Would you, or do you allow your DC do things which might impact on their education?

[wordfactory]

Just want to pick people's brains really.

DD (yr 9) has been asked to audition for a west end show. If she got the part it would mean quite a bit if time away from school and that worries me.

Does anyone else have DC who have done somehting like this or perhaps take part in sport or somehting else that has meant absences from school?

What do people think?

[wordfactory]

Oh dear, is it that bad bonsoir ?

I must admit that part of the reason I feel reluctant is that DD's school really is fab.

[Bonsoir]

None of our children's schools are bad - it's just that progress is so painfully slow at school versus when the children do things outside school. It's startling to behold! School seems such a very inefficient concept...

[weegiemum]

My ds (10) is a very talented runner. He does athletics in summer, cross country in winter. He's won national championships in both.

The deal is we take him to competitions, we get up at scary o'clock to train, we take him to training and local meets that he has to get through to go to nationals. In return, he goes to school, does all homework, catches up (within the week) if a meet means missing school.

School are supportive, but ds is very compliant and does his best.

He's also magically good on piano (distinctions in exams so far) and I'm worried what will happen when piano meets running!

Also worry about my 2 dds. They're also bright, happy, talented kids (dd1 in art, dd2 in running and music too) and I don't want them to feel left out.

[picturesinthefirelight]

Dd has been in panto and a touring Musicsl but as both were short term and close to home she didn't require tutoring

Yes she missed done school but soon caught up

For the west end everything is monitored. You don't have to provide a tutor - the company will do it. Jo Hawes (Matilda & Charlie) Pippa Ailion (Billy Elliot) and Jessica Ronane can't remember which she does are great and will give you loads if info if your child gets through to the end.

If its sn M25 only show then there will be a lot of work for you in terms of travel as they live at home. If its Charlie or title role of Matilda or Debbie in Billy then they board with chaperones.

Because they are tutored in small groups children font tend to get behind.

[wordfactory]

pictures thank you for all that information.

We have a flat in London where we spend part of the week anyway as DS goes to school there. DD can at least come home there rather than travelling back to our main home outside London.

DS will be largely unaffected.

bonsoir I think many home educators would agree with you . Tiem for school here in the UK? Or too young?

[Startail]

Yes, part of Y9 is spent doing subjects you don't do for GCSE, PE, PHSE and RE which is pretty pointless at any age.

There are really good revision books and online resources now.

It's far easier to catch up now than when we were at school, go for it!

[Bonsoir]

Oh gosh no, not more school!!! I might stop school altogether and take off around the world for a year or go and live on a Greek island or something!

[slartybartfast]

education is not just school based.

[picturesinthefirelight]

An at work posting on phone so had to be brief but www.notapushymum.com is a good website

[wordfactory]

star yes.

DD currently soends quite a lot of the school day doing art, cookery, design and music which she won't do for GCSE. She also does sport every day.

Now I'm not saying that these aren't great things. They certainly ensure she's challenged and well rounded, but on balance I think they could be sacrificed for am experience like this.

[picturesinthefirelight]

A girl who used to go to dd's dance school is in Billy at the moment but she now goes to Sylvia young full time.

[5madthings]

sounds like a fabulous opportunity, go for it :)

[Bonsoir]

A friend of mine took her two DCs out of school in the French equivalents of Y5 and Y8 and went to live on a Greek island. Her son passed his bac with > 18/20 and is quadrilingual (French, German, English, Modern Greek) and is doing very academic studies. So it doesn't seem to have had a negative impact!

[wordfactory]

Next thing I'm wondering is if DD would need an agent.

As a writer I wouldn't be without mine. Do actors need them too?

[picturesinthefirelight]

For children 90% of theatre castings are open calls dealt with via specialist child casting directors like Jo Hawes.

You do need sn agent if you want to go for tv, film & commercials.

Dd has never had an agent as she's only interested in theatre.

[losingtrust]

My dd who was in year 3 had a part in a play but only had four shows a week as kids mixed up. It was a great experience for her and one she will not forget. Did not impact on her studies and school really supportive as enrichment activity.did not count her time out as absence. Would do it again but only for a short time as I was required to chaperone and needed to get license plus time off work. It gives them a wonderful experience and her professionalism really impressed me plus the discipline invoked.

[losingtrust]

My dd is with the stagecoach agency.

[HullyEastergully]

god yes.

School work takes five mins if done one to one (with you/anyone) and there is so much more to education that the classroom.

[losingtrust]

It's also good for their cv? What am interesting bit of work experience.

[picturesinthefirelight]

Am considering Stagecoach agency next year but not sure.

I'm already a chaperone , I really enjoy it. The last thing dd did the company had a policy of where possible patents not chaperoning their own children so I did the older chorus.

[mathanxiety]

Sounds like a potentially fabulous horizon-expanding experience.

[saintlyjimjams]

What age? Ds1 took part in a professional production that involved missing school. He was one of 3 kids in the production and learned so much. The adult actors were wonderful with him and my little boy who started school almost too shy to speak happily spent about an hour on stage in front of 1300 people each night.

He did get VERY tired though, and very emotional when it finished. We don't live anywhere near London so don't have a lot of opportunities but I would let him do it again. He did audition for a touring west end show (got through to the final round but wasn't height matched) which would have finished a week before the eleven plus - I was sort of relieved he didn't get it knowing how tired he had been in his first show. i didn't let him audition for one which would have meant being away shortly before the 11 plus.

So if it isn't near exams I'd say go for it.

[saintlyjimjams]

Oh parents weren't allowed to chaperone ds1's show. So I dropped and picked up. Some days he had two performances (fairly short performance so allowed). The chaperones were lovely.

[LIZS]

I would up to year 9 but probably not beyond without very serious consideration and discussion with school. It is a huge commitment though, having come across several children doing similar, but need n't be too problematic educationally. We live relatively close to London and many shoes will only consider kids livng within M25 area. There would presumably be an extended period of rehearsals beforehand which in itself could be disruptive. She may only be booked to perform for 2 or 3 shows a week but need to be in the theatre as understudy at other times, so several late nights a week. After a few months licencing means that they have to stop for a period and may not be invited to return to the same show (perhaps having grown too tall) so she needs to enjoy it while she can.

[FastLoris]

Look at it this way:

If she's not sure whether she would want to be a professional actress, then what better way to find out than to be in professional shows and meet the people actually doing it? Far better way of making an educated decision than most kids' experience of being a big fish in a small pond and thinking it's always going to be like that.

It will probably be all glitzy and exciting at first, but then she'll also see the amount of work involved, maybe talk to adults who have more balanced stories to tell, meet plenty of other kids who are better than her and see how hard it is. Then if that's what she wants to do, she at least knows what she's taking on.

Specialist music, dance and performing arts schools often get surprisingly goo academic grades. On the on hand the kids are spending a lot of time practising or performing, but on the other hand that might actually do a lot more for the brain than the usual combination of watching TV then begrudingly reading a textbook. Or maybe the kids just have to be pretty smart to perform at that level in the first place.

This is a no brainer. It's not like they learn much of any importance at school anyway.