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Teacher Professional Learning: Dance in Primary Education

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Overview

This short course is for primary school teachers who wish to develop their skills and confidence to use dance and creative movement in primary education, and is suitable for those with or without prior dance experience.

Containing five after school sessions, this short course spans one school term, and is designed with the following components:

  • Session 1: In-person workshop at RCS, 2 hours
  • Session 2: Online check-in, 1 hour
  • Session 3: In-person workshop at RCS, 2 hours
  • Session 4: Online check-in, 1 hour
  • Session 5: In-person workshop at RCS, 2 hours

This structure is designed to bring teachers together into a supportive and welcoming professional learning community. Teachers will benefit from learning together in-person, before returning to school to explore dance with their pupils, and then regrouping to share their experiences. Online check-ins between sessions ensure continuous connection and support. Throughout the short course, teachers are encouraged to share successes, concerns, and ideas, to ask questions, and to problem-solve and be creative together.

This professional learning short course is designed and led by Eilidh Slattery, Lecturer in Arts Education at RCS. Eilidh is a former primary teacher, now teacher educator. This short course has already been tried, tested, and loved by primary teachers across Scotland.

Bookings are now open for 2026/27. The short course will be offered termly.

To register your interest and for further information please contact dancecpd@rcs.ac.uk

Bespoke delivery in schools is available upon request.

The important details

For Ages:
18+

Cost:
£130

Venue:
The Wallace Studios at Speirs Locks, 210 Garscube Road, Glasgow, G4 9RR

Time:
Tuesdays: in-person sessions 5-7pm; online check-ins 6-7pm

Term Dates:
25 August - 6 October

About the Course

This course aims to create a supportive, inspiring, and collaborative community for primary teachers keen to explore dance in the primary curriculum. It engages teachers as learners, continually reflecting, critically questioning, and enquiring about the accessibility, inclusivity, and impact of exploring dance in primary education. The design of this short course is grounded in research and real-life school experience, ensuring it is relevant and directly beneficial to your primary classroom.

Together, we will explore creative dance, developing a shared movement vocabulary and a deeper knowledge and understanding of the potential of dance in the primary school. We will explore simple ways to introduce even the most reluctant pupils to the joy and creative potential of dance. We will align with the CfE Dance E&Os with an awareness of the evolution of the curriculum through Education Scotland’s Curriculum Improvement Cycle.

We will demystify the dance vocabulary used in CfE and explore how to develop this dance language further. These building blocks of creative dance will allow you to confidently introduce, assess, and progress dance, and learn how dance can be used to develop the transferrable skills of problem-solving, creativity, communication, and collaboration. We will also explore how dance can be used as a vehicle for learning across other curricular areas.

The aim is to build teacher confidence, and to foster creative teaching approaches that enhance learning experiences in dance and across the curriculum. Teachers will not only develop their dance specific knowledge, but will also enhance the artistry of their teaching for interdisciplinary learning and enjoy the positive benefits to classroom ethos.

In the online check-ins, we grab a cuppa to chat about successes, challenges, and have a general collegiate ‘staffroom’ chat focused on dance and based on teachers’ experiences sharing their new dance learning with their classes.

Each of the five interconnected sessions helps build teachers’ confidence to use dance with their pupils. Teachers receive a certificate from RCS Professional Learning upon completion of the course.

Course Information

Dress comfortably in clothes and footwear suitable for movement indoors.

Bring a water bottle to stay hydrated during the sessions – feel free to bring a cuppa to our online check-ins!

You may wish to bring a notepad and pen.

2026/27 dates:

  • Session 1: In-person workshop at RCS, 2 hours – 25 August 5-7pm
  • Session 2: Online check-in, 1 hour – 8 September 6-7pm
  • Session 3: In-person workshop at RCS, 2 hours – 15 September 5-7pm
  • Session 4: Online check-in, 1 hour – 29 September 6-7pm
  • Session 5: In-person workshop at RCS, 2 hours – 6 October 5-7pm

Total cost of this 8-hour short course: £130