Boarding School with strong drama

[HKMum2]

We live in Hong Kong and my DD is asking to go to the UK and board, she wants to 'further her drama'. She's regularly on stage in Hong Kong having performed as Brigitta in Andrew Lloyd Webber's touring production of Sound of Music, has played many leads such as Little Red, Jemima in Chitty Chitty and is about to play Eliza Dolittle.
Sylvia Young and Italia Conti don't do boarding if i understand correctly so am looking for an academic school with very strong drama facilities and contacts. Google can only provide so much so would love to hear from other Mummy's, thank you!

Redroofs in Maidenhead although not sure if boarding.

Tring Park is the most academic. 14 is not a good time to move though as it's right when they start their GCSEs.

They do, however, do a lot of holiday courses which might be an option in the meantime? Would give her a taste of what the school and boarding is like before coming to the UK full time at 16? Tring Park has a very high success rate at getting students into top theatre schools / universities at 18. A move at 16 also eliminates the child licensing problem, although I am not sure the school lets them perform whilst studying.

Tring is a great location for both Heathrow and central London too so transport logistics would be a doddle.

Sorry, should also add that performance work for 14 year olds, is like gold dust. They will get a 16 year old who doesn't need a licence to "play down" as they have no limits on the number of hours they can work or the hassle that goes with getting licenced. Another plus point for moving at 16 instead of right now?

Thanks Zodlebud, i'd be more happy with her moving at 16 too and she is a very young looking 14 at the moment so let's hope that continues.

It might be worth your looking into state boarding (info in this link: stateboarding.org.uk ) assuming your DD has a full British passport, not BN(O).

Also, do you have family or close friends here who would be her guardian? If so, where? Because choosing a boarding school they can reach (for her exeats, plus for going to things like school productions) might be an advantage.

I think it would be worth your looking at both Oakham and Uppingham, both good schools with a enough boarders to make a good community (U more than O, but enough in both) and with good drama departments and facilities.

We already have a DD in the UK at boarding school and that choice was easy however this DD is a totally different story ;-) and we wouldn't have it any other way.

Hi HKmum2, you might want to contact these people: www.boardingschoolsandcolleges.com they will be able to give you some advice and help you process the application too. From what I understand their services are free :-)
Best of luck!

Italia conti has children that board locally.

What about Brighton college. Not a drama school but an academic school with strong drama. Has boarding. Not sure how many full boarders. Easy access to airports especially Gatwick

Sylvia Young have families that take children who board

Hurtwood House is more expensive than Eton £15k per term. Tring equally is very expensive. Neither I don't think will let you work.

When you say your DD is a young looking 14 year old does that mean she is very short. I only ask as dd had loads of work till she grew taller than 4ft 11" then apart from a few voice overs nothing.

One thing to bear in mind is that the performing arts schools are already a long way through the audition process for entry this coming September, so you have probably missed the boat by now.

I would take a look at Cheltenham Ladies. They used to have a strong Arts group with dance, theater and music. They have somewhat strong academics. I don't know if their arts is as good as it used to be.

Dauntseys School in Wiltshire has a very strong drama department, with connections with London's West End.

Academically good, but not exceptional, if that's really important to you.

www.dauntseys.org/drama-1

Or go to a giid academic school with strong drama .. lots of in school experience ...and be well prepared for drama school entry at 18 or Oxbridge if that's in your capability and go on to do masters after...

20 years ago I would have said Sevenoaks. Not sure if it's still the case, so I'll see if anyone else agrees with me!

Bryanston in Dorset used to have a reputation for being very strong in the arts but I don't know if this is still the case. When I was there, there were several children of well known actors /actresses.

Seven oaks used to be excellent academically but they were known for being good for very bright children. If your DD isn't in the IQ range of 125+ it might be a struggle (based on how they used to operate).

Also seven oaks had a good drama department back in the day.

Woldingham , Epsom or Benenden ?

Oundle School - excellent academics, own theatre - The Sthall, with professional crew & close to London for auditions & other productions.

Good drama department & while not brilliantly strong academically the girls do well.

Sorry forgot to say Queenswood school!

OP, if part of your DD's plan to further her drama includes continuing to perform professionally in child roles, I would suggest staying in Hong Kong for the time being. She is more likely to be cast in productions at home where she is known to casting directors and creatives than by trying to enter the UK performing world at 14. Most West End shows involving children have an upper age limit of 14 (in addition to the usual height limit of 4'10"). She might get TV or film work, but as others have said above, UK performing regulations mean that it is less hassle for productions to hire 16+ year olds who can play down. Under-16s are also required by law to be chaperoned to and from any performing commitments when working under licence, so you would need to arrange this if your DD was at boarding school and no family was on hand to chaperone.

Of the schools you mention in you OP, Sylvia Young and Italia Conti do both offer "host family" type boarding arrangements. However, both are academically non-selective (though SY is more academic than Italia, if GCSE results are anything to go by), and SY ends at Year 11.

In your shoes, I would probably look for a UK boarding school for sixth form entry for your DD. If you decide to look for a performing arts school, Tring Park has a good academic and vocational reputation.

I agree you should go for sixth form as moving her at this stage will be disruptive. If you want a proper balance between academics and performance the performing arts schools (Laine, Tring, Italia Conti etc) are not your thing. She will end up with vocational qualifications which may be a barrier to Higher education down the line. Tring do offer A levels but when you study the results they are really are not good which tells me the teaching is not good and/or the academic work is treated as more of a sideline.

Bedales, Frensham Heights and Hurtwood House offer a balance of "proper" A levels and performance experience and education.

At 16 you could try Arts Ed they do A levels as well as BTEC if I remember rightly. Girls and boys at that age live in shared flats.

They do schooling from age 11 but I don't think they do boarding.