Performing Arts

Our vision is to engage, empower and inspire students to develop their creative potential, their practical skills, confidence and overall performance. We aim to encourage students to become enthusiastic, imaginative, innovative and independent learners, empowering them to develop the necessary skills for further study and future careers in dance. Performing Arts contributes to the development of students and to the school curriculum by providing a powerful and distinctive form of communication and expression. The curriculum is carefully planned to consider the sequence of content required for children to best make progress; building on prior learning to ensure transferrable knowledge and skills enable children to comprehend subsequent learning in the future. In KS3 and  KS4 the aim is to develop thinking; increasing perception, imagination, creativity, reflection, and physical dexterity; skills that can be transferred to other areas of experience and learning. We understand the importance of students developing skills, knowledge and understanding of performing arts subjects as ways of engaging with cultural identity and personal expression, to facilitate their understanding of their community and wider society, enabling students to define themselves in relation to others, and the society in which they live.         

Dance is studied through  MYP in years 7-9 as part of the PE curriculum. In year 9 students can become dance leaders. This role involves choreographing dances in one of our 7 local primary schools in years reception -6. Students attend training in leadership and work towards showcasing their hard work in a festival of dance each year.

Students at Key Stage 3 will be able to speak with confidence about the statements of inquiry and how they are used in the wider world. They will be able to explain how physical competence, mastery and knowledge, and character and confidence impact their performance in dance and their overall health and wellbeing.

The love of dance, sport and physical education at SCWA  is evident with the uptake in our ‘sports and dance enrichment’ program, providing a competitive sports pathway and a creative outlet for our dance/performers, both inside and outside the academy via our strong community links.

In each year of study students will encounter a range of performance styles that draw upon a variety of styles and stimuli within dance to provide students with a developed understanding of the key cultural aspects of each style . This will include the study of performance and composition/devising skills within every year of study, recognising the central importance of these skills for successful outcomes in Dance. Students will develop their analysis and evaluative skills to demonstrate in-depth understanding of how a successful piece of dance and choreography is devised, constructed, and delivered.

Outcomes within the Performing Arts are strong, and compare favourably against national comparisons. We have sent a number of students to prestigious stage schools and numerous students have gone on to work in the Performing Arts industry. Enrichment groups are well established and cultivate a wider interest in the subjects across the school. There is performance opportunities in a wide range of high profile events, including drama and music productions as well as the annual dance festival every March that also includes the 600 primary school students that have been taught by our dance leaders .

We also use visits to theatre, concerts, and other cultural trips of regional and national interest to contextualise and bring learning alive for our students.