Dancing in secondary schools as part of Curriculum for Excellence: FOI release

Information requested

Is dancing mandatory in secondary schools as part of the curriculum?

Response

Scotland’s curriculum – Curriculum for Excellence - is not prescribed in legislation and therefore in that sense, we do not have “mandatory” requirements that are imposed on all schools across the country by prescriptive guidance or law; however, to ensure a degree of consistency and appropriate breadth and depth of learning for all pupils, CfE does provide a broad national framework for schools to cover. This broad framework includes eight curricular areas. Expressive Arts is one of those curricular areas and dance forms part of the Expressive Arts curricular area alongside Art & Design, Drama and Music. This means that schools will generally cover dance as part of their Expressive Arts curriculum.

The Experiences and outcomes (often called Es&Os) are a set of statements about children’s learning and progression in each curriculum area. They are used to help plan learning and to assess progress. Further information about the Experiences and Outcomes for all eight curriculum areas can be found here. If you click on the Expressive Arts document and go to page 5 and 6 you will find the Experiences and Outcomes for Dance.

The document states that:

“Through dance, learners have rich opportunities to be creative and to experience inspiration and enjoyment.

Creating and performing will be the core activities for all learners, and taking part in dance contributes to their physical education and physical activity. Learners develop their technical skills and the quality of their movement, and use their imagination and skills to create and choreograph dance sequences. They further develop their knowledge and understanding and their capacity to enjoy dance through evaluating performances and commenting on their work and the work of others.”

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