Last month, Sarah was in conversation with Dr Gemma Harman for the award-winning ResDance podcast, sharing the learnings from our From HEAD to TOE research programme, as well as discussing the details of what has made our partnerships with schools and teachers so successful. Take a listen and follow the podcast for more brilliant research insights from across the sector!

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We are reaching out to schools across Lancashire to offer two new CPD programmes of support, focusing on English, Maths, Executive functioning and Metacognition.

From HEAD to TOE CPD Short Programme: English and Maths recall and retention in the classroom.

Whole School INSET and 6 week delivery programme

Our From HEAD to TOE programme is designed to embed physical and creative strategies into the existing English and Maths curriculum and your chosen schemes to maximise knowledge retention and recall and make learning experiences as memorable as possible for young people. 

Our provision includes Staff INSET to share the practice with the whole staff team and discuss opportunities for utilising the practice to achieve school improvement plan targets and key priorities. This is then followed by a 6 week delivery programme with two teachers/classes, co-led between our Artists and your Teachers, in the timetabled English and/or Maths lessons to share the strategies, tasks and games, tailor them to the needs of your setting and pupils and upskill Teachers in feeling confident in embedding these in their practice and being inspired to develop their own under the same approach. The programme will also include a bank of resource cards for your school to use for onward delivery.

INTERESTED?

1. First come, first served, we currently have 2 FREE programmes left. The equivalent cost of the provision would be £1250 per programme.
2. All programmes need to take place before the end of the 24/25 academic year.
3. There are no eligibility requirements for this, other than working with 2 different year groups.

Let us know your interested by emailing Sarah at sarah@bluemoosedance.org.uk

Teacher Development Partnership Programme: investigation embodied learning to support executive functioning and metacognition

From HEAD to TOE, we are developing a Teacher Development Fund application as through Paul Hamlyn Foundation this Autumn and are looking for upto 10 schools from across Lancashire to partner with us. This phase will support Teachers to experience and embed embodied learning pedagogy to help developing executive functioning and metacognition within their classrooms.

As a partner school, we will collaborate with 2 staff (from any stage of school) and 1 senior leader to develop and deliver a CPD programme aimed at developing pedagogical approaches in school, achieving School Improvement Outcomes and fundamentally improving pupil’s metacognition and executive functioning. We will also be using the strategies developed through the first research phase that support English and Maths retention and recall.

The next phase of this project has a particular focus on Teachers – the curriculum content has been developed, tested and evaluated to be really effective; we are now looking to further support teachers to develop their practice, develop further awareness of their own needs as a facilitator in the classroom, support their mental health, and bring about strategies to support the implementation of movement and creative pedagogy. For information on the first phase, see below.

INTERESTED?

1. We need to name our (upto) 10 partner schools by 11th October.
2. Schools need to prove/articulate inequality exists for their pupils in some format to be eligible for the funders; this may be geographical, socio-economic, learning need, SEN, Free School meals etc. If a particular year group falls into this bracket, we can nominate that class for the project.
3. Schools will need to commit to the journey with us from Sept 2025 – July 2027 (for 2 staff and 1 senior leader).
4. The funding will provide supply costs to release staff from teaching commitments for CPD as and when required (to be agreed mutually at the outset of the project but anticipate it will be equivalent to 8 days across 2 years).
5. If you are joining us, at this stage we just need your contact details and inequality demographic notes/information. If successful at Stage 2, we will have a follow up call in early Dec 24 to ask a few more questions around your specific schools needs and aims. If successful, we will hear in April 2025, with the project commencing Sept 2025.  

Let us know your interested by emailing Sarah at sarah@bluemoosedance.org.uk

MORE ABOUT From HEAD to TOE

Research and testing the impact

This approach was developed through a collaborative research project between 2021-2023 in which Blue Moose Dance Company worked with five Primary Schools across Lancashire, co-producing strategies, resources and interventions. Curriculum topics included place value, narrative writing, report writing and word class and grammar.

We worked collaboratively with class teachers to challenge traditional learning methods and environments, inspiring more creativity within the classroom space and beyond. Our developed approach centres around the moving body and embodied learning, supporting physical exploration and regulation of the nervous system. Pupils have been encouraged to think independently, to develop further curiosity and imagination, giving them autonomy to find new ways to access learning.

INSET and PPA time allowed space for teachers to reflect on practice and expand their toolkit. We worked closely with headteachers and SLTs to shape this project and its success can be seen in the schools adopting this approach from Reception through to Year 6, including it as a key action in School Improvement Plans and with teachers passing on their experience with local school clusters.

The original phase of the project was generously funded by Paul Hamlyn Foundation through the Arts Based Learning Fund.

Why is it free?!

The short CPD programme is free as at the end of the initial funded program with Paul Hamlyn Foundation (completed Feb 24) we were left with an underspend (we are thrifty people!) and so PHF have agreed to allow us to share this CPD offer with 7 schools free of charge as long as schools commit to engaging with the approach and implementing it within their school and it can occur with the 24/25 academic year. 

The partnership programme is free as we will write you into the funding application from the outset and are asking Paul Hamlyn Foundation for the costs to cover the usual expenses incurred in releasing teachers from timetabling, travel and other staff training.

Examples of the project and press

See our documentary film on the project here: 

FULL FILM

TRAILER

Read our recent press about the work here: 

‘Movement improves classroom learning’ Arts Professional article

‘Have we been missing a trick in our teaching?’ LEP article

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We have come to the end of our From HEAD to TOE project and are finalising the reflection and evaluation reports to help summarise the learning and impact gained.

In the last few months, we have been hosting Whole School INSET sessions in each partner school, co-led by Dance Artists and Lead Teachers, to disseminate the learning, share the resources produced and hold valuable conversations with senior leaders about how the practice can be embedded and developed further in each school. These conversations have taken many different directions which is a testament to the accessibility, adaptability, and relevance of the work we have explored.

Sharing further afield

As we wrap up, we are making plans to share the research, practice and practical outcomes in a range of settings. We will be sharing work as part of the Knowledge and Research Exchange festival at UCLan in February and have been selected to present the research at Dance and the Child International in Slovenia this July. We are in conversations with cultural and education agencies and organisations to ensure we can pass on our learning and support others wherever possible.

Our next Blue Moose Dance Artists Day will be dedicated to this practice, upskilling our current Artist team and Artists from across the North West with key vocabulary, curriculum understanding and practical ideas to enhance their existing delivery in schools by unlocking connections to English and Maths and find ways to increase their offer for teachers and pupils.

Where next

We are overwhelmed by the positive response we have had about the need, potential impact and interest in this project and are keen to help more schools explore how it can work for them. We are developing a number of options for new schools to learn more about this practice and embed the delivery in their schools.

Alongside a bank of resource cards which have been designed to grab and go, we have developed an INSET training session and a series of Teacher/Artist delivery programmes and are also open to discussions around more bespoke options; we are aware this work in nuanced and can benefit schools in different ways so are keen to keep that conversation evolving.

If you are interested in exploring how From Head to Toe can support your school, please get in touch: sarah@bluemoosedance.org.uk.

Meet the team

From HEAD to TOE brings together a team of Artists, Teachers, Evaluators and experts in the field including:

Sarah Hall and Sarah Gough (Dance Artists, Blue Moose Dance Company)

Laura Broome (Project Manager)

Dr Fiona Bannon (Evaluator and Critical Friend)

Justine Watkins Fife (Marketing Consultant)

Paul Hamlyn Foundation (Funders)

Pat Cochrane (Evaluation support)

Chaucer Primary School, Fleetwood

Nateby Primary School

Pilling St John’s Primary School

Stalmine Primary School

St Josephs Primary School, Kirkham

Images by Claire Griffiths

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