Nursery Rhymes Inspire Infants’ Dance Sessions

31 January 2008

Powys infant teacher Sarah Rebbeck has successfully incorporated a mixture of creative movement and Welsh language into her classes thanks to a bursary grant through the Continuing Professional Development (CPD) funding programme from the General Teaching Council for Wales (GTCW).

Sarah, of Dame Anna Child’s Endowed School, Powys, wanted to improve her teaching of Creative Movement with her Early Years class, after attending a series of three one-day course sessions entitled ‘Dance, Using Creative Movement with Young Children’, run by Powys Dance. She furthered her new skills acquired from the course by devising a series of dance lessons linked to the themes; Where I Live, Myself, and Nursery Rhymes, also incorporating a degree of Welsh language into these sessions.

Sarah said; “I am only part of the way through my course but I already feel it has helped me improve the way in which I teach dance and my class has enjoyed the experience tremendously. My planned series of dance lessons have been designed to fit in with our two year curriculum plan, and will be revisited in two years time.”

Hayden Llewellyn, Deputy Chief Executive of GTCW, commented: "A significant proportion of the teaching population in Wales has taken advantage of the Council's CPD funding programme. Teachers in Wales take their professional development seriously and we are delighted to be able to help Sarah enhance her own teaching.”

GTCW has taken measures to ensure that the CPD funding is as easy as possible for teachers to access. Information and application forms are sent to all eligible teachers (in April 2008) and can be downloaded through GTCW's website at www.gtcw.org.uk.