Pupils and staff at Isaac Newton Primary School 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, Isaac Newton School 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.
Isaac Newton School was supported by The Mighty Creatives in planning and developing their objectives. The Mighty Creative worked alongside the school at various stages to support their Artsmark Award achievement.
The Artsmark Assessor commended Isaac Newton School on their Artsmark journey, saying that post-Covid, their focus became about rebuilding the school community, exploring how children could express their experience of the many changes that had affected them. They commented on how the school have used the Arts very much within this context of building a positive learning environment, rich in stimulating experiences. They added that by working with artists, the school have enabled children to enrich forms of play, learn musical instruments, perform to audiences, take part in competitions and festivals, talk regularly about the Arts, artists, art movements, paintings and sculptures, and visit places that they may not have had the opportunity to before.
Whole school creative days have been introduced for both Art and DT, generating chances to talk, to collaborate and have fun while learning across the whole school. This has included parents too, who understandably were worried about their children’s well-being after Covid. The Arts allowed children a voice to share their anxieties as well as show off unrevealed talents which in turn helped to support those parents with their own anxieties about the school and helped to build better relationships.
On receiving the award, David Milner, Headteacher, said:
“We are extremely proud of achieving our Artsmark Silver Award. The pupils have really engaged with the process. I would like to thank in particular Mrs Clark for all her hard work with the children. We are committed to delivering a high-quality arts and cultural education and we look forward to continuing to grow with Artsmark.”
Dr Darren Henley CBE, Chief Executive of the Arts Council, said:
“I would like to congratulate Isaac Newton Primary School 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.”
