Current Project: Dancing To Learn

25th March 2009 Year 6 Dancing to Learn Literacy St Paul\'s CE Primary School, Nuneaton - Dance Artist Kath Kimber-McTiffen

< >

Project Description

Dancing to Learn

This is an arts partnership programme that is designed to enhance the attainment in English, Maths & Science, of 516 children in Nuneaton and Bedworth Primary schools through dance. County Music Service is working alongside us on a complementary music strand to the project. In order to qualify for the ‘Local Public Agreement’ funding, we have agreed to ‘stretched’ targets for the number of children gaining level 4 or higher in the 2009 SATS.

Children will become better learners and their attainment will be improved by:
• Exploring and expressing their observations, memory and imagination through dance

• Interpreting and articulating their thoughts and feelings through dance

• Developing personally and socially through individual and shared dance activities

• Using the codes and conventions of dance to support their confidence and understanding in other areas of learning

Artists will support better learning and improved attainment by:
• Exploring, with teachers, opportunities for integrating dance activity with learning in English, Mathematics and Science

• Exploring with teachers, dance activities according to the differentiated needs of pupils

• Leading pupils and staff in dance activities that can be developed and sustained independently

The school will support better learning and improved attainment by:
• Monitoring the impact of dance led activities on children’s progress in English, Mathematics and Science

• Working with artists to identify the key principles in using dance to enhance teaching and learning

• Sustaining dance led learning between and beyond the artist led sessions

• Artists and teachers together will devise a model for sustainable dance-led learning that can be used in other primary schools

Seven professional dancers are providing workshops for the schools twice termly for each of 19 classes and principles and practice from these artist led sessions are being developed and sustained by the schools between artists visits. Over the course of the project teachers, working in partnership with the artists, will identify the impact on their pupil’s attainment of dance activities. Artists and teachers together will identify the principles involved so that teachers can apply these to the distinct needs of their pupils. The 2009 results of national tests in English, Mathematics and Science will be correlated with pupil’s experience of dance, to establish.