Dance

SUBJECT INTRODUCTION

Head of Department: Ciara Wynn-Davis

Department Mission Statement 

At Christ’s School we are committed to providing a Dance curriculum that is broad, balanced and challenging, fostering a love of learning that promotes the development of lifelong learners. We match our curriculum to the abilities, interests and aspirations of our students, to give every child the opportunity to strive for personal excellence. We aim to recognise children’s prior learning, provide first hand learning experiences, allow the children to develop interpersonal skills, build resilience and self-confidence, allowing them to become creative dancers.

Christ’s School places a huge emphasis on extracurricular sport with a large part of this the extensive extracurricular dance programme. We are proud to be affiliated with Dance Studio London; a premier dance company that offers specialist provision for schools and colleges. Their vision, like ours, is to deliver quality, industry-relevant and progressive dance education in schools. We believe arts education should be creative and enriching, but most importantly inclusive. 

At Christ’s School we offer over 10 hours of extra-curricular dance lessons. All of our lessons take place in our state of the art dance suite. 

The department is led by Ms Wynn-Davies who is committed to ensuring that every student has a positive experience in Dance. At Christ’s School we want to ‘inspire a generation’, we therefore continually develop our knowledge and expertise so that our curriculum supports every child who comes to Christ's School.

All Christ’s School dance fixtures, results, photos and video clips are now on Facebook, Instagram and twitter. 

THE CURRICULUM

Key Stage 5 

In Key Stage 5 students have the opportunity to study AQA A Level Dance.

Why choose A level Dance? 

A-level Dance is a dynamic qualification which encourages students to develop their creative and intellectual capacity, alongside transferable skills such as team working, communication and problem solving. All of these are sought after skills by higher education and employers and will help them stand out in the workplace whatever their choice of career.

This specification reflects both historical and current dance practices, making it more relevant, and inspires a lifelong passion and appreciation for dance.

Subject Content

1. Performance
2. Choreography
3. Critical engagement

Component one: Performance and choreography 

What's assessed
Solo performance linked to a specified practitioner within an area of study
Performance in a quartet
Group choreography
How it's assessed
Practical exam
80 marks
50% of A-level

Component two: Critical appreciation 

What's assessed
Knowledge, understanding and critical appreciation of two set works.
One compulsory set work within the compulsory area of study
One optional set work within the corresponding area of study, from a choice of four.
How it's assessed
Written exam: 2 hours 30 minutes
100 marks
50% of A-level

ENRICHMENT & EXTRA-CURRICULAR

A full extra-curricular timetable is run to support the sports that we compete in for that term. Our Dance timetable is part of this timetable. You can also find the Dance Studio London timetable here. 

At Christ’s School we offer over 10 hours per week of extra-curricular dance lessons. All of our lessons take place in our state of the art dance suite.

CAREERS

AQA has bridged the gap between GCSE, AS and A-level, giving your students the skills and experience to better prepare them for the demands of AS and A-level if they choose to progress with their study.

You can find out about all AQA Dance qualifications here.

Exam Board

AQA - Specification code: 7237QAN