Sport Flintshire has held its first ever Secondary School Street Dance Festival in conjunction with the 5x60 scheme. (Taken from Flintshire County Council)

Schools from across the county gathered at Connah’s Quay Civic Hall, on Tuesday 26 January, to compete in a team event for years 7, 8 and 9 and also duo and quad events.

Supported locally by Flintshire County Council, 5x60 is designed to get more secondary school pupils taking part in 60 minutes of physical activity five times a week.

The festival was organised as a result of the success of street dance as part of last year’s Festival of Youth Sport which saw over 700 children from primary and secondary schools taking part in the activity.

The event, which was supported by volunteers from Deeside College, also acted as a ‘warm-up’ for the United Dance Organisation's (UDO) National Inter Schools Competition, which takes place in Cardiff on 23 March. Organisers hoped to help the students get used to performing in front of an audience and also taking part in a dance competition format. This year the UDO has also launched a UK final which the top Welsh teams will compete in.

Coaching for the teams has been provided by professional dance companies Urban Fusion and North East Wales Dance supported through the 5x60 Programme and Sport Flintshire.

Gareth Hayes, 5 x 60 Officer, Flintshire County Council, said: "The duo and quad events require the students to come up with their own routines so we are promoting not only health and fitness but also fostering their creativity and technical ability. The team event has also engendered a culture of teamwork amongst the dancers, working together to contribute to routines and holding additional practice sessions without their coach.

"We have a coaching programme that has seen us run workshops for sixth form students who are now volunteering as part of the Sport Flintshire Street Dance Crew 'Street Beatz' and delivering Street Dance in Primary Schools. Over 20 primary schools are receiving a minimum of five hours of coaching as a result. The coaching side of things is a massive success," he added.