Are we going in the right track

A place to talk about full time schools and post 16 training.

Moderator: busybusybusy

Post Reply
barmby1234
BRIT Award
Posts: 52
Joined: Sun Mar 01, 2015 6:24 pm

Are we going in the right track

Post by barmby1234 »

My son loves musical theatre. People say he has a talent for singing and performing. He is currently in a local theatre show as we speak. He is in a drama group also.He is in year 8 at the moment. Where do I go from here if he really wants to do this in the future. I panic thinking should he be in a residential performing school now, should he be applying to the colleges for the future etc etc, I feel confused because I don't know if we are doing everything to help him follow his passion for music and singing. My inner feeling is that he needs his education and for me this is so important prior to the Drama side.(Perhaps there are colleges etc that provide education plus learning about Musical Theatre) Would I be right in thinking this. How good would that be...Or do I stay with sixth form then college. I get so confused with all the options available. Yes I know he is only thirteen but I feel some planning is necessary. Someone mentioned a London Summer School where they get some experience but I know there is a long waiting list and it is expensive. Any advice or help would be so much appreciated.
lotsolaffs
BAFTA Award
Posts: 520
Joined: Wed Jul 02, 2014 6:22 pm

Re: Are we going in the right track

Post by lotsolaffs »

I felt like you a few years ago,look back through as many posts on here as you can and you will find that there is so much information. Everyone has had different experiences with their children but only you know what will work out best for your son. I would just let him carry on enjoying what he is doing,maybe see if there are any auditions coming up for pantomime or local productions,maybe see if he wants to join a dance class or two?
mrs_lovett
GRAMMY Award
Posts: 181
Joined: Sat Nov 03, 2012 10:13 pm

Re: Are we going in the right track

Post by mrs_lovett »

My DD is a similar age and I have the same worries as she is so keen on doing MT in the future-she has been involved in literally show after show from the age of 6 and does 12 hours dance/gymnastics a week but recently I have really been encouraging her to just have fun, chill out and enjoy being a child as it just all seemed too pressured. I think training is important but if they do too much they can really be turned off what they love. I'm also a fan of them having a 'normal' education and making absolutely sure it's what they want before committing to full time training. It's such a difficult career choice I think you just have to go with the flow a little and hope their talent will shine through when the time comes, if it's right for them. Good luck to your ds x
User avatar
Caroline A-C
BAFTA Award
Posts: 716
Joined: Sun Oct 26, 2008 6:46 pm

Re: Are we going in the right track

Post by Caroline A-C »

There are quite a few schools that offer an education in performing alongside an academic education but it is not necessary to go to these schools. I have a ds who just did a local part time performing arts school (once a week). He was at the local comprehensive and then did his BA in MT at Arts Ed. I have a dd who went to Tring Park School and is now doing a BTec in performing arts at a local sixth form college before applying to do straight drama next year. I can't honestly say that one route was better than the other and by not going to a full time performing arts school you are by no means limiting your dc's future careers. At the end of the day, I think it is personal preference. There are plenty of things your dc's can do outside of school such as the dance side of things, singing lessons, local youth theatre/am dram. I do remember my ds saying that there were fewer people on his course who had been to performing arts schools than not. If you really want to send your dc to a performing arts school I would recommend you look at both the performing arts side as well as their academic successes as this is where a lot of the schools differ quite drastically.
All new to me!
islandofsodor
OSCAR Award
Posts: 1162
Joined: Sun Apr 01, 2007 10:09 pm

Re: Are we going in the right track

Post by islandofsodor »

I have a daughter in year 10 at full time vocational school and a son in year 8 at a normal school so have experience of both options.

The reason we decided to send dd to vocational school was that although she wants to do musical theatre she is taking the dancer/singer route. We were struggling to fit in enough dance classes locally at the right level, especially in ballet and with the bursary she got it worked out better financially for us. She does attend several summer schools, usually to work on technique/help keep her fitness up over the long summer holidays and now she is getting older she uses them as an opportunity to see some of the colleges she might wish to apply to later. She needs a very high level of dance to apply to these places.

Ds is more of a singer/actor. He would not cope with going away to school and although last year he did our local rep theatre 3 day summer course when I asked if he wanted to go on a residential like his sister he was horrified. He attends a singing and drama class and is a member of a local youth amdram group.
biscuitsneeded
BAFTA Award
Posts: 622
Joined: Sun Jul 06, 2014 6:28 pm

Re: Are we going in the right track

Post by biscuitsneeded »

Have DS in Year 7 and am asking the same questions. We can't afford vocational school and he is happy in local comp. I have been assured that not doing Tring, for example, is not a problem.DS has done professional panto and local good quality am dram, and he's doing a second year of NYMT this summer which I can't praise highly enough. It sounds like just the right sort of thing for your DS and he would meet lots of older kids who can tell him how they went about getting into drama schools post 18. It's incredible training and many participants go on to make a career in musical theatre. Mine also does part time theatre school and two ballet classes a week, and has started kick start boys dance at Tring which is one Sunday a month if you are anywhere not too far away. Once his voice breaks I will be looking at getting him regular singing lessons but at the moment we've been advised he can afford to wait until then. The other thing I am trying to do is start thinking now about how we might finance vocational training post 18 if that's still what he wants to do by then. Rather than throwing every last penny at theatre school now, I suspect that saving for his future training might be the best option for us. Hope that helps!
barmby1234
BRIT Award
Posts: 52
Joined: Sun Mar 01, 2015 6:24 pm

Re: Are we going in the right track

Post by barmby1234 »

Thank you ever so much for your positive feedback. Stagebox has been mentioned many times and my son has shown interest in this. Is this worth considering at all.
Post Reply