Coventry school wins award for showstopping dance performance

Jubilant winners

A Coventry school is celebrating having all the right moves after launching a city-wide dance competition and claiming second place at a major national competition.

Staff and pupils at Sacred Heart Catholic Primary School, part of the Romero Catholic Academy, are celebrating after the school's dance team claimed second place in the national final of the Great Big Dance Off, putting in a showstopping performance in front of a national audience.

The competition saw the best 31 primary school dance teams from across England perform at The New Theatre in Oxford, with the panel of judges ranking Sacred Heart in second place after progressing from the regional heats in March.

Sophie Newman, of Sacred Heart Catholic Primary School, said: "We were ecstatic to make it through to the National Finals again this year. After coming fourth at last year's finals all of our dancers were really enthused to keep performing and training hard, and their hard work has paid off with an incredible result considering the strength of the competition.

"Our dance team are such a dedicated and energetic group, and we had some fantastic feedback from judges and audience members. We are extremely proud of everyone who took part and would like to thank all parents, carers and support on our journey over the last year."

The achievement came just days after the Romero Catholic Academy launched the Cov Schools Dance Off, which saw 80 youngsters take part in the first city-wide entry level dance competition for primary school pupils, with Sacred Heart claiming the top prize.

Corpus Christi Catholic Primary School and St Patrick's Catholic Primary School, which are also part of the Romero Catholic Academy as well as St Augustine's Catholic Primary School, Eastern Green Junior School and Grangehurst Primary School also took part in the event, held at Cardinal Wiseman Catholic School, with many youngsters performing on stage and competing in a dance competition for the first time.

Eastern Green Junior School claimed second place with Corpus Christi Catholic Primary School picking up third.

Sophie said: "Everyone who took part can be proud of their performances, with some great teamwork and enthusiasm on show throughout the evening. We are extremely proud of our Sacred Heart team who all put in magnificent performances on their way to claiming top prize and would like to congratulate everyone who took part.

"It's the first year we've run this competition which we've set up especially as a local, fun opportunity for Coventry Primary school dancers to compete in an entry level competition.

"We hope to continue this as a yearly event and grow in size with even more schools and pupils to celebrate the talent and love for dance across our city's primary schools."