Post Panorama: Dreaming Big: 10-Year-Old Dancers and Their Ballet Futures

[Beezie]

For younger families watching the Panorama and questioning the wisdom of vocational schools….  What are the alternatives?  What are the pros and cons of keeping your child at home?  
 

Having been part of this forum for a while, I remember one or two posters discussing alternate paths….some of which were very successful.  
 

Sharing options and experiences now may help parents of younger children make the best possible decision when considering vocational schools.

[Laura_ballet]

I don't know about you, but that documentary about dark side of vocational schools hit close to home for me. My little dancer, who's just 10, was all excited about joining a vocational school someday, but now we're both wondering what's next. How are you all dealing with these revelations? Any tips, thoughts, or experiences to share? Maybe we can figure out how to support our kids and guide them towards their dance dreams while keeping them happy and healthy along the way

[Neverdancedjustamum]

Unfortunately, I wasn’t surprised by the revelations and I actually thought that the schools got away lightly due to the programme being half an hour only, and perhaps having a limited number of individuals willing to be featured. I think it will be tricky to share tips because at the end of the day it’s a very personal choice and as parents we believe we know our child best and what they want. Personally, and this is from the angle of someone who wouldn’t and couldn’t face the idea of sending her child at 11 to board, I think there is something to be said for children starting full time vocational boarding school at an older age (ie upper school or sixth form). Puberty years would be more or less over, majority of milestone physical changes would have already happened, and they’ve matured more emotionally, socially and mentally too. This is not to say that sending your children at an older age will be problem-free.  I stress that this is very much a personal opinion. The lower school age I believe is so crucial in contributing to the young adult my children are going to be in the future and I for one wanted to be there for as many moments and nights and after-school afternoons for as long as possible. I knew with certainty that I couldn’t bear the thought of only seeing them occasionally - even every weekend and school break wouldn’t have been enough for me. If my dancing DD had insisted on going away at a young age, I would have been fully ready to deal with the possible resentment in the coming years. But I know my children and I know that what they thought they wanted at 11 wouldn’t be what they wanted to be a year or so down the line. They are only young once and I can never get those years and moments back. Ironically, if I didn’t think with my heart and emotions, my kids are probably the ideal personality and character to board early. Both are extremely independent, laid back and doesn’t get emotional easily - and definitely not the type to get homesick. Thankfully for me the decision was easy as both my kids agree they’d rather leave home when they’re about 17/18. They probably won’t say it to my face but they know they’ll miss me too haha! You can totally still support your DC’s dancing dreams without them having to go away early. It will entail commitment and time and money and family time can sometimes suffer but you just need to weigh the pros and cons and your priorities as a family. I just saw a photo of the first year girls of one of the schools mentioned in the documentary and saw one (British I think!) girl who I know only went to full time vocational school last year. Only one year full time, and she got a place at that specific school. So it’s definitely possible. ENBS and Central probably have more examples of these too. 

Edited September 13, 2023 by Neverdancedjustamum

[Dancers Dad]

Agree with the above. Very glad our daughter went at 16, not 11. So many potential downsides, so few apparent ultimate upsides to going so young.

[Jan McNulty]

I've merged 2 similar threads about alternatives to vocational lower schools.

 

Can we please just focus on alternatives to lower schools?

[Beezie]

From my US experiences, I have seen a culture where the norm is training through after-school studios.  Here are the pros and cons I see:

 

Pro:

-Constant eyes on your child

-Children maintain non-ballet friendships

-Children can integrate back into the non-ballet world more easily

 

Cons:

-Difficulty finding quality teaching.  It exists but takes more investigation.

-Parents need to be more active in ballet training, including more driving to practices etc (I stress….lots more driving to get the same experiences.)

-Children more likely to self-select out.  (This might be a pro, depending on whether they would have left ballet anyway….and if they leave on better terms.)

-When you get into private after-school training, some teachers will keep you hooked because it is their revenue stream.  It is hard to get a true understanding of capabilities.  
-No sense of ‘being discovered.’  Admittedly, the way these ballet school are run allows young parents and students to initially feel like rock-stars.  (Debatably, this might be the beginning of the ‘grooming’ people discuss.)

 

I would also just add that after-school programs can be toxic too.  Parents need to always remain vigilant.  And sometimes you don’t fully understand if a situation is toxic until you have removed yourself and your child from that environment.  It supports a situation where you want to diversify your childrens’ experiences….perhaps different classes and associates affiliations.

Edited September 13, 2023 by Beezie

[Neverdancedjustamum]

11 minutes ago, Beezie said:

 

I would also just add that after-school programs can be toxic too.  Parents need to always remain vigilant.  And sometimes you don’t fully understand if a situation is toxic until you have removed yourself and your child from that environment.  It supports a situation where you want to diversity your children’s’ experiences….perhaps different classes and associates affiliations.

100% agree with this. A number of concerns raised in relation to boarding schools are definitely also present in local/after school dance schools.  And just like them too, parents often feel like they have no choice, for example, if they live in areas where there is a lack of good quality dance schools. I am wary of schools that are too active on social media, those that feature the same students over and over again and I find that that the more ‘happy and nurturing’ a dance school claims to be, the opposite is usually the case. The best teachers and dance schools we’ve ever encountered are those that have very limited or no social media presence. In some dance schools, favouritism is prevalent and those who are only given time and attention are those who aim to attend one of the schools mentioned in the Panorama documentary. Because it will be good advertisement for the school.  Children are often too scared or worried to tell their parents how they are treated in class and worse yet, probably consider this as normal. I would be very very careful in choosing dance schools too and would exercise the same due diligence you would if you were picking an academic school or full time vocational school.

[Kerfuffle]

50 minutes ago, Beezie said:

From my US experiences, I have seen a culture where the norm is training through after-school studios.  Here are the pros and cons I see:

 

Pro:

-Constant eyes on your child

-Children maintain non-ballet friendships

-Children can integrate back into the non-ballet world more easily

 

Cons:

-Difficulty finding quality teaching.  It exists but takes more investigation.

-Parents need to be more active in ballet training, including more driving to practices etc (I stress….lots more driving to get the same experiences.)

-Children more likely to self-select out.  (This might be a pro, depending on whether they would have left ballet anyway….and if they leave on better terms.)

-When you get into private after-school training, some teachers will keep you hooked because it is their revenue stream.  It is hard to get a true understanding of capabilities.  
-No sense of ‘being discovered.’  Admittedly, the way these ballet school are run allows young parents and students to initially feel like rock-stars.  (Debatably, this might be the beginning of the ‘grooming’ people discuss.)

 

I would also just add that after-school programs can be toxic too.  Parents need to always remain vigilant.  And sometimes you don’t fully understand if a situation is toxic until you have removed yourself and your child from that environment.  It supports a situation where you want to diversify your childrens’ experiences….perhaps different classes and associates affiliations.

I would say much of the same applies here to after school training. I think the major difference is that there seem to be far more high level options in USA if you have the money to pay for it so more teenagers are pursuing the dream. I met loads of such families at a YAGP summer intensive in Italy. They were generally very friendly crowd but I did hear some fairly shocking tales of what went on both at American schools and also in European schools they attended. Body shaming again and extremely blunt criticism of a friend’s child who clearly was very talented. Behind the scenes there were some pretty terrifying ADs of the top competition schools, I would not want to cross one of those ! 
 

Unfortunately toxic environments are fairly typical in after hours Ballet schools too. Often your child at 16 can be the only one with an ambition to go to upper school and that can be lonely. Also no one at school fully understands your commitment to training several hours every evening. It’s  been a huge effort balancing dance training with GCSEs and audition year, working so hard at both! 
 

Sending a child away at 16 probably is a safer option. I have just packed off my DD to a top school and it’s going very well so far. It’s a big deal leaving your child to fend for themselves but at least I have been able to prepare her for that. 

[abitwornout]

I personally think that leaving it till they are 16 is a better option. Children change a lot from age 11-16 . Being at a “normal” school will give them a chance to evaluate their options . I think then if they still want to dance by the age of 14/15 then you can take extra classes to help get them there. It isn’t an easy route ( this is the one we took) As parents we spent many hours driving to dance classes and my dd had long days at school ( plus GCSEs) then straight to dance classes . ( dinner was mostly eaten in the car en route) It was hard but we got through it. It showed us that she was 100% committed on getting there and still had the talent at 16 to do so .

[Ballet Power]

Alternative to lower schools - the academy of balletic arts in London have a vocational programme which runs afternoon/evenings after school. 
theres also CAT schemes although not many for ballet

A mix of private coaching and associates is a good option too 

[Jewel]

We sent our child because they found it very difficult to access high quality training locally and we were also able to facilitate them being a day student.  We had a younger child with SEN who also took up a lot of our time. I do have to say that although lots of the things featured in the programme did go on at their school my child emerged relatively unscathed from lower school.  Our other child had a horrendous time at our local school so we felt grateful that our dancing child was out of that and getting much better care.  We had complaints, no school is perfect, but feIt that any issues were dealt with and taken seriously.  It probably helped that our child was  rubbish at picking up coded messages being a very literal person and so didn't realise some of the messages that were being given out by the dance teachers.

 

Their problems began part way through upper school, they were living away from home at this point and there were some major changes at the school.  I'm not going to go into it all here but my point on this thread is that being older doesn't always stop these things from happening.  

[littledancer99]

Anyone in the northwest. Kate Simmons in Warrington Cheshire offer high level ballet. Cechetti. An ex pupil is now at rb. 

[Beezie]

Having changed after-school ballet programs several times, it feels like there are 3 categories I see consistently across US, EU and UK:

 

1. Recreational - Fun, positive, but will not keep pace for higher-level opportunities.

 

2. Pre-professional, body-type first:  These are the pre-professional/pre-vocational programs that look for genes first (feet, turnout, extensions) and then think they can train the dancer.  I’ve gotten honest feedback from these schools, but they have not been enjoyable for my daughter.  (I also equate these to White Lodge and the other programs we are discussing.)

 

3. Pre-professional, art/passion first:  These are the pre-professional/pre-vocational programs that allow a lot of different body types and try to develop them to their utmost potential.   They are not producing too many professional dancers, but have a lot of parent loyalty.  (As a result, they can also come with some parent drama.). And unlike recreational programs, they are of higher level of training.

 

Before I mentally distilled these 3 groups, we ended up targeting one of the #2 schools.  Despite a lot of technique progression, my daughter wasn’t happy.  Just too much attention given to girls that were naturally bendy, and the rest were ignored.  
 

I’ve come to feel like the #3 schools are the sweet-spot.  We can keep up the training at a good level and see how puberty goes.  

[Balletchick]

I am also struggling with this, although we have a little more time on our hands. DD is, on paper, a reasonable prospect. Good turnout. Very flexible. Nice feet. Good musicality. Skinny as a rake. But I don't know what she'll be like in 5 years time! She wants to dance. She's (at the moment) not sure about going away to school. I'd like to keep her home until 16 at least. We have a decent dance school and are close to intensives and associates schemes (geographically). My question is - are these as toxic? Is auditioning for RBS JAs, or Northern CAT likely to expose her to the same sort of toxicity? It would be mitigated by her being at home, and at her normal school, but I'd still rather have my eyes open. What about summer schools? If I send her away to RBS or Elmhurst for summer school, will she be exposed to harm? What about the programmes like Northern, Moorlands, etc?

[Janeparent]

2 hours ago, littledancer99 said:

Anyone in the northwest. Kate Simmons in Warrington Cheshire offer high level ballet. Cechetti. An ex pupil is now at rb. 

Just to give a possible warning: I know nothing of the current school, but my personal memory of being taught by this school’s principal, 40 years ago, is not a positive one. Perhaps she has mellowed over the years…

Mods: please remove if this breaks the rules.

[meadowblythe]

I honestly don't think there is a "right" or, and I hesitate to use the word, "safe" path here.  Example: my DS's run in as a 9 year old with a teacher at JAs came back to haunt him throughout his  lower school vocational career and at 16 when applying for a different upper school.

 

But his favourite ever ballet teacher at a different associate scheme would fulfil all the criteria for the sort of teacher rightly condemned on the Panorama programme.  His personal connection with this teacher meant he didn't feel pressured, bullied or undermined - rather challenged and encouraged to achieve his best.  And supported  - and maybe that's the key.  The teacher also took time to come and see us and ensure that all was well.   To him the worst thing was being ignored or excluded.  He needed to be confronted.  A teacher at one summer school famously opened a window threatening to dangle him out - he loved it, responded, improved beyond recognition.  But he knew because he had worked with the teacher before that he wasn't in danger, he just needed to up his game.

 

Boarding requires relinquishing some control, whether it's a week in the summer or a term. You could argue that any schooling does.   If you feel supported that's manageable.  If there's good communication that's manageable When there Is no transparency, you feel things are being hidden or just have a good old fashioned gut feel something is wrong - this needs action.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Kerfuffle]

31 minutes ago, Balletchick said:

I am also struggling with this, although we have a little more time on our hands. DD is, on paper, a reasonable prospect. Good turnout. Very flexible. Nice feet. Good musicality. Skinny as a rake. But I don't know what she'll be like in 5 years time! She wants to dance. She's (at the moment) not sure about going away to school. I'd like to keep her home until 16 at least. We have a decent dance school and are close to intensives and associates schemes (geographically). My question is - are these as toxic? Is auditioning for RBS JAs, or Northern CAT likely to expose her to the same sort of toxicity? It would be mitigated by her being at home, and at her normal school, but I'd still rather have my eyes open. What about summer schools? If I send her away to RBS or Elmhurst for summer school, will she be exposed to harm? What about the programmes like Northern, Moorlands, etc?

I think follow your instincts and try out the associates/CAT schemes. You can always give them up if they don’t work for your child, much easier than removing them from boarding school. All these experiences will give your child a chance to see what works for her, who she clicks with. This is what we have found - my DD has just started upper school after being at a regular school. 

[Neverdancedjustamum]

39 minutes ago, Balletchick said:

I am also struggling with this, although we have a little more time on our hands. DD is, on paper, a reasonable prospect. Good turnout. Very flexible. Nice feet. Good musicality. Skinny as a rake. But I don't know what she'll be like in 5 years time! She wants to dance. She's (at the moment) not sure about going away to school. I'd like to keep her home until 16 at least. We have a decent dance school and are close to intensives and associates schemes (geographically). My question is - are these as toxic? Is auditioning for RBS JAs, or Northern CAT likely to expose her to the same sort of toxicity? It would be mitigated by her being at home, and at her normal school, but I'd still rather have my eyes open. What about summer schools? If I send her away to RBS or Elmhurst for summer school, will she be exposed to harm? What about the programmes like Northern, Moorlands, etc?

Choose associate schemes very carefully. Don’t feel the need to join multiple ones. Some seem to me to be more about the big name, some feel like a money making business more than anything and some call themselves associates because they know there are lots of parents around looking for ‘pre-vocational’ classes to prepare their students for auditions. Look closely at the classes on offer. Would it be worth your time and travel expense to attend a class that’s only about a couple of hours long if you live miles away? Is it worth your money if your child is in a class of about 2 dozen kids where personalised feedback is highly unlikely? The best associates scheme we found is actually one that has been running for years and yet doesn’t get a lot of mention on here and nor are they active on social media.

[SpideyDad]

55 minutes ago, Kerfuffle said:

I think follow your instincts and try out the associates/CAT schemes. You can always give them up if they don’t work for your child, much easier than removing them from boarding school. All these experiences will give your child a chance to see what works for her, who she clicks with. This is what we have found - my DD has just started upper school after being at a regular school. 

I was about to reply, but I think that @Kerfuffle has said everything that I would have.

 

Perhaps I could add that I never witnessed or heard of anything to concern me in either the Northern CAP or CAT or at the RBS SA Northern programme in Leeds when our DD attended them.

 

One man's opinion, but I think that having all of the 11-16 years' changes out of the way, before committing to a vocational school has worked well for her (in terms of personal development) and us (in terms of 'being there', and financially - though it's still tough!)

 

Best of luck with it all! 🤞

 

Edited September 13, 2023 by SpideyDad

[glowlight]

I think one of the things that the Panorama documentary has given us is a start point for conversation.

 

If your dc is old enough and not likely to be triggered by it (you alone can be the judge of that), perhaps you could watch it with them and see what conversation comes up. They may open up about things they have experienced directly or indirectly that they never would have discussed before. It may give you the opportunity to make it clear that body shaming is abuse and is not acceptable. And to encourage them to talk openly with you if they experience this sort of thing in the future.

 

It's also important to remember that body shaming and other forms of abuse don't only happen in boarding schools, so even if your child isn't at vocational school, keep a constant watch for this sort of thing. The advantage of course is that they can come home at the end of the day.

 

[Allwrong]

I have a lot of thoughts on this! 

I entirely agree with abitwornout that waiting till 16 gives your child a better chance to make a genuine choice with a more solid idea of what they are committing to. However, even after-school dancing can draw a child into an unexamined commitment too early, particularly with lots of hours and various associate schemes, and can take a real toll on family life. I have always been sad to see little brothers languishing outside the dance studio, playing on phones.

My personal experience and inclination would tend to say that waiting is better. But it's a very complex choice. 

 

My feeling is that unless you are looking at top international companies, even staying at home till 18 is becoming an option. Is anyone else, I wonder, beginning to see dancers from your local schools getting places at Central and RCS post-A Level?  Age is getting to be a lot less crucial, as increasingly dancers seem to spend one or even two years in 'holding pen' type post-graduate (post Upper School) courses which probably keeps them dancing whilst on the audition circuit rather then necessarily accelerating progress (correct me on that if that impression is wrong).

 

My DD (a post 18-er, UK), is very clear that if she had gone away at 11, which we never considered at the time, she would be contract-ready and much more likely to succeed by now, and doubtless in the long run. However, she has also said that she doesn't regret it one bit because a normal childhood and not boarding has given her a much richer life. That said, she is unusual in that things academic are a real passion, and also she only did in general one evening and one associates class a week, so family life was relatively available to her, and other interests too. Also her home teacher is an amazing woman who has supported her unequivocally and pointed her towards all sorts of opportunities, despite our much lesser presence at the dance school. The upshot is that now she is vocational she is catching up on the missed years of dancing with surprising speed, and her vocational school is confident that she is as likely to succeed as their more standard students (most are from full-time vocational backgrounds from various countries).

 

So the choice isn't straightforward, nor the same for every child or every family by any means. Lots of out-of-school hours with 'normal' schooling can have just the same over-commitment, distress and burn-out potential as vocational boarding, with family life for the rest of the family more heavily impacted. But boarding is really not something to be undertaken lightly. Early vocational training certainly programmes the body very effectively, and really does give the child an advantage. Intensive training later can allow surprisingly quick catch-up, but it is tough as the hard-wiring isn't there and the moves aren't so indelibly written into the body. Those tricky moves need more intense concentration and are more likely to go wrong. And it is pretty much impossible to get into the big national companies by that route, although very worthwhile and fulfilling contracts are certainly within your grasp.

 

I'd also like to add that unhappiness in vocational dance school is clearly too prevalent. But 'normal' academic schools are no picnic either. DD had a grim time at her supposedly (though not very) academically selective (state) school, constantly undermined in sneaky ways by contemporaries, staff disengaged and uninterested in an academic child, and smugly convinced it was a lovely place. 

 

So basically, as a parent you can't win

 

 

[SpideyDad]

1 hour ago, Allwrong said:

So basically, as a parent you can't win

🤣😬 never a truer word!

[Dancing unicorn]

I would second KS in Warrington! If we had our time again that’s definitely what we would have done 🥹

[Janeparent]

26 minutes ago, Dancing unicorn said:

I would second KS in Warrington! If we had our time again that’s definitely what we would have done 🥹

See my post above! Clearly different experiences of KS! 

[abitwornout]

2 hours ago, Allwrong said:

I have a lot of thoughts on this! 

I entirely agree with abitwornout that waiting till 16 gives your child a better chance to make a genuine choice with a more solid idea of what they are committing to. However, even after-school dancing can draw a child into an unexamined commitment too early, particularly with lots of hours and various associate schemes, and can take a real toll on family life. I have always been sad to see little brothers languishing outside the dance studio, playing on phones.

My personal experience and inclination would tend to say that waiting is better. But it's a very complex choice. 

 

My feeling is that unless you are looking at top international companies, even staying at home till 18 is becoming an option. Is anyone else, I wonder, beginning to see dancers from your local schools getting places at Central and RCS post-A Level?  Age is getting to be a lot less crucial, as increasingly dancers seem to spend one or even two years in 'holding pen' type post-graduate (post Upper School) courses which probably keeps them dancing whilst on the audition circuit rather then necessarily accelerating progress (correct me on that if that impression is wrong).

 

My DD (a post 18-er, UK), is very clear that if she had gone away at 11, which we never considered at the time, she would be contract-ready and much more likely to succeed by now, and doubtless in the long run. However, she has also said that she doesn't regret it one bit because a normal childhood and not boarding has given her a much richer life. That said, she is unusual in that things academic are a real passion, and also she only did in general one evening and one associates class a week, so family life was relatively available to her, and other interests too. Also her home teacher is an amazing woman who has supported her unequivocally and pointed her towards all sorts of opportunities, despite our much lesser presence at the dance school. The upshot is that now she is vocational she is catching up on the missed years of dancing with surprising speed, and her vocational school is confident that she is as likely to succeed as their more standard students (most are from full-time vocational backgrounds from various countries).

 

So the choice isn't straightforward, nor the same for every child or every family by any means. Lots of out-of-school hours with 'normal' schooling can have just the same over-commitment, distress and burn-out potential as vocational boarding, with family life for the rest of the family more heavily impacted. But boarding is really not something to be undertaken lightly. Early vocational training certainly programmes the body very effectively, and really does give the child an advantage. Intensive training later can allow surprisingly quick catch-up, but it is tough as the hard-wiring isn't there and the moves aren't so indelibly written into the body. Those tricky moves need more intense concentration and are more likely to go wrong. And it is pretty much impossible to get into the big national companies by that route, although very worthwhile and fulfilling contracts are certainly within your grasp.

 

I'd also like to add that unhappiness in vocational dance school is clearly too prevalent. But 'normal' academic schools are no picnic either. DD had a grim time at her supposedly (though not very) academically selective (state) school, constantly undermined in sneaky ways by contemporaries, staff disengaged and uninterested in an academic child, and smugly convinced it was a lovely place. 

 

So basically, as a parent you can't win

 

 

Totally agree, I always wondered how much my non dancing child was affected as we had to fully commit to dance training for dd in the 2 years prior to upper school auditions. You could also be unhappy at a “normal “ school but I guess you do go home to family in the evening. I like the idea of full time vocational training starting at 18 .  

[Dancing unicorn]

26 minutes ago, Janeparent said:

See my post above! Clearly different experiences of KS! 

Well she must have mellowed then, we have nothing but praise for KS. She put our dd back together again after being at one of the schools mentioned on Monday 🥹

[Janeparent]

11 minutes ago, Dancing unicorn said:

Well she must have mellowed then, we have nothing but praise for KS. She put our dd back together again after being at one of the schools mentioned on Monday 🥹

I’m very glad she has mellowed. 

[Mummy twinkle toes]

12 hours ago, Ballet Power said:

Alternative to lower schools - the academy of balletic arts in London have a vocational programme which runs afternoon/evenings after school. 
theres also CAT schemes although not many for ballet

A mix of private coaching and associates is a good option too 

They also offer a Saturday version which was good for us as we had to travel from Wales. We then did Balletboost on the Sunday. ABAS let my Dd continue the first year she was at LSC.

[atacrossroads]

On 13/09/2023 at 10:04, Ballet Power said:

Alternative to lower schools - the academy of balletic arts in London have a vocational programme which runs afternoon/evenings after school. 
theres also CAT schemes although not many for ballet

A mix of private coaching and associates is a good option too 

Masters of Ballet Academy in West London run their classes 6 days a week after school and weekends, taught by industry professionals.

 

Full disclosure: my daughter went to the school and was very happy there. I now work for the school.

[Kerfuffle]

For those in the south west I recommend Bristol Russian Ballet School and their Youth Ballet at weekends, plus intensives at Easter and Summer. This was where my DD trained for 2 years. 

[Fudge]

1 hour ago, Kerfuffle said:

For those in the south west I recommend Bristol Russian Ballet School and their Youth Ballet at weekends, plus intensives at Easter and Summer. This was where my DD trained for 2 years. 

I can completely recommend Bristol Russian Ballet School. My Dd did Summer and Easter intensives with them whilst at vocational school. After leaving Elmhurst after her GCSEs she danced with them for two years before starting Uni and fell in love with ballet again.

She wishes she had done this instead of the vocational route!

[Aurora3]

I listened to this podcast. But I think, you have to take into consideration that it is quite common for girls at this age that they are dissatisfied with their bodies and offended by everything they hear, no matter whether they are at a professional school or not!

[Dance*is*life]

Are there any performing arts day schools still in existence?   I spent 4 wonderful years in one and revelled in it. Obviously the education couldn't  compare to the grammar school I was at before , but I got to dance instead of playing hockey 😊!   Also the all round performing arts training, with an emphasis on high level classical ballet, gave me a lot of options for career choices.  There was no way I would have boarded away from home at 11, so for me this was the perfect alternative.  I went to RBS Upper School at 16 also non boarding.   Interestingly, in my day anyone coming from White Lodge only needed two years training at US (I had three) and were pretty much guaranteed  to get into Graduates which fed into the company.  Of course in those days you had to be British to get into the company, so it was very different. It's rather heartbreaking to hear the stories coming out now........