The dance programme is well established at Linwood Campus. Most classes in the Alma and Early Years phase have a once a week dance session for a full term. These sessions not only work on physical skills but also encourage creativity and using dance as a therapeutic tool. These sessions uniquely also include the theoretical underpinnings of Sensory Integration to help students focus on their motor planning and co-ordination.
Dance is offered on the KS4 Creative Arts programme which runs all year round and also part of the PE curriculum. It often forms part of our RVW (religion and world view) days and included in classroom activities and in our many performances across all the different phases.
At Linwood School, Dance is included in the PE curriculum at Key Stage 1 to Key Stage 3. It is a popular and highly effective way of getting children active and offers a unique medium for creative expression. Linwood School has used the PE and Sport Premium funding to support dance activity and increase the amount and quality of dance that is offered to the students.
Dance combines physical literacy with imagination and creativity and is very useful element in devising cross-curricular work. Through dance students are able to develop:
- Fundamental movement skills and balance, agility and coordination
- Verbal and non-verbal communication of ideas and emotions
- Team working
- Problem solving
- Observing, evaluating skills
With the use of the PE and Sports Premium funding, Linwood School has been able to contract in Emma Greenslade from Say So Dance Company to deliver high quality dance lessons.
Emma believes in the value of dance and theatre and has a passion for sharing dance with our students. Emma has been teaching dance at Linwood School for a number of years where she has been very involved with the Linwood After School Club where she runs her dance and theatre club on a Wednesday afternoon.
With her experience, Emma has a very good understanding of how to meet the different needs of the students of varied abilities, ages, backgrounds and stages of development. She is able to use a range of teaching and learning strategies to meet the student’s individual learning needs and enable them to reach their potential. Emma has also supported the PE Department’s staff in their development of teachers’ knowledge and dance teaching skills.
In a cross curricular manner, students focus on the class topic/theme, choose an appropriate genre of music, create and practice their own dance steps, progressing to a final performance which is filmed and shown to the class.
