27th January 2012

SIDMOUTH: Strictly come dancing for Sidmouth students

By Laura Goldsbury Noy

There was fun and dance at Sidmouth College when a group of sports students held a dance festival for hundreds of primary school children.

Twenty-five Sidmouth College Sports Leaders planned and organised a highly successful dance festival for 200 year one and two pupils from local primary schools.

Those involved in the festival included pupils from Honiton, Sidmouth, Newton Poppleford, Sidbury, Millwater and Farway.

Using three popular children’s books as a theme for the day - “The Gruffalo”, “Giraffes Can’t Dance” and “The Skipping Rope Snake” - the students led a series of imaginative and fun dance sequences, which saw the children physically interpreting different sections of the stories.

Despite it being a long day for the sports leaders, who ran a series of workshops in order to fit in the high number of participants, the students found it a very rewarding task and the day was enjoyed by all.

School Sport Co-ordinator, Ross Gillon was hugely impressed with the sports eaders’ effort and enthusiasm.

He said: “It’s not an easy job to engage, entertain and control a huge crowd of five and six-year-olds in front of teachers and peers.

“The Sidmouth sports leaders really put their hearts and souls into the task at hand and did a great job. They should be proud of themselves.”

The Sports Leadership Academy at Sidmouth College is part of the “Step into Sports” programme for young people aged 14 to 19.

The aim of the programme is to improve quality, quantity and diversity of those involved in leadership and volunteering within sport, as well as increase competitive sports opportunities within communities.

The programme provides additional training and development to young people who are actively volunteering in sport at school and in and around the community.

PICTURE 1: Two Sidmouth primary pupils re-enact the Gruffalo

PICTURE 2: Sports leader katie lockhart with a Honiton primary pupil