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Strictly School Dancing |
Publicity   A BASINGSTOKE school is a shining example for other schools across the country to look towards, according to a senior politician. Conservative Shadow Schools Minister Nick Gibb was glowing in his praise of Castle Hill Junior School, in Winklebury, when he toured it on Monday. "It's an inspiring school," he said. "If we can just have more schools like this, we won't have any educational problems in this country." The school was classed as good with some outstanding elements at its last Ofsted inspection in January and, like the inspectors, Mr Gibb noted the quality of leadership shown by headteacher John Martin and his team. Head boy Scott Callaway, 11, and head girl Cara Barton, 11, took the MP on a tour of the school. The blazers that all the pupils wore particularly impressed Mr Gibb. He said the £12 blazers helped pupils be successful because they would be treated as young adults rather than children, and everyone wearing the same uniform eliminated problems caused by people coming from different backgrounds. The politician said he liked the happy, but serious, attitude of pupils, was pleased they were doing regular homework and thought the various extra-curricular activities, such as ballroom dancing and the award-winning allotment club, were good. Mr Gibb added: "I hope that we can learn from this school and how they have created an atmosphere where children are happy." 11:45am Thursday 1st May 2008 By David Connop Price  Belle of the ball still teaches steps Former dance champ doesn't miss a beat with teenage students "But Dancing with the Stars-style TV shows, including StarDance in the Czech Republic, are generating interest again, says Šarka Turonová, a well-known Czech dancer who won the ballroom dance championship here twice, as well as several other championships in other world capitals. “It’s much more popular than it used to be, and it’s getting more popular all over the world,” Turonová says. “People love it, and they’ll always love it.” Just five or 10 years ago, most people didn’t really think much about ballroom dancing, but now everyone wants to learn the steps, Turonová says, especially in the United Kingdom, where she recently moved to open her own dance company for students. “It’s popular in the United States, too, and in England, it’s so well-known that 20 million people watched the Dancing with the Stars finals,” Turnová says." ...From an article written on February 27th, 2008 by Beth Potter. Click HERE to read the full article. More to follow... |