Rubicon’s work with Willows High School has just been used as a case study for a Welsh Government paper – Using The Pupil Deprivation Grant in support of arts and cultural activity.
Case study 1: Dance changes attitudes at Willows High School
At Willows High School in Cardiff, Joe Sage was teaching PE to a very challenging group of Year 9 teenagers. Almost two-thirds of the learners attending Willows live in the 20 per cent most
deprived areas in Wales. Over 40 per cent of the learners are eFSM. Many of the boys taught by Joe had emotional and social problems.
In order to try to improve the boys’ behaviour and their attitude towards school, Willows joined with other schools in Cardiff to work with Rubicon Dance as part of their Boys’ Dance Project (part of the PESS – PE and School Sports – programme delivered by
Sport Wales).
Rubicon Dance collaborated with Joe to design an eight-week programme tailored to meet the needs of his class. Joe was interested in exploring how dance programmes could benefit his learners, in particular to engage them in PE and improve their behaviour.
The dance organisation worked at the school, introducing the boys to a range of ideas and movements. The boys worked individually and in groups to explore new dance movements such as free running and parkour. These were genres of dance the boys were familiar with as they appeared on films/TV and were widely accepted by boys of all ages.
After several lessons Joe found there was a significant turnaround in attitude and attendance. The boys felt motivated and empowered; they had greater autonomy because the lessons were not too prescriptive, and allowed them to be creative.
Free running encouraged respect for each other, taking turns, being aware of one another while enjoying the freedom of movement that was natural for boys. Boys of all fitness levels and size were able to participate and contribute in the sessions.
The boys said that the sessions with the company were ‘some of the best PE lessons we’ve ever had at school’. Over time Joe noticed an improvement in their behaviour, confidence and communication skills. There was also greater mutual respect so that when boys challenged each other it was done in a constructive way. The boys were much more willing to engage in learning and work together with their peers.
Skills developed through the project included:
• communication skills (working in pairs, discussing moves, sequences)
• partner/team work
• decision making, problem-solving skills.
The boys participating in the project, 95 per cent of whom had never been to a theatre before, also attended a dance performance at a local arts centre.
By the end of the project, all the class were joining in and turning up in kit, and the school reported greater engagement and improved attendance. The impact of participating in the Boys’ Dance Project has led to the school making changes in the boys’ PE curriculum at school – with dance becoming a regular activity, e.g. Year 9
boys now do a term of free-running and Year 7 boys are introduced to the haka.
Further information
Enquiries about this document should be directed to:
Deprivation and Engagement Branch
Support for Learners Division
Department for Education and Skills
Welsh Government
Cathays Park
Cardiff
CF10 3NQ
e-mail: DeprivationandEngagement@wales.gsi.gov.uk
Additional copies
This document can be accessed from the Learning Wales website at
learning.wales.gov.uk
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