Artsmark in Action
During the summer term, schools kindly invited us along to see their arts, culture and creativity in action. We love seeing how Artsmark transforms schools, please keep inviting us via this form.
Grace’s Day to Create
Our Artsmark Development Officer, Grace Bute, visited Wistaston Academy in Crewe last month. They hosted a Day to Create, celebrating diversity and inclusion thorugh bhangra and African drumming, drama workshops and self portrait drawings. She said about the day, “I was delighted to be invited and really pleased that every class, including their special educational needs (SEN) provision, took part in creative lessons with visiting musicians, creatives, authors and even a local Paralympic gold medallist, Andy Small.
“Visiting an Artsmark schools puts the award into a visual perspective and it’s always a great opportunity to celebrate the hard work these schools do.
“As soon as I walked in, I spotted the library space decorated with art the pupils had made across various subjects. Although the space already had quite a large collection of books, I noticed how each corridor also had bookshelves creating a reading trail around the school. It was clear that this school uses every nook and cranny to champion reading! Artsmark is working with the National Literacy Trust on a reading for pleasure research project, which I am heavily involved with, so it was wonderful to see Wistaston championing reading so well – they even have a vending machine filled with books instead of snacks!”
Pathways for young people
Thank you to New Bridge School in Oldham who welcomed our photographers to their recent Lumenus pathway showcase – a specialised arts pathway developed for 14–19-year-olds, offering an arts-rich curriculum for 30 young people with diverse disabilities. Acknowledged by the Department for Education, the Lumenus pathway empowers students to advocate for both the arts and the New Bridge Group on a broad scale, fostering disability awareness and inclusion.
Celebrating Virtual Schools
Our Senior Artsmark Development Officer, Kathryn Welford has been leading a pilot project for Virtual Schools. Virtual Schools support the education (inside and out of school) of care-experienced children and young people, and work in partnership with mainstream schools and adult carers to make sure these children have the same opportunities as any other child. We believe care-experienced children should get the same cultural opportunities too, whether this be at an after-school art club, or attending a theatre group at weekends or just being supported in school to follow their creative interests as part of the curriculum.
In partnership with The Mighty Creatives and Arts Connect in the East and West Midlands, and A New Direction in London, we’ve worked with eight Virtual Schools over the past 18 months to see how the Artsmark Framework and processes work for them. An evaluation report is underway and we’ll share more detail on this project in the autumn term.
We’re delighted to say that seven of the eight Virtual Schools have already achieved their Artsmark Award, with the final school due to complete in October 2024. On 25 June, Kathryn attended a celebration event for the Midlands Virtual Schools. Here’s what she had to say:
“Although we had read all the Virtual Schools’ Statements of Impact, and followed their journeys over the last 18 months, when a passionate teacher stands up and articulates not only how much they’d done but what impact it had, it gives you a whole new perspective on how powerful Artsmark can be. Albeit a pilot programme, these schools really ran with it, exceeding all our expectations of what they can achieve. Two schools achieved Platinum, four Gold and one Silver Artsmark Award.
“All had gone on tremendous journeys. Staffordshire Virtual School shared a film called ‘Misunderstood’, which was made by care-experienced young people and VAMOS Theatre and will be used to train teachers and social workers. It was scripted and performed by the children and so eloquently communicates the school experience for many care-experienced young people. The day was all about sharing, supporting and celebrating. We’re really looking forward to welcoming more Virtual Schools into the Artsmark family once we have completed the evaluation and seen what support or changes are needed to ensure they can embark on an Artsmark journey.”
Summer sounds with Great Sankey
Our Communications Officer, Jenny Clarke, was invited to Great Sankey’s summer concert by Great Sankey High School in Warrington. Their school choir and orchestra performed to the local community at their Neighbourhood Hub, next door to the high school.
Jenny said, “Great Sankey should be very proud of their talented young musicians and singers. We all enjoyed a Les Miserable and Abba medley, where some of the soloists sang in front of people for the very first time – amazing! Then the orchestra performed and the local nursery had come along to see the show, and the toddlers were absolutely mesmerised. One of the toddlers was bopping their head in perfect time to the drum beats!
“This is what really struck me about the concert. There were people from across the community, of all ages, who came along to support. Not just parents or grandparents. The school have developed a strong partnership with the venue, and their Head of Performing Arts, Joanne Cosgrove, is a huge advocate for building her students’ confidence and performing in public spaces.”
Here’s a snippet from the concert: