Muffy:Hi Muffy, I shared your concerns when my DD was considering taking up offer.Hello all,
Am new here and a little anxious for my kiddie. My child has been shortlisted for the upcoming TA. I read that for most Dance students, there will not be much time (nor energy) for outside dance classes. This would mean that the kids will not be able to finish their RAD syllabus once they decide to join SOTA. In applications to other dance schools (post SOTA or even for summer schools) etc, most ask for their level of dance qualification. How then do the other dance schools take to such disruption viz-a-viz SOTA dance education? How would their disrupted/unfinished RAD learning impact the kids' dance future? Does it mean that they would need to complete their syllabus post SOTA? Would love to hear from past, present and future parents and students. Thank you.
Personally, I feel that the kids in dance still have time to dance out of sch...it's matter of time management and child's ability to cope with Sec sch load. My dd and many of her friends still do dance outside (normal ballet classes, additional jazz or contemporary, and competitions). Some have stopped outside dance classes for other reasons too.
Hours for lower years at SOTA don't differ that much from mainstream Sec sch. They have 2 longer days which is equivalent to CCA days at mainstream sch, lessons end on average abt 230-3ish...still very much like mainstream sch. Of coz their days can be longer in other years when they have rehearsals for performances etc (but still similar to other sch preparing for SYF!). So I would say that it's manageable for one to continue with outside dance classes if one really wants to...and that some will quit these outside classes even if they can't cope in mainstream sch.
As for summer sch applications, am sure you can contact Ruby of CSTD on what to put for grade. Definitely still possible to join coz my DD has friends who joined even in SOTA, even in upper yrs.
As for dance qualifications, you have to think of what the end goal really is. If you just want to collect certifications for whatever reason, then just going to any other sch and continuing with classes outside will be enough. If becoming a performer is the goal, then certs aren't important. They will get places via auditions rather than certification.
Hope that helps!
I'm a current dance student here at Sota and Sota really is an amazing school and we all love it here. Sure, it can be really tiring especially since we have showcases and performances coming up so we have more rehearsals, but the environment here is really amazing and things seem so vibrant here. And as for dance, classes are really great as well. The teachers here are really caring and they honestly help you improve so much. I think the best choice I made was coming to Sota (although it wasn't exactly a choice - I've been wanting to come here since I was Primary 2 so to get that CO it was a dream come. I was so happy I cried hahaha) there's the 2015 Cohort and Parent Engagement coming up soon and you'll get to have your first class here, among other things. Hope you accept the offer because it's really one of a kind and I've enjoyed it so much