have) and a bathroom that the girls use. DS doesn't mind about the tv as he says by the time he gets back and has eaten and stretched he crawls climbs exhausted into the top bunk  . He's much more upset about the tiny kitchen as he does the majority of the cooking! That said he's absolutely loving it and feels at last like he's living the dream!!!

[nlc]

if someone has already had a DADA, are they then entitled to a student loan if they move elsewhere??

 

Thanks

 

[2dancersmum]

We were told by various schools - 'no'. I can't remember which one it was that gave the explanation that the government counted the DADA as their contribution to a students higher education. When you go to university and get a student loan the fees paid are 'capped' by the government and the government contributes (as does the taxpayer) to the difference between student loan and actual course cost. The reasoning was that if you had already had a DADA, then you had already had your allocation.

 

Student loans are also only available under their 'eligibility rules' for a first higher education qualification. A level 6 Trinity diploma (which you get the DADA for) is a higher education qualification so you would already have one.

 

I don't know how it works if you start a diploma course but do not complete it.

 

Having said all that about the reasons for the answer being 'no - you can't have a student loan if you've already had a DADA' - I do know of more than one individual who has gone onto university after completing a DADA course and they have received a student loan so I suspect it is a bit of a grey area, where although the official answer is 'no', it could be 'maybe' depending on what you wish to study.

[Anna C]

If you complete a Trinity Level 6 diploma - which I believe is the qualification offered by DaDa schools (correct me if I'm wrong), then you *may* be eligible for one or two years' student loan to "top up" your diploma to a degree in the same or a related subject. If you complete your diploma with a DaDa but then wish to start again and do a degree from scratch in another subject, I do not think you are eligible for a student loan - certainly not for the full three or four years.

 

If you are unable to complete your diploma for reasons outside your control, i.e. a career stopping injury - then I believe you can apply for student finance under their "exceptional circumstances" rule. You'd obviously need to check that though.

[Dance*is*life]

Someone I know has a dancing son who got a place in the National Ballet School in Amsterdam.  I'm afraid I don't know the exact prices, but it was really affordable compared to the UK schools and wonderful training.  It might be worth looking into European schools.