{"id":247133,"date":"2025-07-08T05:02:10","date_gmt":"2025-07-08T05:02:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/247133\/"},"modified":"2025-07-08T05:02:10","modified_gmt":"2025-07-08T05:02:10","slug":"disappointment-following-closure-of-royal-ballet-schools-primary-steps-programme-that-benefitted-hundreds-of-bury-st-edmunds-children","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/247133\/","title":{"rendered":"Disappointment following closure of Royal Ballet School\u2019s Primary Steps programme that benefitted hundreds of Bury St Edmunds children"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

A mum has described children\u2019s \u2018devastation\u2019 over the closure of a programme that has given thousands of young people the opportunity of dance.<\/p>\n

The Royal Ballet School\u2019s Primary Steps programme, which operated in Bury St Edmunds<\/a> and four other centres in England, has come to an end after 20 years following the discontinuation of Department for Education (DfE) funding.<\/p>\n

This national junior school programme<\/a> provided children in Years 3 to 6 a positive introduction to ballet and initial creative ballet training, and for some it has been life-changing; from September 2025 there will be three ex-Primary Steps students studying as full-time students at The Royal Ballet School.<\/p>\n

\"RoyalRoyal Ballet Primary Steps children from Westgate Community Primary School. Picture: Submitted<\/p>\n

In Bury St Edmunds, the programme was in its 17th year and its partner schools have included: Westgate Community Primary; Guildhall Feoffment Community Primary; Hardwick Primary; Howard Community Primary; Sexton\u2019s Manor Primary; and Tollgate Primary.<\/p>\n

Westgate Primary parent Karen Frost, whose daughter Emily was in the programme, said the children were \u2018beyond devastated\u2019 about the closure of Primary Steps.<\/p>\n

She said: \u201cThe devastation was apparent last month when Primary Steps ended, and the tears shown from the children giving us their final performance, and the teachers who have such an amazing art to get the children dancing in a way that they don’t realise they are doing ballet.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"ChildrenChildren from Westgate Primary are among those affected by the Government stopping funding for the Royal Ballet\u2019s Primary Steps programme. Headteacher Rhonda Kidd with the ballet group at the school. Picture: Mark Westley<\/p>\n

Karen, a nurse from Bury, said her daughter, who is aged nine, had been quite shy and nervous, but as she journeyed through the programme it had given her the self-confidence to dance \u2018how she wants to\u2019.<\/p>\n

\u201cWithout this exciting opportunity given to primary school students, who are chosen to continue through the programme, a lot of children would miss this valuable experience where a lot of children could develop and this could influence their future careers,\u201d said Karen.<\/p>\n

Following an initial five-week course at the primary schools, those selected to go forward with the programme had classes at King Edward VI School, in Bury.<\/p>\n

Emily, who was amongst those selected for the weekly classes, should have had another two years in the programme, her mum said.<\/p>\n

Another Bury parent, Ellie Bishop, also spoke of her disappointment that her daughter Evie, aged nine, a Year 4 pupil at Hardwick Primary, will not be able to complete the programme.<\/p>\n

She highlighted how Primary Steps had given Evie another friendship group outside of school and she mentioned the discipline they were taught.<\/p>\n

\"Evie,Evie, nine, from Hardwick Primary School, was part of Primary Steps. Picture: Submitted<\/p>\n

She added: \u201cIt was an amazing opportunity for all of them. It just was an experience they just never would have got without it.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt sort of inspired them \u2013 even not so much in the ballet, but in everything, the level some people get to.\u201d<\/p>\n

She said the children had shown commitment to the programme, so it would have been nice if the Government funding could have continued to let the youngsters complete it.<\/p>\n

Parents are hoping MPs can get the Government to change its mind on the funding withdrawal.<\/p>\n

An email seen by Suffolk<\/a>News said the DfE had withdrawn the grant for the Primary Steps programme of \u00a3400,000 per year in its entirety.<\/p>\n

Rhonda Kidd, headteacher of Westgate Community Primary School, in Bury, said her school had been part of the Primary Steps programme since it was introduced and they were \u2018incredibly saddened\u2019 to hear of it stopping.<\/p>\n

\u201cBeing part of the programme has been a real privilege and it is a real loss for our school, and all schools who have been Primary Steps schools,\u201d said Mrs Kidd.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf the DfE ever reinstated the funding, which we desperately hope happens, we would not hesitate to re-join the programme.\u201d<\/p>\n

She said the sessions in school were \u2018so much more\u2019 than dance and part of a PE lesson.<\/p>\n

\"WestgateWestgate Primary head Rhonda Kidd said they were \u2018incredibly saddened\u2019 to hear Primary Steps would end. Picture: Mariam Ghaemi<\/p>\n

\u201cThe children have been encouraged to be creative, imaginative and work as part of a team,\u201d she said. \u201cThey have been inspired, grown in confidence and developed a love for dance – this is because of the expertise of the Primary Steps teachers.<\/p>\n

\u201cHaving live music in these sessions was also a wonderful experience and worked to bring the pupils’ movement and dancing to life.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mrs Kidd added that inviting parents in for the final lesson to showcase the children\u2019s learning over the five-week period was rewarding for both parents and pupils, and \u2018a wonderful way\u2019 to end the lessons in school.<\/p>\n

She said for a few of their pupils, they may even find a future career in ballet with the Royal Ballet School and this would never have happened without Primary Steps coming into school and working with the children when they were in Year 3.<\/p>\n

A spokesperson from The Royal Ballet School said: \u201cWith the Department for Education\u2019s funding for Primary Steps coming to an end, we are deeply saddened that we can\u2019t continue the programme in its current form.<\/p>\n

\u201cPrimary Steps has given over 2,000 children each year \u2014 many of whom might never otherwise have had the opportunity \u2014 their first experience of dance. For some, it has been life-changing: many have continued dancing, and some now attend The Royal Ballet School full-time.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe know how much the programme has meant to children, families, and schools across the country, and we are proud of its legacy.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are continuing to explore ways to widen access to dance education, including working with the Department for Education to support the aims of the National Centre for Dance and Music Education ahead of its launch in 2026.\u201d<\/p>\n

They said they were working on ways to still reach children in areas including Bury, but this won\u2019t be possible on the same scale.<\/p>\n

The DfE was approached for comment.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A mum has described children\u2019s \u2018devastation\u2019 over the closure of a programme that has given thousands of young…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":247134,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7757],"tags":[748,39792,2266,393,4884,609,257,35217,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-247133","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-london","8":"tag-britain","9":"tag-bury-st-edmunds","10":"tag-education","11":"tag-england","12":"tag-great-britain","13":"tag-human-interest","14":"tag-london","15":"tag-suffolk-homepage","16":"tag-uk","17":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114815863914759466","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/247133","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=247133"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/247133\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/247134"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=247133"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=247133"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=247133"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}