Pupils breaking sweat

11:36am Wednesday 16th July 2008

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A group of schoolboys are putting the attitude back into dance. Education reporter HAYDN LEWIS found out about the team from York’s All Saints’ RC School who have scooped a top national title for breakdancing.

AS a specialist performing arts college, All Saints’ RC School places a high value on dance and the performing arts as part of the curriculum.

But when a group of youngsters entered the UK Schools BBoy Championships 2008 for breakdance, they really didn’t expect to come away with the title.

The school entered an 11-strong group of 12 and 13-year-olds into the competition last weekend, which saw schools from all over the UK battling it out on the dance floor in the first ever Breakdance Championships just for schools.

The championships form the end of a year-long workshop tour led by the British BBoy Association and ArtsPool UK Ltd, developed to teach breakdance skills safely to young people, to encourage team respect and commitment and to bring boys to dance.

At All Saints’, head of dance Claire Anyon has been working alongside York breakdance teacher 19-year-old Paul Webster and dance teacher Fran Garvey to ensure boys get fully involved in dance – and the championship win proves it is paying off.

The youngsters went head-to- head in the semi-finals against 20 teams from across the UK – half of which were from London.

The championships were held at the Boothroyd Hall, Castle Green in Dagenham, and were judged by three of the UK’s leading Breakdance artists: BGirl FireFly, Adam, from Second To None, and Boogie, from Trinity Warriors.

The York team walked away with the title and Mrs Anyon said it was all down to their hard work and determination and that of their dance teachers.

She said: “We started the breakdance project at the school three years ago to try to get boys into dance and to make it more cool and trendy and something they would want to do.

“Now we have a group that meets once a week after school with Paul Webster and he puts them through their paces. We are really proud of their achievement as the competition consisted of a number of ‘battles’ where the teams basically have to out dance one another.

“The standard was exceptionally good on the day, and it was difficult for us as teachers because we were sitting on the sidelines watching, but the boys kept their heads and thought on their feet in the end.

“I think we proved that we can hold our own in a field that is traditionally seen as being dominated by the south.

“I think people were genuinely surprised when a team from Yorkshire showed up, never mind won.”

All Saints’ RC, which has 1,203 pupils, is based on a split site in Nunnery Lane and Mill Mount. After an Ofsted inspection earlier this year, The Press reported that in 2007, 16-year-olds made better progress and reached higher standards than the Year 11 cohort had done in 2006.

They said this was because of the proactive approach taken by senior leaders on discipline, which led to better behaviour in lessons and improved attitudes to learning.