The Hammond School 2023

[Dancemum19]

Hey how long does it take to hear back about my daughter she had her audition Monday? And does a call back mean they have got a place? Thank you all x 

[Jan McNulty]

Hello @Dancemum19 and welcome to the Forum!

[Dancemum19]

Hello thank you.  

[Dancemum19]

The Hammond dance school 

[Somerdance]

On 17/02/2023 at 15:36, Dancemum19 said:

Hey how long does it take to hear back about my daughter she had her audition Monday? And does a call back mean they have got a place? Thank you all x 

My daughter heard about an week and a half later.

This year they are not doing call backs and consider funding from the initial audition.

 

Good luck to your daughter! 

[Dancemum19]

Thank you for your reply! Oh really so will they email you if your son or daughter get a place? And if they will fund? Thank you x 

[Starboymom]

Hi they send you an email if you’re accepted but email does not mention funding. Still trying to find out if my ds has funding or not. I’m finding trying to communicate with the school quite difficult. 

[Jan McNulty]

Hello @Starboymom and welcome to the Forum!

[Exhausteddancemum]

5 hours ago, Starboymom said:

Hi they send you an email if you’re accepted but email does not mention funding. Still trying to find out if my ds has funding or not. I’m finding trying to communicate with the school quite difficult. 

Me too! I’ve sent enough emails I’m on verge of annoying myself now! But the email offering the place offered no guidance at all about funding. I know some people got told on the day that they had funding but we weren’t told anything. Not sure what that means  

[tutugirl]

It seems to be very difficult on the communication front currently.

[Farawaydancer]

2 hours ago, tutugirl said:

It seems to be very difficult on the communication front currently.

It’s permanently difficult on the communication front. It’s my main frustration with the school, and parents tell them over and over that it’s an issue but they seem unable to fix it. However, dd is extremely happy there, as are the vast majority of her classmates, so it’s just an annoyance we put up with. 

[Somerdance]

We had the same, an offer for September start but no mention of funding or further audition on letter.

My husband is very persistent 😂

and managed to speak to someone.

 

At the initial audition the children are given points and listed from most to least.

 

The top get offered funding (not sure how many) everyone else is on the waiting list. I think this is different to previous years.

We’re in the same position and the unknown is torture.

DD was so gutted to have a yes and then a not quite. We have always been very upfront with her and she knows no funding means no school but it certainly stings a little.

 

I’ve been told there is a lot of movement once all offers are out with some people receiving funding as late as July!! 
 

 

[Farawaydancer]

There is always movement, right through the summer, so it’s definitely possible. 

[tutugirl]

But the auditions haven’t finished yet so how can they rank them and already give out MDS ?

Hypothetically the last audition might have 12 outstanding candidates .

[Exhausteddancemum]

3 minutes ago, tutugirl said:

But the auditions haven’t finished yet so how can they rank them and already give out MDS ?

Hypothetically the last audition might have 12 outstanding candidates .

I don’t know but at my daughters audition they offered MDS to the first 4- we found out because we knew 3 of them. And that was one of the earliest January auditions. Don’t know how many they’ll have total 

[Dancemum19]

On 21/02/2023 at 08:36, Starboymom said:

Hi they send you an email if you’re accepted but email does not mention funding. Still trying to find out if my ds has funding or not. I’m finding trying to communicate with the school quite difficult. 

Thank you for your reply! It's horrible waiting! 🥹 was it late afternoon you received the email? 

[Starboymom]

@Dancemum19 Yes it was around 6pm that we received email. Yes it is horrible waiting, personally I don’t think it’s acceptable that you are given a few days to accept the offer but absolutely no response when you do about the offer. It’s really not nice on the kids being in limbo having an offer but no word of funding.

[Dancemum19]

That's great! Thank you very much you have helped me a lot! I can't stop looking at my emails! Oh no that's awful have you tried to ring them? Is your son or daughter starting this September? X

[Starboymom]

@Dancemum19 No worries, I’m pretty new to this so glad this forum is here to help us all.  Yes I’ve called the school and emailed on numerous occasions with no response. Makes me wonder if this would be the right place for us as I would need to know that someone would respond without delay if there was a problem with my child in the school. Yes my DS is due to start September yr 7 depending on funding.

[Dancemum19]

4 minutes ago, Starboymom said:

Thank you! I know thank goodness for this forum! Wow that's not good start, hopefully they will be in touch soon. Aww well done to your DS 😊 did you have to fill a form out for the funding with your accepting?

[tutugirl]

This will make you chuckle . My DS attended the Hammond for 2 years before moving to a different vocational school .

I was promised that someone would phone me back about something that needed discussing .

11 years later - I’m still waiting 😂 

[Dancemum19]

Oh my!! No way! 😳 

[Jewel]

On 21/02/2023 at 16:55, Farawaydancer said:

It’s permanently difficult on the communication front. It’s my main frustration with the school, and parents tell them over and over that it’s an issue but they seem unable to fix it. However, dd is extremely happy there, as are the vast majority of her classmates, so it’s just an annoyance we put up with. 

That is very sad to hear. When my child was there communication was excellent apart from the final year when it seemed to break down entirely. Sorry to hear this has continued. 

[Ballettap]

Hi, Does anyone have experience of bursaries at The Hammond and know anything about amount of bursary v income. 
TIA 😊

[Jewel]

So much has changed in the past 2-3 years it’s impossible to say. It used to be the worst kept secret that under the previous Managment  50% bursaries were routinely offered to those not eligible for MDS but I believe that has changed now and far fewer are offered with those that are not as generous. 

[Mummy twinkle toes]

On Facebook it says that their BA will now be delivered in partnership with Chester University.

[Streetdancer]

2 hours ago, Mummy twinkle toes said:

On Facebook it says that their BA will now be delivered in partnership with Chester University.

I read that as being a separate BA in Dance at Chester University with some teaching by Hammond staff. Hammond currently offers a BA in musical theatre but not dance. Willing to be corrected on this though.

[Peanut68]

I saw this advert in The Stage email alert…

Looks like it is indeed a whole new course! Or at least, the current Dance Course will perhaps be rebranded & move from being a Trinity Level 6 to a BA Hons course - bravo Hammond who quietly move onwards & upwards! 

[Jewel]

It is a completely separate course to the Trinity diploma with an entry requirement of 104 UCAS points from A levels or Btec, not dance exams. From looking at Chester's website the contact hours appear to be around 11-12 hours per week.

Edited March 6, 2023 by Jewel

[Peanut68]

Quite a different prospect then...I wonder if it can be done alongside the Trinity Diploma or as an additional one year 'top up' Degree course?

[Streetdancer]

It's already possible to do a top-up BA year at The Hammond. I think this course is probably aimed at people who want a degree which is less about becoming a professional performer, but still like the idea of high quality teaching. More comparable to the degree courses at De Montfort etc. 

[DanceDad26]

Hi! Our daughter was offered a place after her audition in January but unfortunately didn't get funding. However we just received an email asking for financial information for funding.  Does this mean she got funding or is on a waiting list? Very confused!

[Streetdancer]

26 minutes ago, DanceDad26 said:

Hi! Our daughter was offered a place after her audition in January but unfortunately didn't get funding. However we just received an email asking for financial information for funding.  Does this mean she got funding or is on a waiting list? Very confused!

Is this for the lower school or for the diploma? The systems seem to be different.