NSCD RECEIVES SCOPE UK INCLUSIVITY ACTIVITY AWARD

We are thrilled to announce that the Learning & Participation team at NSCD has recently received the Scope UK Inclusive Activity Award for our Saturday School programme.

Receiving this award confirms that our practices and procedures are inclusive for all children, families, and employees. During their visit, Scope UK praised our ‘strong inclusive and positive behaviour practices’ and noted that ‘students have fun and channel their energy into creativity while developing confidence.’

Scope UK also highlighted that ‘NSCD maintains high policy standards and advocates for the safety of their children and young people, actively addressing and providing reflective feedback when necessary.’

Our Learning & Participation team is dedicated to making dance accessible to as many people as possible, both as participants and audience members. We play a key role in the strategic development of dance in the North, with a strong focus on widening participation and outreach efforts.

We strive to foster an inclusive and respectful learning environment across all our programs, encouraging curiosity, creative risk-taking, individuality, self-discipline, and ambition.

Scope UK's vision aims for ‘everyday equality,’ fairness, justice, and rights in all aspects of life—at home, at school, at work, and within our communities.

To achieve this award, we had to:

• Demonstrate our current inclusivity and outline our plans for improvement
• Allow observation of an activity session and have staff discuss their confidence in meeting the needs of disabled children
• Collaborate with a critical friend to develop our policies, application forms, website, and leaflets to reflect our inclusive ethos
• Access free training and resources.

Tracey Witney, Head of Learning & Participation at NSCD said:

“From its inception NSCD has been a trailblazer in dance provision. Our Learning & Participation programmes are committed to enabling as many people as possible to engage in dance, as audience members and participants. Our outreach and community engagement supports the vision and ethos of ‘dance for all’ and combines community provision and in house events.“

At the heart and soul of NSCD’s provision is our Golden Thread. We give the opportunity for our participants to access dance as a hobby through our children's, youth and adult provision or begin to make career choices through our prevocational training programmes into undergraduate / post graduate studies and beyond.”