The beat went on… and on for St Vincent College performing arts students who took part in a five-hour danceathon to raise money for costumes.
The seven students from the college’s School of Personalised Learning, which has programmes aimed for young people with SEND, needed new tracksuits for a routine to be performed as part of an external exam for their RSL Level 2 Diploma in Creative and Performing Arts, said teacher Karen Philp.
Trainee teacher Rhiannon Snell and students Keeleigh Jones and Maddison Clarke came up with the idea of the sponsored danceathon, with the dancers taking to the floor from 9.45am until 3pm and being joined by other SPL students throughout the day. “The students danced all day, with groups having time slots throughout the day to attend,” said Mrs Philp. “We even had Principal Andy Grant along to join in, which the students loved.”
The event raised £290, which will more than cover the cost of the tracksuits. Money left over will be put towards buying props and costumes for the students’ summer show.
Mrs Philp said: “I was extremely pleased and proud of the students’ efforts. Their external exam has very little input from me and when they decided they wanted the tracksuits it was they who had the idea of the danceathon to pay for them.”
Mr Grant said: “It was brilliant to see the passion and the commitment the students have for performing and this novel way of raising the money was typical of their enthusiastic approach to learning.
“I was very pleased to join in, although I don’t think my dancing contributed much to the artistic impact.”
The School of Personalised Learning was recently rated ‘Outstanding’ by Ofsted inspectors when they visited at the end of last year. To find out more about the courses on offer go to stvincent.ac.uk
