JUNIOR jivers from two schools aimed to dance their way through their exams with the help of a Newport dance teacher.

Pupils from Coed Eva and Pontnewydd Junior Schools in Cwmbran enlisted ex-professional dancer Ron Jones to educate them in the art of fancy footwork.

Mr Jones, 57, who runs Palm Court dance studio, off Chepstow Road, was drafted in to pass on his skills in wartime dancing as part of the pupils' work on the era for their Standard Attainment Tests (SATs).

He worked throughout the spring term with the 166 schoolchildren and they marked the end of their tuition with a dance cab-aret at Mount Pleasant Hall in Pont-newydd.

Watched by may-or of Torfaen, Councillor Colette Thomas, the youngsters put on a display of waltzes, foxtrots, bopping, rock 'n' roll - and even moves from the film Saturday Night Fever, which prompted the mayor to take to the floor herself.

They were joined by European Ten-Dance champions Katie Walton and Gary Wright, both 16 - who compete in a range of ten ballroom dances from rumba to pasa doble. Griffithstown Junior School was also involved in the project, but couldn't make it to the cabaret.

Mr Jones, a teacher for 40 years, said: "They weren't too enthusiastic to start with, especially the boys, but by the third lesson they were ecstatic. It was something totally different and very educational, but fun, too. I started dancing at nine and there weren't many boys involved, but nowadays there are a lot of Billy Elliots."

*PICTURED: Gary Wright, 16, and Katie Walton, 15.