If you can move, you can dance. It is a question of what happens next that determines how great a dancer you can become or for what purpose you choose to use the skills.

In the younger years (Reception to Year 6) it's about raising the awareness the children have of their bodies in a space as well, of course, as basic dance technique, composition skills and performance. By the time pupils are in Years 7 & 8 they are creating pieces to present in the termly dance concerts and in Year 9 there are both theoretical and practical aspects to the course.  By now individuals have the opportunities to design their own pieces and then involve and teach others before bringing the work to a larger audience.

For those pupils who chose to study the subject for GCSE and A level there are many performance opportunities both inside and outside the formal syllabus both at school and beyond. We have visits from a number of outside companies, there are innumerable extra-curricular activities and formal evening classes from ISTD modern Jazz to RAD Ballet, from hip hop to street dance.

It's completely normal to see dance going on all over the place, formally in the Performing Arts Centre or Dance Studio or Ballroom and informally groups adapting (indeed adopting) spaces for their needs. These could be the very Frensham practise of the most senior dancers involving younger ones in their pieces, the Middle School boys (amongst whom dance is a passion) working in odd corners of Main House or all-comers groups just dancing for fun and for fitness.

Lynn Goodburne head of dance