The importance of access to higher education

November 28th 2018 marked World Higher Education Day, an event that opened up discussions around accessibility to HE.

In this article we take a look at various projects and initiatives introduced by our Participation, Outreach & Widening Participation (WP) Department and by School alumni over recent years to widen access to the classes and courses on offer at the School and to encourage diversity and participation in dance more generally.

Aspire

Aspire is a project delivered in partnership with Twickenham School, Hampton High and Springwest Academy. The aim of the project is to encourage GCSE students to pursue their interest in dance, give access to high quality dance training and to provide insight into conservatoire training.  Following a pilot year in 2016 the project is now running in full.  The project allows the School to bridge the gap between local secondary schools and Higher Education while demystifying the dance school process.

The School works with schools in Low Participation (in Higher Education) Neighbourhoods as part of a commitment to break down the barriers to training for those who may not be able to access it through private dance lessons.   The School offers one free place to a student from each school who has shown great potential to our Saturday young people’s classes, for two terms. It’s a great opportunity for our students, many of whom won’t have taught before or created a youth dance work.  Our students are mentored through the process and great professional experience for them

Third year School students work with year 10 GCSE dance students over an 8 week period to create unique works during Aspire that are eventually performed at the School’s Anya Linden Studio Theatre. On the performance day, Aspire participants were also invited to watch our full-time students in class.

Through participating in Aspire, third year students are able to not only hone their teaching skills, but also to support the community – an invaluable opportunity.

Moving Assembly – Dane Hurst

Moving Assembly Project, under the direction of School alumni Dane Hurst, aims to celebrate dance as a cross-cultural art form belonging to a shared human identity.  Starting by connecting London with the harbour city of Port Elizabeth in South Africa, it aims to connect people, artists and students from diverse backgrounds and communities from all corners of the world, through facilitating the creation of dance and art.

Dane says, “the vision of the Moving Assembly Project is to uplift and transform the lives of at-risk youth through an inclusive and cross-cultural Art programme by offering dance training, choreography and creative workshops; creating new work for performance, study and exhibition; creating facilities for dance training and performance”.

Community Classes & Pre-Vocational Course

The School offers a varied programme of weekly community classes for adult, young people and children. A Pre-Vocational Course was also launched in 2017, which serves to prepare aspiring young dancers for full-time training at Higher Education level.

Rambert School – A Registered charity

Our vocation is to realise the potential of every single student, regardless of their financial background.  Each member of staff here at the School welcomes individuality, and this is at the heart of our teaching.  As a registered charity we rely on funding to support our students and use sponsorship programmes and the student bursary fund to support our talented young dancers with their training and living costs.  Find more about equality, diversity and support within the school here.

Your Higher education

If you’d like to take the next step towards Higher Education, you can find out more about our pre-vocational, summer and autumn intensives.  The courses we offer are accessible for dancers of all backgrounds and bursaries and support are available for both short courses and full time training at Rambert School.