Paraparaumu College's lockdown dance video impresses in competition

Most of Paraparaumu College's supported learning class. Photo / David Haxton

Paraparaumu College's supported learning class has done well in a global competition which focuses on ability.

The class, aged from 13 to 20, impressed the judges with their collaborated dance video which was compiled during lockdown.

They used dance via Zoom as a way to keep them connected during lockdown.

"I teach dance anyway so it was a carry on from our normal dance lessons in the class," teacher Shelley Shackleton said.

"And then I started to think about a piece of work we could do with our dance.

"That's when the video started.

"I did lots of video clips of myself teaching the group to dance and we used our Seesaw app.

"We put the dance on there and everyone had different bits to learn.

"And then they had to video at home or somewhere within their bubble, send it in, and then we would put it all together and it became a dance video called Try Everything.

"We showed it to staff and that's when our arts co-ordinator mentioned a competition that was run in Australia.

"We hadn't made it for the competition, we made it for us and a reminder of lockdown and what we achieved."

Paraparaumu College's supported learning class.

The collaborated dance video, which ex-college student Samuel Cameron helped edit, was entered into the Australian competition called Focus on Ability.

"There were 267 entries from 19 countries," Shelley said.

"There were documentaries and short films.

"We entered into the school short film Australia and New Zealand category and made the top five.

"I was blown away.

"It was an awesome result and I was very proud of the group.

"And very proud that they were recognised for their hard work especially in that period of time [lockdown] when we all felt those emotions this year."

Meanwhile, three of the students made it into the top 100 of the IHC Arts Awards.

They were Wolfgang Mence, Anna Robins and Jaedyn Shelford Hinds.