Dance lessons built for every pupil, including pupils with SEND

The same shape every lesson.

Each lesson plan follows the same order: Setting the Scene, Learning Objectives, Warm Up, the main dance tasks, a performance and the music. Staff and pupils know what is coming next, which matters for children who find change or uncertainty difficult.

One clear focus per task.

Every section opens with a single stated focus, so you can tell the class exactly what the task is for before anyone moves.

Demonstrate, practise, then perform.

Tasks build from whole-class exploration, to practice with a partner or group, to selecting, refining and performing. In the Year 5 Capoeira lesson, the class explores the basic moves together before pairs build their own duet.

Show as well as tell.

Lesson notes prompt you to pick out good examples for the class to try, so pupils see a movement modelled rather than relying on spoken instructions alone. Notes also remind you to repeat instructions as often as pupils need.

Familiar before the lesson starts.

Short Setting the Scene video clips can play while children change or walk into the hall, so the topic is already familiar when the lesson begins.

Visual supports.

Image sheets such as Images of Actions show real pupils moving, with the question “What can our bodies do?”. A child can copy or respond to a picture instead of working from words.

Written supports.

Motif cards break a dance into one action per line, in order. Poems, word banks and image sheets give pupils a starting point, so nobody has to invent an idea from nothing.

Spoken supports.

Creative questions and analysis questions give teachers and teaching assistants the words to prompt, encourage and extend pupils.

Choice from a set.

The ASDR resource card lists actions pupils can choose from, which is easier than being asked to think of a movement on the spot.

Supports that can be removed.

The ASDR Spinners choose an action, a space, a dynamic or a relationship for the pupil. Some segments say “Your choice”, handing the decision back. Start with the spinner choosing and move towards pupils choosing for themselves as their confidence grows.

The idea matters more than precision.

Lesson notes ask you to focus on the essence of an action rather than its accuracy, so pupils with motor or coordination difficulties can take full part.

Ready for the whiteboard or the printer.

84 handouts sit inside the app, ready to display on the whiteboard or print, so a pupil can check a visual while they dance.

The same four building blocks every year.

Every scheme uses ASDR: Action (what the body does), Space (where it moves), Dynamics (how it moves) and Relationships (who or what it moves with). Pupils meet the same four questions in every lesson, so they have a reliable structure to plan, describe and improve a dance.

Consistent words.

The searchable dance glossary gives every key term a short, classroom-ready definition. The same vocabulary is used across all seven schemes, so words can be pre-taught and stay the same as pupils move up the school.

Structured reflection.

Analysis questions help pupils talk about what they saw and felt. Younger pupils start with questions such as “What did you notice?” and “How did it make you feel?”. Key Stage 2 pupils are asked to give reasons for their opinions. Pupils are encouraged to give two positive comments and one constructive suggestion, so feedback stays kind and useful.

Watching themselves.

Guidance on filming with a tablet helps pupils connect how a movement feels with how it looks, then improve it.

Reflection is part of progress.

Observing and improving is one of the five strands in the Creative Steps dance progression, alongside physical, expressive, creative and social development.

Solo, pairs, small groups and whole class.

A single lesson moves between groupings, so pupils work with different classmates for different purposes, and no one is fixed in a group.

Shared performance.

Half the class performs while the other half watches, then they swap. Spotlight performances let small groups share their work one after another.

Three levels of learning objective.

Every lesson sets objectives for All, Most and Some pupils. The whole class works on the same task and the same idea, with an outcome matched to where each child is now.

See the step before and after.

The dance progression map sets out what pupils learn in each year from Reception to Year 6. If a pupil is working at a different stage from their class, you can see the earlier or later step and set the task accordingly.

Music that keeps playing.

Twenty specially composed tracks play from a phone or tablet. The player keeps going while you move around the lesson, and tracks loop, so pupils who need more practice can repeat a section without the music stopping.

Visuals on the big screen.

Handouts, images and motif cards display on the whiteboard for the whole class to follow.

Video as a stimulus.

Linked clips give pupils a picture of the theme before they start moving.

Digital idea spinners.

The ASDR Spinners make choosing a movement quick, visual and game-like.

Tablets for review.

Pupils can watch footage of their own performance to see what to improve.