After becoming one of only seven Primary Schools in the South West to achieve Artsmark Platinum, Arts Lead Roxanne at Malmesbury Park Primary School shared her experiences of their two year Artsmark journey and the impact it had on their school’s development.
Whilst we still live in such uncertain times, planning in education can be difficult. The Artsmark award is a two year journey, where your education setting can register and receive support from your Arts Council England Bridge organisation to develop and improve Arts and Culture within your setting. Roxanne was surprised by what they achieved;
“When we came together to write our statement of impact we were amazed at the variety and range of arts experiences that had happened during our two-year journey. When talking to the children about these events, the impact was clear from their cherished memories and enthusiasm.”
With the positive impact of Arts and Culture on wellbeing and engagement strongly evident, Artsmark’s flexible framework will help embed arts, culture and creativity to support a broad and ambitious curriculum, strengthen pupil voice and support personal progression.
Teachers at Malmesbury Park reflected on the journey and said how Artsmark made them feel more confident in teaching, which in turn nurtured the children’s confidence. “I wouldn’t particularly consider myself artistic, said one teacher, “but after a CPD session, I was amazed at the obvious improvement and variety of work that the children (and I!) were able to produce. I was really proud of what the children were able to achieve and feel much more confident in being adventurous in the Arts.”
The impact on children’s well-being and enthusiasm was clearly evident for Roxanne; “The children have much more involvement and participation in suggesting, developing and delivering the Arts in our school.” From Arts Ambassadors to trying new techniques, “it’s great to see the children taking ownership of their learning through the Arts.” The children shared their favourite memories from their Artsmark journey saying, “Flamenco dancing was awesome. I loved learning about dances from different countries.”
Roxanne left us with this lovely piece of advice for anyone think about starting their Artsmark journey; “Involve the children! Listening to the children’s ideas really involves them throughout any project and not only increases their engagement with the subject, but also allows them to produce a higher quality of work.”
If you would like to get involved with Artsmark, you can register your setting for the Artsmark Award here. To find out more about Artsmark, you can get in touch with us at artsmarkhelp@realideas.org, or check out the Artsmark website here.
