Performing Arts in the Primary Curriculum

We are extremely lucky to enjoy the benefits of Nord Anglia’s collaboration with The Juilliard School across the age range at BIS, with access to curriculum resources, staff develop opportunities, global projects and world-class professionals in theatre, dance and music.

The Primary curriculum in Music and Dance is guided by the Juilliard programme, underpinned by the believe that the Performing Arts play a crucial role in enabling students to develop into intelligent, confident and well-rounded global citizens. We link the topics students are studying with their class teachers into projects centred around core works in music and dance through Juilliard’s Creative Classroom – an online catalogue of top-quality arts projects and resources.

Our Performing Arts team all regularly attend Juilliard training to stay up-to-date with the latest developments in the partnership and wider arts education. This training supports our staff to balance teaching the unique elements of each discipline whilst developing wider skills like creative problem solving, communication, collaboration and self-expression.

We have our own Dance, Drama and Music specialists based at Juilliard in New York City who challenge and support our team in school to develop the curriculum and opportunities provided to students through the collaboration. Last term, the music department used this visit to focus on developing our assessment model to ensure all students are making progress regardless of their previous musical experiences.

The Juilliard Collaboration and Global Campus provide students with opportunities to get involved in global initiatives, both as individuals and as part of the wider school community. Even whilst international travel is not a possibility, in recent months we have had students participate in the Nord Anglia Young Musician of the Year competition and our Primary Dance ECA are currently learning more about choreography through the Construct-a-Dance project.

Opportunities also exist for our wider BIS Hanoi community and we are excited to be hosting an online dance workshop for Parents on Tuesday 6^th April at 8.50am, led by our dance specialist at Juilliard, Hilary Easton. You can find out more information on the BIS Hanoi Facebook page. We look forward to seeing lots of you there!

Felicity Kirk (Ms)

Head of Performing Arts