Holiday ClubsA Busy Summer
This summer we worked with a lot of different HAF funded holiday clubs and some others too. It was a really really busy summer and the dance teachers were everywhere! Rachel has written about some of the places she went to. What a busy summer!!
Written by TRS Teacher, Rachel
Little Acorns
I had a wonderful time at Little Acorns during the summer holidays. All the children were below school age and did so well to keep focused for a whole session! They loved the ‘Sing’ them and the way the pom poms lit up the room, as well as the sensory experience. They were bursting with many creative ideas which were then included in our dance. Their parents also got involved and thoroughly enjoyed dancing with their little ones. It was wonderful to see the children’s expressions and faces light up as they danced around the room. We even got the organisers of the daycare to come and watch so that the children could do a little show! What a lovely way to spend the summer holidays!
Kent Young Carers:
I was one of the many TRS Teachers going to visit KYC groups. For me, it was a beautiful experience to dance with young carers at the Maidstone Rugby club. Carers, parents and siblings took part and thoroughly enjoyed the session. The sun shined for us as we danced on the field and there was so much laughter and joy!
The participants were Michael Jackson fans so we ended up having an MJ theme and creating a dance together to some of his most famous songs. It was such an inclusive wholesome experience where everyone supported each other and cheered each other on. One of the highlights was seeing participants grow in confidence throughout the hour by not only joining in and copying my moves but also expressing their own ideas. Well done everyone!
Old Gravesend Rugby Club:
We had a thoroughly enjoyable time at Old Gravesend Rugby club. There were many different activities going on at the same time so it was great to see children choosing to come and dance, even if it meant stopping their previous activity. During the session we had some creative games followed by learning a street dance and then children really wanted to share their dances with each other which was lovely. Some attended dance clubs so showed some of their moves and one of the girls who was only five gave us a whole Irish dancing performance which was amazing! We had some very positive feedback from the organisers as well. Well done everyone!
Strood Sports Centre:
We had a lovely time at Strood Sports Centre during the holidays. I worked with a group of around twenty children of various school ages who had chosen to attend the dance workshop. We had a great time dancing together, doing various dance games such as follow the leader, pass the move around the circle and many others. I then taught the children some street dance choreography and we created a group dance together which they thoroughly enjoyed. All were able to join in and access the movements as well as come up with their own ideas.
Whitehill Primary School:
Visiting Whitehill Primary was a great experience. The girls were very excited to come and do dancing and were buzzing with their own creative ideas! They enjoyed my choreography and added their own spin on the movements which was wonderful. Some changed the levels and adapted the movements to a style suited to them. Some did dancing outside of school and were able to bring their own ideas, and others just had a flare for dancing and enjoyed expressing themselves in a creative way. After learning a dance together, they were so confident that they wanted to perform it individually to each other! The organisers were very impressed and enjoyed sharing their dance experience with their parents!
Lower Halstow Primary – Tetita
I had a good dance session at Lower Halstow Primary with children of mixed primary ages. It was lovely to bump into some children that I had worked with at after school clubs over the year, who had then chosen to attend a dance holiday club! There were around twenty five children, a mixture of boys and girls so we filled the space well! At first some weren’t keen to join in but it was great to see how once the music was on, everyone became engaged and took part. It was a short session so we managed to squeeze a lot into it! At first some were a little shy to join in but gradually let their guard down and became more relaxed. We touched on a mixture of styles, mainly street dance and danced to a well known song that everyone knew. I taught some choreography and then we squeezed in a couple of games and had a lovely relaxed cool down. Some wanted to perform the dance to each other which was lovely to see and the feedback from those running the day was very positive. Well done everyone!