Emotive dance routine wins this year’s County Schools Challenge

An emotive and immersive dance routine choreographed to explore the consequences of violence against women and girls was the winner of this year’s County Schools Challenge.

Students from eight secondary schools across Northamptonshire gathered on Monday evening (July 1) to present their social enterprise ideas on this year’s theme of violence against women and girls to a panel of judges at the Castle Theatre in Wellingborough.

Earlier this year, secondary schools across the county were tasked with creating innovative products or services that could help raise awareness of and prevent misogyny in the community.

The schools in the Grand Final were:

• Corby Technical School
• The Duston School, Northampton
• Huxlow Science College, Irthlingborough
• Moulton School and Science College
• Elizabeth Woodville School (North), Roade
• Northampton School for Girls
• Kingswood Secondary Academy, Corby
• Malcolm Arnold Academy, Northampton

During the Grand Final, the finalists presented their ideas to a panel of judges made up of Acting Chief Constable Ivan Balhatchet, Northamptonshire Fire and Rescue Service’s Chief Fire Officer, Nikki Watson, Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner Danielle Stone, Louise de Chiara, Assistant Director of the Northamptonshire Children’s Trust, and Rachel Duncan, CEO of the Northamptonshire Domestic Abuse Service.

This year’s winners were Moulton School and Science College, whose winning entry was a contemporary and immersive dance performance that represented a victim, attacker and an upstander. The skilled choreography explored the relationships between the three characters and the consequences of their actions. The winning team walked away with the top trophy, goodie bags, and prize money – which they are planning on using to create a short film to present in primary schools to help younger children explore these issues.

Prevention Manager at Northamptonshire Police, Sara Townsend, said “The judges were clearly impressed and moved by the performance and asked questions that the team dealt with very professionally.

“There was a whole range of ideas from podcasts to raps and all the teams brought amazing energy and personality to the stage. It truly was an uplifting evening, and the atmosphere of support was incredible.”

Other prizes handed out on the night included the Johnson Award for partnership working and the Franklin Award for motivation and fun. These went to Northampton School for Girls and Corby Technical School, respectively.

County Schools Challenge organiser, Henny Cameron, said “It was a great evening, and I’d like to congratulate all the students who took part. Thank you to all the schools involved in this year’s challenge, and to the teachers, parents and volunteers who put in time and effort to make it a successful event.”

The first Northamptonshire County Schools Challenge was launched in 2009. That year, the competition was won by a team from Weavers School in Wellingborough, who designed an educational DVD and bin sticker to help combat wheelie bin arson in the area. To date there has been a 60 per cent reduction in wheelie bin fires and the products have been used internationally, with the film shown in Europe, Australia and the US.