Strictly glitz comes to Church Lane with pro dancer Robin visit

Robin visited Church Lane Primary School on Wednesday after offering them his first ever virtual dance class during lockdown, which led to more sessions with other schools.

Gemma Blanchard, the school’s Senior Administrator said they had wanted to engage pupils further in online learning. To their surprise Robin had agreed to perform an amazing online session for the children and families.

She said: “We then noticed he was taking it a bit further and managed to get him here in person.”

He spent all day teaching the children some of basic steps from Strictly and signing specially printed T-shirts. The school decked out the hall with tinsel and glitter balls, as well as making their own judging panel and scoring paddles.

Robin said: “Strictly is so popular no matter what age you are. All the children have been so excited and involved and have taken on board all the steps. One of the biggest surprises has been all the boys have absolutely loved it and won most of the competitions.

“I think dancing should be in all schools.”

He said the best thing was being there in person seeing how much they enjoy it: “For me, seeing the kids’ confidence grow while learning to dance even in such a short space of time proves how important it is to allow children opportunity to explore their creative side.

“Dance provides everybody the tools to blossom and shine resulting in a real boost in self esteem and self belief. It’s also a fantastic way of keeping both physically and mentally healthy whilst having fun.”

Gemma said: “It is bringing that famous person to life and giving them aspirations.”

She said it offered possibly less academic pupils other outlets to express themselves successfully.