Brit School reserve list - please HELP!

[bigel]

Hi... My DS applied for the y10 music strand and we were thrilled to get an audition.. then a long wait and we are on the reserve list. Im devastated but he still thinks he is going to get in. Does anyone have any experience of the reserve list for Music? Does it move? I can see how the lists for drama and musical theatre would do as there are other schools which offer it, but there's nothing like it for music. If its hopeless I guess I will have to come up with some ways of softening the blow... Please help if you have any info. xxxx

Hello JaneAustinAllegro! Thanks so much for this post... both of ours are aged 14 and in search of a place to do GCSEs plus performing arts, so ELAM and BIMM are not in play yet - but Im certainly going to be looking at both in 18 months or so when it comes time to find a place for sixth form. Thanks so much again xxx

Feeling very low. Its so hard to move on considering my daughters school don't offer any performing arts subjects as an option. She's very sporty so chose PE as her option. Just got a letter saying she hasn't been offered that option as there wasn't much interest in it to make up a class so they have taken it off the curriculum !!!! She's been offered Art & Design instead ! Through no fault of her own, bless her she's not getting to do what she wants as a career ! Cheer me up please……x

Oh no! that is really rubbish, I'm not surprised you are feeling low. Funny enough I was thinking of you only this morning because I entertained one of those daydreams.. you know the one where the phone goes with good news. Ticked myself off for it afterwards. Im not sure I can cheer you up. Ive had a quick look at term dates and they go back Monday 5th Sept so three weeks on from there is Friday 23rd. So Im going to allow myself to think its still possible up until that date, but no later. Sending love to you both. xx

Hi Bigel.

Have looked online at their website and they go back today. Keep your phone on and fully charged ! Im entertaining your daydream now ! Went away for a few days last week, took a few of my daughters friends with us. She looked so happy playing around with them, that I found myself thinking it didn't matter if she doesn't get in there now as she's happy and has her friend group at her current school. Was thinking what if she went to The Brit and hated it and didn't make any friends ! I don't know, may be it is all working out for the best. Good luck my lovely xxx

Hello ! and thank you for the good luck. He is sort of looking forward to going back to school and I have now bought him some very expensive shoes. But we are still dreaming... reckon if you had a terrible first day yesterday you might get your mum to ring your old school today about whether they can take you back, then you would surely chew it over during the weekend. So I am crossing it all for a phone call early next week, if ever anything at all. xxxx

Hi Bigel. I couldn't help myself so I emailed the school again ! You are right they are looking this week to see if any movement. Fingers crossed. xxx

No phone call yet……...

Thanks Coconutty Yes your right. At least we have done everything possible. She came home from school yesterday really happy as she has now been placed in all the top sets. So maybe it is fete she hasn't got in. Now she's going to concentrate more on the academic side of school and consider options for 6th form x

Ive had Brooke's reserve letter…..full now for the academic year ! Hope you've had more luck Bigel. xx

Hi, my daughter applied for year 10 musical theatre strand and got onto the reserve list - we called the school and they said she was in the top 3 on the list, Seeing as you have called the school a few times, would you know the likelyhood of her getting a place? Good luck to you both :)

I would advise you to appeal. We were number 1 on the reserve list and i was sure she would get a place. They only have 3 reserve places ! NO ONE dropped out and gave up their place. even though i was more or less assured she would get a place as they had used all their reserves the previous year. So she didnt get in, but a girl we know appealed and got in. Good luck

hello brookesr. Here we are again and I am thinking of you today - applying to ACM and BIMM for sixth form. He doesnt want to apply to Brit school again but I might try it. Just wondering how your daughter has got on over the past year and where you guys are at. xxx

Hi Brooesr and Bigel. I'm new here but read with baited breath your messages last and was so sad to see it was bad news for you both.

I too am in the same position this year with DD 1st reserve for KS4 music! However we did appeal which definitely help with a date to focus on rather than constantly waiting for the phone to ring. 2nd audition was last week and now back to the agonising wait!!!

They were hoping to let us know yesterday but still nothing back from the music department so now hoping we'll know by end of next week. Which, if successful, means missing the induction days next week :-(

I hope you're children have recovered from the disappointment and have enjoyed this last year and are looking forward to 6th form choices.

10hmx11 - I hope you're having better luck and you've now got a place

Hi Liongirls! GOOD LUCK and Im hoping that going for the appeal route works out for you. It was really disappointing but has helped DS to grow, he often talks about it in terms of why you should try your best, why you shouldn't give up etc. And if they do all end up trying to work in musical theatre/music the one thing we can bet on is lots and lots of rejections still to come, so I am trying to look at it positively! xxx

Hi Bigel,

Thank you for your lovely message, fingers crossed!

BTW apologies for my terrible typo's in my previous message, I can't find an edit button to amend.

It's a shame your son has been put off from applying again to Brit for post 16, maybe try to get him to reconsider. My DD goes to Brit Kids on Saturdays and from conversations we've had with some of the staff & current pupils, they look very favourably on those who re-apply. "It demonstrates they REALLY WANT to attend Brit, have the dedication and resiliency required" etc. In fact a few have even said pretty much all of those that got auditions at KS4 and re-apply for post 16 get in.

My DD has attended the summer school at ACM for the last 3 years and loves it there too. Maybe your son could attend this years summer school as it will be a great way for him to get to know some of the staff and current pupils as well as getting a feel for the place.

Hi Liongirls,
Thank you so much this is an encouraging thing to hear. We are now out of area (by literally half a mile) so Im not sure he would get an interview, but I will gently encourage him to give it a go.. Thanks so much re ACM, my DS went last year to the performance summer course and had a really good time, I think thats partly why he is so set on it. Shall we get them to look out for each other? Mine is a tall and slightly shy guitarist called George. He's on the August 7th course xx

Hi Bigel,

FYI the Principle at Brit has said they are expanding their catchment area, he couldn't tell me exactly when this will happen or how far it will extend but he implied it would increase considerably. I think maybe this will happen for next year or the year after as he seemed pretty confident it was happening. We are a fair way out of catchment in Surrey, very close to ACM, and he did say the extended catchment area would cover us. So perhaps you will be in area after all.

Is it worthwhile you emailing the school to find out more? Or maybe they have no further news/can't say anything yet but will be able to by the next Open Evening - you can speak with him and there! 😉

Yes DD also at ACM 7th Aug, singing this time, although I'm sure she'll pick up some drum sticks too! Lol
Yes let's definitely look out for each other, my DD blonde curly hair (although being a teenage girl it's usually straightened! 😂)

Oh MY! that is very interesting. I will try and call them tomorrow before they break up and see if it will happen in time for us, we would be going for Sept 18 entry. It always seemed nuts as we are about 30 mins tops away on the train, and not in area whereas you could live a couple of hours away in north or east london and be in area. Great on ACM, I will tell George to look out for her, I don't drop off as its 'too cringe' so he goes by train on his own. xxx

Ha ha, I'm sure I'll be getting that off my DD too this year! Lol

That's crazy you are out of area and only 30 mins away, gutted! Did you manage to find out anymore about the extended catchment area? If so please tell!

We've just had our second chance letter - still first reserve! Absolutely gutted as her second audition was so much better than her first audition.

But as we are out of area and only 2 places available I don't think there was even a chance of gaining a place from 2nd audition. They can only offer 2 places, which were offered already. So I guess we got the best possible outcome - no change! 😩😭😭 I think I'm more disappointed than DD, as she said "we always knew they probably couldn't offer a place, even if they wanted too".

Still she's now broken up for summer, having her nails done as a pressie from me to let her know how proud I am of her. She's got her Brit Kids show tomorrow and then we're off to Italy for a few days, so enough to cheer us up! 😄

We're not going to torture ourselves with "maybe....." Although I'm sure I'll be entertaining your daydream the first few days of term!!😬😬 I know my heart will stop every time the phone rings, or the ping from email! Argh, I'm dreading that

Hi Bigel, I was hoping your son had got in :( . Im really pleased to hear from you though and your experiences to date. Children are so resilient and get on with things. My DD is getting on well at her current school and it turned out I was more devastated than she was ! She is very much like that though, takes things in her stride. She has been keeping busy, doing a few short films, bit of modeling and theatre work - (Hairspray in the summer). She has gone a bit more towards the academic side as well. So she's thinking about staying on and doing A level Biology at her current school, and ,maybe applying for Dance only for 6th form at The Brit School. So she's at a crossroads in her life right now, could go either way ! I will let you know if we apply To Brit school again - Keep us updated on your son.

LIONGIRLS - I so hope your DD gets in. I know the wait is incredibly hard. I spent the entire summer demented ! Had to have my phone charged, contineously looking at the signal ! I feel you pain so much. I emailed the Brit a few times during that period as well, to let them know we were desperate ! They did say that a lot of changes happen over the summer holiday period. It hits the children they wont be going back to their normal school and after spending the summer with their friends they change their mind. So you could very well be getting a call the first week of September. Good luck, and let us know how you get on. xx

Hi Brookesr,

It's so wonderful to hear how well your DD is doing, well done her! Especially with all the extra disappointments she faced over her GCSE options. What a relief it must be for you to see her so happy and even better that she is happy to go down either route for 6th form 😊

We emailed the Brit asking for some feedback to which they responded she had scored very highly and the music department were really impressed with her - this really cheered my DD up no end, but made her want to go there even more! 🙄

Having found out for certain that our suspicions were correct & that she never stood a chance of gaining a place from her 2nd audition as she is "out of area" we considered going down the final appeal option. We felt there may be grounds of "unfair" especially as her letter confirming her place "still on the reserve list" was dated almost 2 weeks before she even had her second audition! Thus proving it was a foregone conclusion!

However I was reluctant to go down that route as my understanding is its a bit of a legal process and we both love the school and I didn't want to cause the school issues especially with DD attending Brit Kids and still desperately wanting to go there for 6th form. So I called the school to try to gagaue the right way forward. As you know they are all really lovely there, said it was an "admin error" on letter 🤔🤔 but also would cause issues for the school. She also said the Director of music very impressed with DD and really wanted to work with her! Such a sad situation - blooming "out of area"!!!!

Anyway we've decided not to go down the final appeal route. She did reiterate DD is first reserve for "out of area" (OoA) and said last year BOTH KS4 music OoA couldn't handle the workload etc. and left! So both OoA reserves got in. I have to say I'm really not sure I believe that!! 100% drop out of OoA?!? REALLY???

Sounds like you were fed the same line last year for your DD too! Obviously I've not told my DD this as I don't want to get her hopes up for something I think is impossible.

Anyway we will see..... Would be nice but like I said my opinion is "no chance!" However I'd love nothing more than to be proved wrong

Hello ladies!
My boy had a very early audition yesterday for ACM, to do a Btec level three in music performance for september 2018.
I was absolutely shocked that they offered him a place on the spot, we have said yes and he is on Cloud 9. He now just has to pass English and Maths GCSE.
He won't consider Brit now, so we won't be seeing you there after all, but perhaps ACM is a better fit as it is only Music.
Oh the look on his face when he came across the car park with a piece of paper in his hand yesterday morning. I could cry with joy now thinking about it! Love to you both, and I hope you get to where you need to be in the end. Please stay in touch! xxx

Bigel Im so pleased for you both. Its fantastic news. Im sure he will love it there. Looks like The Brit have lost out. Please keep in touch how he is doing, so look at this thread from time to time. I will post what my DD decides to do come September, audition for Brit or stay at her own school and study biology.

To be fair the more I look at her, the more I realise she should of auditioned for Dance only year 10 instead of Musical theatre as thats more her passion.

Good luck xxx

Oh my goodness that is so wonderful, I'm so happy for George and you Bigel. Amaaaaaaazing news 😄👏🏼 Well done.

I'm a firm believer of everything happens for a reason and it seems ACM is exactly where George should be. Yayyyy

If memory serves me correctly we get to see them perform on the last day of the summer school at ACM, will you come and watch? If so it will be so wonderful to meet up with you