Personal reflections on a busy year so far
Since January this year in particular, Made By Katie Green have been working intensively in schools, through the Delight in Dance project and two pilot programmes, linked to our Gathering Place 360 project and our SEED project working with children in Reception classes. Read more about this work here.
I’ve now worked with dance in primary schools for 25 years, and from my perspective the challenges faced by schools have never been more acute.
I have observed rising levels of need, with a great range of children within a single class needing additional support and specific adaptations to access learning, and to feel comfortable and confident working with their peers. With the best will in the world, schools’ resources to support those individuals are constantly squeezed, and this year more than ever I have seen rising levels of stress within the environment leading to more and more good teachers leaving the profession.
When in the middle of delivery, it’s hard not to focus on the ways in which these challenges impact upon the quality of the work and the children’s experience. It’s hard not to feel that the strain upon the system impacts negatively on the ways in which we, as artists, are welcomed (or not) into schools, when there’s actually so much good that we can do.
However, following 7 months of activities in which children and young people of all ages have come together through our programmes to engage with new experiences, develop their own creative responses, celebrate their achievements and share them with their teachers and parents, I feel it’s important to reflect on how much the children with whom we work take away from their encounters with us.
We evaluate all of our programmes and share findings as they’re compiled, but we don’t need to analyse the data we collect to see that even though it can feel hard, the children do take so much from what we do with them, including those who may find other areas of their learning more challenging.
“I was very pleased that ALL the children contributed to the dance workshops at least some of the time, which for one child in particular was unusual.”Teacher feedback,
Now more than ever, this isn’t only about sharing a passion for the arts and nurturing creative skills, but also providing a context in which children can learn how to collaborate and solve problems in a safe way, without being worried about taking a risk. They can practice respect, empathy, really trying to listen each other; they can develop their curiosity and so something which they would never have expected that they could do. They can be expressive and playful and build their confidence, also developing their focus and listening skills.
Many participants and their grown-ups comment on how calm the children are when participating in something like this, moving and learning at the same time, and developing an interest that has extended beyond the classroom and into an interest at home.
Example parent and teacher feedback from the SEED Schools Project 2025:
“it is amazing how much they have come on since week 1”
“There was so much joy in all of their faces joining in, especially with all the props and dancing.”
“really nice to see the children moving their bodies in different ways and learning at the same time”
Was a lovely dance to see; all the children were enjoying themselves and also learning about the seasons.Parent feedback,
“They all looked like they had so much fun. Loved the imaginative play.”
“She loved the activities, enjoyed every moment of it.”
“A very interactive way to learn about the seasons incorporating art and dance. Very well put together. Katie was amazing with the children, including them all.”
We’re lucky with SEED that with support from the National Lottery through Arts Council England we also have the opportunity to offer performances in library spaces this year, with linked seed-planting workshops, and we’ve tried to carry over that sense of nurturing a life-long love of and interest in nature with the children into those sessions as well. We are setting families the challenge of letting us know how tall the runner beans that they plant with us go on to grow, and the tallest plant from each library will receive a book voucher!
Our next performances of SEED coming up will take place at Hillingdon Libraries on the 5th August, Dorset Libraries on the 7th August and Bexley Libraries on the 8th August. Please visit our SEED page to find out more about all forthcoming performances.
Do come along and see us if you can, and take away your own seed to grow at home!
If you would like to have more information about what to expect in advance of your visit, you can watch our new Social Story Film for SEED by Dan Martin here :
We are so grateful to our partner schools, St John's and Kingfield Primary Schools in Woking and Our Lady of the Rosary Primary School in Staines, for allowing us to try out our ideas for the SEED project pilot, and also to our other fantastic project partners Delight Charity (who also support us in the Delight in Dance project) and Paintbox. The SEED pilot was also supported by the National Lottery through Arts Council England.
The Gathering Place 360 project was commissioned by Arts Partnership Surrey and is being supported by Surrey County Archaeological Unit and Surrey County Council IoT and Emerging Technologies team.