Local pupils who will soon be making the move to high school were tackling their worries through dance.
P7 students at St Pius Primary School were joined by dancers from Aspire and the Scottish School of Contemporary Dance to develop routines which would help overcome any worries as the go up to the big school.
Pupil Jay Burke, 11, said: “The whole point of the dances was to be about going up to high school and to help us not be scared.
“Before we did the dances we wrote down all the good things about going up to high school and all the things we were scared about. I have heard stories about people getting their heads flushed down the toilet but the dancers spoke to us about how that is not true and if we have any problems to speak to our teachers.
“Each of the dances was focused on a different class at high school, such as art, and we did one where we were in a busy corridor and trying not to get lost in it all.
“The dancers taught us what to do for a few hours then we performed our routines for other classes.
“It was hard at first but by the time we were doing it in front of people we could remember it all.
“It made me feel so much better about going up to high school and I think more schools should do it.”
Glen McArtney, dance development officer at Aspire, said: “We were aiming to squash any worries they may have about moving up to high school in a fun way.
“We never got anything like this at school so I think it is great that we are coming in with the dancers and helping the kids feel better about the big change.”
Pupil Malebo Brown, 11, said: “We should give Glen a gold star because he has been great helping us.
“It was a bit daunting but I am auditioning for a dance school so I love all the work we have done with Aspire.”
The dancers from the school of contemporary dance also thought the day was beneficial.
Amber Dollin said: “It was a really good experience for us to use dance to combat the children’s worries about going to high school.
“It was great being able to talk things through with them and give them guidance too.”
Fellow dancer Jay Allan said: “This is something that should definitely be rolled out to more schools. My local area doesn’t even have a dance programme so it has been a really fantastic experience.”
Jenna Corker added: “It was an all-round success. Performing can be daunting but all of the kids performed and did it well.”
