NotaPushyMum.Com

Hi Everyone!
I am new to the forum so please excuse me if this post is in the wrong place.
My DD has just been offered a place on the TA course at Tring. I was wondering if anyone has any experience of this course and if it is worth the fees being charged? Unfortunately we didn't go to an open day so never really got a chance to see the pupils 'at work'. Taking this place would mean downsizing so we are thinking about this very carefully. I'd be grateful for any comments.

Hi my dd has also applied for the Theatre Arts course for Year 9 but not for the scholarship, she hasn't had a letter yet saying whether she has been offered a place when did you hear?

Hello and welcome. My friends dd has been in Tring since last year and is very happy she is 13 but it is ever so expensive. Do you really want to downsize so that your dd can go to this school, it all sounds a bit much. My dd is very talent but I dont think I would consider downsizing my home for her to go to an expensive school like Tring (but thats only my view) ! Surely there are lots of really good schools she could attend when she is older, sorry I am not sure how old your dd is but I am sure her talent will shine through irrelevant of what school she attends. Good luck and I hope things work out for you and all your familly.

Hi nanas star,
We got a phone call the day after the auditions to offer DD a place. I'm sure this was only so quick as scholarship auditions were the following week. I was told that letters offering the scholarships would be sent out in 2 weeks time, if that's any help. Were you one of us 'polite' parents waiting to be invited to help ourselves to refreshments? HAHA. Best of luck, hope you hear soon.

Hi Bruno2,
Thanks for your welcome! DD is 11. We are thinking about downsizing, if the training is good, as the way we look at it, our money will eventually go to the children anyway and we are loathe for her to miss this opportunity. The choice has been made more difficult because she has been offered a place at a very good comp as well. Will let you know how we get on.

I have known 3 children go to Tring, though all entered in year 9. They have all loved it and done very well, though the oldest is now on same post 18 Laines course as friends of hers who carried on at her ordinary comprehensive school!!! I suppose the point is if talented you can succeed whichever route you take.

Hi Welsh Mum
Thanks for that, yes I do agree that things generally do sort themselves out. I love this site, it's so good to be able to have the opinions of others who have similar interests!

Personally I would continue with excellent local training and doing us many shows etc as possible to help my children continuing to shine - I think if you give up your home etc and your child changes her mind and career path later on as she is only 13/14 now then that could cause a lot of stress and disappointment for all -

what is her specialist area is it dance drama or singing or a mixture of all 3 ?? the reason I ask is that if you look into spending the same money locally you may be amazed in how much local one to one training your daughter can grow with as said before they all end up competing for the same post 16 / 18 courses however i would say if a child wants to achieve high in ballet then you need to specialise as early as possible however i used to work with someone who atte nded whitelodge from 11 - 16 and decided to train in a non dance career ... so we cant predict what they will end up doing ...

Hi Fizzy, did you say your dd was only 11 ? What does you dh and other members of the family think including your dd ?

Hi songbird
Thanks for your thoughts (My DD is 11). Luckily our downsizing would not be as drastic as it may have come across (just moving to another house in the next street).
One of the things that attracted us to Tring was the good academic standards (in the event DD does change her mind re career). Another was that it is a commutable distance for us (I know SY and IC are considerably cheaper but the travelling would be impossible for us).
DDs strengths are drama and singing. She has never had ballet or tap lessons. I do agree with your point about local one to one training.

Hi bruno2
Yes DD is 11. Well the whole family were delighted at DD being offered a place and my DH is wholeheartedly behing DD going there, as is my teenage DS. My DD would love to go there but knows that she is fortunate to have a place at a good comp to fall back on. She is very sensible and would be ok with carrying on her part-time drama classes if she doesn't go to Tring.

Sounds like you are all united on this one and what ever decision you come too it will be the right one ! Good luck. I didnt realise you dont have to dance to get into Tring, my dd also loves Drama and Singing but have been told its good to do some dance.

I live locally to Tring and the school dd is at presently have highly recommended it to us. I know of a fair amount of children who have moved there from other schools and all of them are incredibly happy. The academic standards are high and I must admit this did appeal to us too - in the event we are moving to Somerset as we have found a school which is just right for dd and ds, I would say 50% of the people we tell think we're mad and the other 50% wish they could do it too. In the end you have to do what is right for all of you as a family. We do have the odd wobble especially as we'll be out of the M25 ring but have decided that we had to do what was right for all of us.

Hi Bruno, Although my dd doesn't do ballet or tap, she does 1hour per week contemporary dance at her p/t theatre arts class. She has always been a naturally talented dancer and at the audition she was complimented on how quickly she picked up the routine (makes me wonder now why I never took her to ballet/tap!) We were told the children had to 'shine' in 2 out of the 3 disciplines to gain a place.

Hi Manicmum, It's good to know that the school is well regarded locally. Wish you and your family lots of luck with your move to Somerset - Lucky You!

One more thought. My DDs friend was offered a place 3 years ago at Arts Ed (post 16)but did not get a DaDa. Her parents re-mortgaged their home to finance it. I remember remarking to my DD that in the same boat we would not do that - she said she would never want us to, the extra strain of knowing that would be unbearable for her, and that she would feel terrible if she didn't "make it" if we had made this sort of sacrifice. This sort of thing can be burden as well as a blessing!! Just thought I'd mention it.

Hi Welsh Mum, We'd be willing to downsize because we don't see it as a sacrifice as our dd would benefit from it and it really wouldn't make much difference to us as a family. We certainly wouldn't be expecting her to build her career around it to please us (in fact a quarter of the pupils at Tring go on to have conventional careers). At the end of the day she would have the chance to reach her full potential and it would all add more strings to her bow, whatever career she chose, however I do understand that everyone looks at these things differently.

Hi there, am new to NAPM replies but have been reading with interest. We considered Tring for DS as he had shown excellent drama and singing talent (according to primary school) but didn't take it too seriously (as we feel strongly that the academic route needs to be fullfilled), however on his 1st audition he got a part in a west end show. I have a friend who is a house parent at tring so was able to seek out genuine answers to my questions. It is very dance led as a school - which may suit some more than others. For our part, although it is a mixed school it only has around 30 boys in the "whole" school age range. We felt this was a little small for or DS, who enjoys sport and this would not be enough for a team of anything much in one age range. That said we would consider it again at 6th form level. We looked around locally for something that would offer similar drama/singing/modern dance and have found a drama academy close by his secondary school, which he goes to on Sat afternoons - resulting in an agent taking him on. Incidentally his drama school is run by an ex pupil of Tring. The opportunites are out there locally and not always as expensive as the fees at specialist schools. That said, scholarships always help.. Best of luck.