Dundee dance teachers hope to help children step up their learning, thanks to a share of £150,000 of funding.
YDance (Scottish Youth Dance), the award-winning national dance organisation for children and young people in Scotland, has been awarded £150,000 from the Paul Hamlyn Foundation for Step It Up.
The programme will focus on teacher development across three areas in Scotland – Dundee, West Dunbartonshire, and Glasgow.
Step It Up aims to work with teachers to develop their skills and knowledge to teach dance, by matching it up to the curriculum for excellence.
The 18 teachers from six schools and two dance artists in education will be taught using a combination of practical and theoretical lessons.
YDance will work with teachers and school leaders to improve attainment and find alternative ways to teach, to help some students overcome barriers to learning.
The project will use learning from the Paul Hamlyn Foundation funded four-year YDance project Step It Up as a starting point.
The Step It Up programme was designed to enable primary school children to learn a range of curriculum subjects through dance.
Education
YDance focuses on three key areas: access and participation, education and talent development.
They aim to give every young person in Scotland the opportunity to participate in dance classes, no matter their experience.
Linzi McLagan, head of education at YDance said: “We are excited to be given the opportunity to continue the legacy of Step It Up through Paul Hamlyn Foundation’s Teacher Development Fund.
“Step It Up enables us to continue to develop cross curricular dance and support the delivery of dance in schools.
“We are excited to learn and unlearn with the participating teachers and share our collaborative journey in the research findings.”
More information about Step It Up, including an independent evaluation report about the results of the project can be found on the YDance website.