Pupils and staff at Garlinge Primary School and Nursery are celebrating after receiving a prestigious Artsmark Award in a momentous year for the programme as it celebrates 20 years of arts, culture and creativity in schools.
The Artsmark Award is the only creative quality standard for schools, accredited by Arts Council England. It supports schools to develop and celebrate arts and cultural education, putting creativity and wellbeing at the heart of the curriculum. Artsmark ensures every young person can be creative and access a diverse, high-quality cultural education.
In order to achieve their Artsmark Award, Garlinge Primary School and Nursery had to develop their arts and culture provision to embed a broad and ambitious curriculum. This was achieved by creating an overall plan that was committed to and delivered across the whole school.
The Artsmark assessor commended Garlinge Primary School and Nursery on: “The high value you place on the Arts is well illustrated by the number of exciting arts projects that have taken place, such as the creative project based on the environmentalist Andy Goldsworthy, the visual art and photography projects, as well as the many opportunities for your pupils to perform music, dance and drama at competitions and large events. All these provide thrilling learning opportunities for the children.”
On receiving the award, Miss Jenkins, Year 6 teacher and Lead and Coordinator of the Arts at Garlinge Primary School and Nursery, said: “We’re extremely proud of achieving our Artsmark Gold Award. We are committed to delivering a high-quality arts and cultural education and we look forward to continue to grow with Artsmark.”
Dr Darren Henley OBE, Chief Executive of the Arts Council, said: “I would like to congratulate Garlinge Primary School and Nursery on their Artsmark Award. Becoming an Artsmark school demonstrates that through offering a broad, ambitious, and creative curriculum, every pupil can develop character and resilience, increasing their knowledge, curiosity and skills that will remain with them through to adult life.”