The 4+ Assessment is like a Ballet.

Yesterday I went to the Royal Opera House to watch Maddaddam. It was exceptional.

As I was watching this masterpiece I started thinking about my dear clients and my beautiful students who are currently going through their 4+ Assessments. As I was watching the ballet, I started to think about how much the 4+ is like a ballet.

The 4+ Assessment is a performance. The 4+ Assessment is a beautiful performance and the show your child puts on will determine how successful they will be.

The dancers on the stage were so incredibly talented and as I was watching them I imagined how many hours/ days/ weeks/ months they had been practising together for this performance. It was obvious that they had been practising for months and months and months. Meeting every single day to practise and perfect every single turn, plie and lift. No way were they able to do that with just a few days/weeks practise. The performance that they gave was 100% something that they had been rehearsing every single tedious day for a very… long… time. That’s when I started having visions of my little students who meet with me every single week for 12-15 months. My little students who wake up every morning and do some practise. Just like those incredible dancers.

You don’t have any sort of success overnight. It takes time, resilience and dedication.

Then there was the part where one of the ballerinas didn’t land ever so perfectly and I could see the look of despair in her eyes. It wasn’t what she wanted. Those dancers on that stage are there to give the performance of their lives. And any little error will be noticed by someone. Just like the 4+. An error could cost my students their chance of passing their 4+ Assessments. For example - not following the instruction or refusing to do something that they were asked to do.

Think on the 4+ Assessment like a ballet. You want your child to be successful then they need to show up every single day for a very… long … time and not just for a few months before their Assessment. They need to show up and give the performance of their lifetime. Not just show up and do what is expected.