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ENBS vs Elmhurst


Living the Dream

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I just wanted to thank everyone who has commented on my post and offered very valuable advice. After long discussions regarding the pros and cons of each school, she has decided to accept ENBS. One of the main reasons is that she wants to be a purely classical ballerina and feels that the training at ENBS will be the best for her career. With regard to A levels, as they are not offered here, she has volunteered to study A levels home study as a compromise, as we are all fully aware that an injury could occur at any time and put an end to a ballerina's career and you need a back up plan.

 

I would recommend to anyone thinking of auditioning for Upper Schools for September 2013 to be very well prepared (I thought I was, but it has been more stressful than I could have ever imagined), have plenty of wine at hand and also to ask advice of the very knowledgable people on this forum.

 

Thank you all.

LTD x

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Just want to wish your DD all the best for her dancing at ENBS and I echo JulieW with the thanks for letting us know. It is nice when you have followed all the threads on auditions and success stories to actually hear the outcome and not be left hanging, as it were. Congratulations once again. At least she can concentrate on her GCSEs now.

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First time I have posted anything and I wish I had found this site earlier. My daughter is same situation and doesn't know what to do. Her heart says Elmhurst but she is aware of the kudos of ENB and worries she would be foolish if she turns it down. Any suggestions?

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Hello follycat, welcome to the forum! All I can suggest is that you read the advice given here, look at Graduate Employment info, and speak to your dd's current teacher to see what she thinks. :-)

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Welcome follycat.

 

I'll send you the same PM as I sent LivingtheDream

 

I don't know where your daughter is training at the moment but be mindful that sometimes their teachers aren't always the best ones to ask as they often have an opinion based on history rather than current knowledge ;) - in the end I think it comes down to "gut feeling".

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Yes, that's very true Julie. I trust my dd's teacher implicitly but she sometimes has ideas of schools based on previous Directors of Dance. :-)

 

I think the thing to do is to get as much info as possible from as many different people as possible - and *then* go with your gut feeling!

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First time I have posted anything and I wish I had found this site earlier. My daughter is same situation and doesn't know what to do. Her heart says Elmhurst but she is aware of the kudos of ENB and worries she would be foolish if she turns it down. Any suggestions?

Follow your heart everytime. For what its worth my DS put Elmhurst well above ENB when making his choice!
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Also worth remembering that although being at a certain school can open some doors (like the fact that the ENBS students stand more chance of getting into ENB) - ultimately if you've gone to any of the good classical schools you will be in a good position to get auditions for jobs based on your CV and then it comes down to how you dance in front at the audition.

 

We found it hard to turn down ENBS due to the reputation and it being closer to home, but there were other things I was concerned about and I really believe my son made the right decision to stay at Elmhurst. But everyone's different and likes different things about each school - you need to make a good "pros and cons" list.

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First time I have posted anything and I wish I had found this site earlier. My daughter is same situation and doesn't know what to do. Her heart says Elmhurst but she is aware of the kudos of ENB and worries she would be foolish if she turns it down. Any suggestions?

Hello follycat and welcome to this forum.

 

I would definitely look at the advice given to me on this forum. I also believe that your DD is obviously very talented to have the choice of both schools, so where ever she goes she will excel. With regard to ENBS, you need to know if your DD is mature enough to live not in a boarding house in London but in either a flat or hostel. My DD has been living away from home since 11 and is very mature and capable of doing her own washing and feeding herself. Also do you want her to do A levels. At Elmhurst it's part of the curriculum, but ENBS you will need to home study or attend night school. Please feel free to PM me if you want more details. Good luck with your decision.

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For the benefit of others who I haven't sent PMs to - I agree with LTD that one of the main things to think about is where they'll be living. My son had also been away from home at vocational schools since he was 11, but I still wouldn't have been happy having him living in a hostel or even his own flat (if we could have afforded it) in London at 16. But then, my husband tells me I'm very "risk-averse" :unsure: . Mind you, he might be a better cook by now if he had've done.......

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Thanks for all the advice. It has helped us to (I think) make a final decision of Elmhurst. She is quite academic and A levels is a draw- hopefully make her a grounded dancer with something else in her life to fall back on. Thanks juliew for your email, it really helped. All the best to all parents advising their offspring at this time. Now I have discovered the forum I will use again. Now for some wine (and chocolate)

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  • 6 months later...

Hello,

Just revisiting this post and wondered whether Living the Dream and Follycat would give a view on the training their DDs are getting at ENB and Elmhurst respectively. If my DD is lucky enough to be in this position next year, I don't know how I/she would choose. Also keen to hear from others e.g. Kiwimum etc.

Thank you :)

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Hello,

Just revisiting this post and wondered whether Living the Dream and Follycat would give a view on the training their DDs are getting at ENB and Elmhurst respectively. If my DD is lucky enough to be in this position next year, I don't know how I/she would choose. Also keen to hear from others e.g. Kiwimum etc.

Thank you :)

Hi Ribbons, my DD is loving ENBS. The days are long, but the training she is receiving is second to none. The standard of the training was one of the reasons that she chose ENBS over Elmhurst, not that the training at Elmhurst isn't excellent too, but she wants to be a classical ballerina and felt that there was too much dance diversity at Elmhurst for her. Also there are 12 girls and 11 boys in her year, so pas de deux is also a main part of the syllabus. At Elmhurst, the current year 6.1 has approx 18 girls and only 6 boys, therefore I would imagine making pas de deux work difficult to be consistent.

 

My DD loves living in London and the 'all girls' hostel in Kensington I found is fantastic and very safe and secure, right next door to the Royal Albert Hall and Hyde Park, with Kensington High Street a short walk away. The majority of her year are staying here too.

 

If you are lucky enough to be offered places at either or both of these school, then the choice would be personal to what your child feels is right for them. They are both fantastic schools.

 

Just to add that at ENBS there are more opportunities to perform, with a performance at Christmas at the school and the End of Year Performance at a main theatre in London. Also opportunites to perform with the Company. If they are lucky enough to be accepted into Third Year then they go on tour of the UK with ENB2, which is the sister company of ENB. Check their website for further details.

 

Please feel free to PM me anytime if you want any further information and may I wish everyone lots of luck for the forthcoming auditions. It is a very stressful time of the year. Keep your options open and bear in mind that a lot of international students come over for entry in sixth form. In my DD's year there are 6 British girls and 6 International girls, from Japan, USA, Portugal, Australia, France and South Africa.

 

LTD :D

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Thanks LTD, that sounds brilliant - so pleased your DD is happy with her choice and the standard of training is so good. :)

 

I know Elmhurst has benefited greatly from Desmond Kelly previously and now Robert Parker, but I can't help feeling that the focus there is on the boys and that this (and the small numbers in the year group) has been fantastic for the boys, but I am not so convinced about the girls' training. Would love to hear thoughts from those who have experience of it.

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ENBS has now put out their audition dates/times for next year.

 

My dd will be applying there along with other schools although we too as parents are concerned about A level study after all that dancing. I think it must take an academically highly motivated individual to turn to study after a long day of dance.....any opinions welcome on this one!! :D

 

Strangely enough my dd's current ballet teacher was a bit dismissive of Elmhurst as an option this year for her....she didn't elaborate why but they boy/girl ratio may well be part of it.

 

Good luck to everyone who is auditioning for a 6th form place at a classical ballet school (or indeed any other!)

 

Trudi

 

Edited for wierd typo!

Edited by Dragonlady
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Yes people do seem to get very worried by the lack of A levels on offer at ENBS, but most of the other schools only offer one full A level anyway and even though you can do more at some places (e.g. Tring), I think it would be a huge commitment to try to do more than one alongside full time dance training.

 

Also, all the schools do the National Vocational Qualifications as part of the DaDa funding and so students do come out with a qualification equivalent to an honours degree if they complete all 3 years (foundation degree for 2 years).

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I too was worried about the lack of 'A' levels at ENBS, however we initially decided to home study 'A' levels, but on speaking to the Head of Academics at ENBS, she said that if they complete 2 years training, they will come out with a level 5 qualification and on completion of 3 years they come out with a level 6, which is as Ribbons says the equivalent to an honours degree. 'A' levels are only level 3. She also informed me that students who had left in the past for various reasons, she had managed to secure places for them a University, with some studying medicine, physiotherapy and law degrees.

 

Hope this helps.

LTD

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My parents have told me I'm only allowed to audition at schools that run a-levels and have boarding as they don't want me living alone, I find this quite limiting though. What is living in the hostels like?

Can't answer the question about hostels but it would be extremely unlikely that you'd end up living alone,you are very likely to find yourself sharing with other dance students.

 

Have to sympathise with your parents though as we felt the same about ds. Do as much research as you can and get your parents involved too so its not such a mystery to them!

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Like LTD's daughter, my daughter is loving her first year of ENBS. She has to travel over an hour to her lodgings...which she is happy to do to be where she is. They seem to have a lot of work to do at home so I am not sure that A levels are sensible alongside their already very long day. As LTD says, if they finish the course, they end up with a very high level qualification in an area they want to work in. My dd did well at Tring in her GCSEs but was happy to say goodbye to traditional 'academic' subjects.

 

Good luck to everyone auditioning for 6th form places this year. :)

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So lovely to hear that the girls are enjoying their times at ENB and I do have to agree with Kiwimum, full time dance training on top of accademics is huge. Although my daughter also did extremely well in her GCSE's at Tring, we also decided that we did not want her to do one or two A levels on top of the degree, as we wanted her to enjoy her dancing and to adjust to living in London. Rememer also, to get into a good university you need to have three stong A levels with a good grade.

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My parents have told me I'm only allowed to audition at schools that run a-levels and have boarding as they don't want me living alone, I find this quite limiting though. What is living in the hostels like?

Hi Pointytoes22. My DD loves living in the all girls hostel and all but 2 of the girls in her year are staying there, as after I had reserved her a place, they seemed to co-ordinate this over Facebook, where they all got to know each other before starting in September. It's a really old building, but very clean and well equiped and in a fantastic location and has 24 hours security. Just last night, they were watching the 007 Bond Premiere Red Carpet event from outside their front door and then their bedroom windows as they are next door to The Royal Albert Hall. My DD fortunately knew girls already at ENBS moving into their 3rd year and asked where they lived and for advice and the majority of them are staying at this hostel too, so we knew before she went there that it must be ok if girls aged 18/19, still wanted to live there. It's seems like a boarding school atmosphere, as the hostel puts all the ENBS girls on the same floor. They all travel to school together, even the older girls and all look after each other. My DD was nervous about having to do her own washing, but they all club together and help each other out. It seems like one big family, which for me as a parent is very reassuring.

 

I am not sure if your parents are aware that there are not many sixth forms that have boarding facilities, only RBS (where the 1st year house is not in a very nice location and a long and cramped tube journey into Covent Garden, however the 2nd and 3rd year lodgings are in Covent Garden) and Elmhurst only board you for the first year, then you have to find your own flat. I suggest to really do your research with your parents and seek advice from as many people as you can, especially on here and also call the schools. They are all very helpful.

 

I hope this helps you and good luck.

LTD :)

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Thank you for all the replies. As someone else has commented on a different post - year 11 and the choices the dancers have to make is a very stressfull one for all concerned.

 

I will show this thread to my DH as he is very concerned about both the living in London bit as well as the academic side.

 

The DaDa issue is also confusing as several schools direct us to the Government website but we are then directed back to the schools for the figures involved in the 'means tested' bit. Does anyone have an idea how to find this info on the schools own wesites? We are looking at ENB and Elmhurst in particular. I have no idea what the lower and upper limits for pay/contributions are and feel this knowledge would aid quite a bit in the decision making process!

 

Trudi

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I'm not sure that the details for DADA awards have been finalised yet for the schools to be even able to provide the information yet. I saw this on another website discussion of the future of DADAs but do not know its original source as it was posted as a quote.

 

"The Department for Education (DfE) has responsibility for student support for 16-18 year olds and responsibility for post-19 student support resides with the Department for Business Innovation and Skills (BIS).

 

DfE and BIS have confirmed that changes will be made to the scheme with effect from 2013/14 and are currently working with existing DaDA providers to develop detailed scheme arrangements.

Changes to the scheme will be based on the following key principles:

 

- all students will be income assessed to determine the level of support that will be provided for the costs of fees and maintenance;

- local administration arrangements (providers will receive and manage an allocation of funding for fees and maintenance support; providers will undertake student income assessments);

- income assessment bands and levels of support will be set nationally.

 

 

BIS will continue to support adults undertaking performing arts training. The Department is currently considering future funding arrangements and have confirmed that they wish the EFA to include provision for adults as part of this exercise.

 

Summary of the Approved Supplier Application timetable

A summary of the planned timetable for the Approved Supplier process for the Dance and Drama Awards 2013/14 is given in the table below.

 

Date Milestone

24 August 2012 Details of Approved Supplier Application published

12 October 2012 (12 noon) Closing date for submission of completed Approved Supplier Applications

14 December 2012 Providers notified of outcome of Approved Supplier Application (Providers will be notified earlier if possible)

 

The above dates are current at the time of publication and may change. If any significant change occurs the applicant may be given a comparable altered time to respond."

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  • 4 weeks later...

Does anyone at ENBS know if the boys' accommodation is similar to the girls' ? DS auditioning for 2013 / 14 courses and living arrangements are a huge concern for us as he's not really very streetwise (always dancing so no time to go "out and about" ! ). Is accommodation arranged through the school once any offer is accepted ?

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Does anyone at ENBS know if the boys' accommodation is similar to the girls' ? DS auditioning for 2013 / 14 courses and living arrangements are a huge concern for us as he's not really very streetwise (always dancing so no time to go "out and about" ! ). Is accommodation arranged through the school once any offer is accepted ?

Hi Dancer's Driver, if you call the school they will send you through a list of their recommended hostels etc, with quotes from students as to what they think about each one on offer. I did this last year before applying, so that I could do some research. They are very helpful.

Hope this helps.

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