Artsmark Award at our school

Lead Mrs S Clarke and Mr P Forbes 

Our school is proud to be currently applying for the Artsmark Award, a nationally recognised creative quality standard for schools. Awarded by Arts Council England, Artsmark celebrates settings that put arts, culture, and creativity at the heart of their curriculum. For a SEND primary school like ours, the Artsmark journey provides a meaningful structure for developing inclusive creative learning, strengthening our arts provision, and ensuring that every pupil—whatever their needs or abilities—can access rich, inspiring arts experiences.

What Is the Artsmark Award?

Artsmark is the only national award that recognises high quality arts and cultural education across schools in England. It empowers teachers by providing access to world leading CPD from Goldsmiths, University of London, helping them embed creativity throughout the curriculum. Artsmark is open to primary, secondary, and special schools, and supports them in planning, developing, and evaluating their arts provision through a clear, flexible framework.

Schools commit to a two year development journey, supported by training, resources, and partnerships with cultural organisations. In recognition of their growth and achievements, schools can be awarded at Silver, Gold, or Platinum levels.

Why We Are Working Towards Artsmark

Artsmark has over 20 years of experience in helping schools transform their curriculum through the arts. It has been shown to improve pupil outcomes, wellbeing, teacher confidence, and whole school improvement, making it an excellent match for our school’s priorities.

Artsmark helps us:

• Strengthen creative teaching and learning
  Artsmark encourages teachers to embed arts and creativity across all subjects. This approach supports a broad and balanced curriculum and enhances engagement for pupils with diverse learning needs. Creative approaches can improve communication, sensory engagement, emotional regulation, and self‑expression, key areas for many SEND learners.
• Enhance staff skills and confidence
  Artsmark provides high quality professional development that helps teachers feel confident in planning, delivering, and evaluating arts rich learning. This includes support with curriculum design, progression planning, and cross curricular creativity.
• Develop meaningful cultural partnerships
  Through Artsmark, schools can collaborate with artists, arts organisations, theatres, museums, and cultural professionals. These partnerships enrich pupils’ learning, broaden exposure to different art forms, and provide real world experiences that are often particularly impactful for SEND pupils.

How Artsmark Will Benefit Our Pupils

For our pupils, creativity is a powerful tool for learning, communication, and personal development. The Artsmark framework supports us in delivering arts opportunities that are accessible, engaging, and tailored to individual needs.

Benefits for pupils include:

• Improved wellbeing and engagement
  Arts‑based learning has been shown to boost confidence, emotional expression, and enjoyment of school life. Artsmark supports this by promoting a culture of creativity and inclusion.
• Increased confidence and communication skills
  Through music, drama, art, dance, and digital arts, children can experiment with different ways of expressing their ideas. This is particularly valuable for pupils who communicate non‑verbally or who benefit from sensory rich environments. Opportunities for leadership and pupil voice
  Artsmark encourages pupils to take an active role in their creative projects—planning, making choices, presenting work, and reflecting on their progress. These experiences support independence, resilience, and personal pride.
• A richer, more diverse arts curriculum
  The award helps us ensure that pupils encounter a wide range of cultural experiences, reflecting diverse artists, art forms, and stories. This broadens understanding and helps children see creativity as something they can all be part of.

Our Commitment

By applying for the Artsmark Award, we are committing to a whole‑ chool journey that will strengthen our creative provision and ensure the arts continue to enrich every child’s learning. Artsmark supports us in building a school culture where creativity is celebrated, diversity is represented, and all pupils can thrive as confident, expressive, and imaginative learners.