Dance
Contact:
Ms A Barson – Head of Performing Arts faculty
he dance department strives for success in many forms: through the various activities and opportunities offered to our Key Stage 3 students; through success at GCSE and through numerous extra-curricular practices and competitions.
The dance department has a range of specialist knowledge and skills that have been implemented to make lessons as engaging, creative and active as possible for students of all abilities and interests.
Our Curriculum Vision
Dance at Hampstead School plays a significant part in all aspects of school life in both the mainstream academic curriculum and through its far-reaching involvement in extra-curricular activities.
Key Stage 3 Curriculum and Assessment:
There are two PE periods each week in this Key Stage, during which, students participate in a range of different activities: Sports (football, netball, basketball, fitness, trampolining, swimming, dance, rounders, cricket and athletics) wherein students not only engage in different sports, but are also encouraged to develop relevant skills and understand the physical demands that are made by them.
In dance there is a focus on improving performance and physical skills such as flexibility, balance, focus and confidence. Students are given performance and choreography tasks looking at a range of stimulus. They are introduced to many different dance styles and learn to work creatively together. There is a range of extra-curricular activities offered such as street dance, break dance, cheerleading, international dance and fitness.
Please CLICK below to discover more about our curriculum
Key Stage 4 Curriculum and Assessment:
Students will either study GCSE PE, GCSE Dance or Cambridge National in Sports Studies. Students that choose GCSE dance will additionally complete The Dance Leaders Award in Year 9. This certificate focuses on improving leadership and communication skills through a variety of dance based tasks. In GCSE dance students enhance their knowledge of dance through performance, choreography and a theoretical approach in a written exam.
Enrichment Opportunities:
The dance department seek to enrich students by giving them the opportunity to work with dance professionals. We regularly take students to participate in outside dance workshops and to see a range of live dance in the theatre. Each half term, the dance extra-curricular timetable differs slightly.
Over the course of a year, the following styles are covered:
- Contemporary
- Street
- Break dance
- Bollywood
- African
- Flamenco
- Capoeira
- Jazz
- Ballet
- Cheerleading
Additional Information:
Hampstead School continues to strive to success in dance and welcomes students of all abilities. There are numerous competitions, festivals and school productions throughout the school year, giving endless opportunity for students to participate in as much dance as possible.
The dance department believe strongly that dance should be an inclusive area of the curriculum and we try to ensure everyone at Hampstead School gets an equal chance to participate.