ULTIMATE JEWELRY

WHAT IS ARTSMARK?

Artsmark is a kitemark issued by Arts Council England Participating in Artsmark development can bring tremendous value to schools and educational institutions.

Artsmark is a nationally recognised programme that aims to support and celebrate schools that are committed to providing high-quality arts and cultural education. It is an excellent opportunity for schools to showcase their commitment to the arts and to demonstrate the positive impact that arts education can have on pupils' development.

Artsmark is not solely about the arts, it also encompasses cultural and creative development and supports creative health. The programme recognises that engagement with arts and culture can enhance people's creativity, wellbeing, and personal growth. By developing these skills, Artsmark helps young people to prepare for future challenges, nurturing their imaginations and promoting problem-solving abilities.

To be awarded Artsmark Platinum, schools must meet a set of criteria that focus on developing a high-quality arts curriculum, engaging pupils and staff in the arts, building partnerships with the wider community, and evaluating the impact of arts education. Additionally, Artsmark schools must adhere to the quality principles of striving for excellence and innovation, being authentic, being exciting, inspiring and engaging, ensuring a positive and inclusive experience, actively involving children and young people, enabling personal progression and developing belonging and ownership

Bolton School (Boys' Division) is a prime example of a school that has excelled in meeting these criteria and quality principles The school was awarded the prestigious Artsmark Platinum standard in both 2018 and 2021 This recognition means that Bolton School has demonstrated a sustained and substantial commitment to the arts, and it recognises the significant impact that arts education has had on pupils' development and achievements

B olton S c h ool ( B oys' D ivision): An

Ar t sm a rk Pl a tinum S e ttin g D urin g

Pa n d e mi c

IDENTIFYING GAPS IN PROVISION - SUMMARY ACTIONS FROM OUR 2021 PRE TO POSTPANDEMIC STATEMENT OF IMPACT

The school audited its provision within arts delivery, enrichment, pastoral care, literacy, character, and diversity strands to ensure a high-quality pupil experience After identifying gaps, we published a cultural learning plan that included a range of activities aimed at promoting cultural representation and challenge. Our curriculum now includes the Musical Futures programme and signature projects in Art and Design that incorporate literacy and character development.

During fortnightly 'SPACE' enrichment afternoons, we use Lucas and Spencer's creative habits to plan and deliver creative learning units that supplement pastoral, literacy, and diversity strands. Our SPACE afternoons include a variety of activities throughout the year, such as Year 7 Arts Award, Year 8 Bolton Film Festival participation, and museum and gallery curation.

We introduced participation in the RSA Pupil Design Awards to encourage pupils to design responses to social issues. Year 12 pupils were shortlisted as finalists for their plans to challenge systemic racism and create a more inclusive story of our past We worked with a National Lottery Heritage Fund trustee, curator and a specialist in anti-racist education in the development of this project.

Overcoming The Challenges Of Pandemic Arts Delivery

During the pandemic, the school faced several challenges in delivering Arts Award Bronze to all Year 7 students and adopted various forms of remote delivery. Advisors upskilled rapidly, and assemblies and development sessions were run via Zoom and Showbie. Parents supported skills share activities at home, participating as learners to their sons ' creative teaching role.

The school maintained its performing arts and cultural events calendar by translating senior productions into socially distanced theatre for film and recording socially distant musical ensembles for a Christmas festival.

The school also worked with creative practitioners to commission live Zoom and video content for the whole school and community enrichment offers This included a community creative writing programme with Professor Andrew McMillan from The Manchester Writing School and a pilot co-creative community arts programme in association with Manchester International Festival This has now become Creatives Now - an ongoing studio and online collective for young people in Bolton aged 12-18. The magazine of the same name has shifted to a product of this group

Despite some delays to teaching for creativity CPD advances, the school continued to work in this direction within creative arts subjects in terms of auditing and planning for the return to the classroom.

Pupil Experience

The school's Arts Award Bronze programme engaged 316 pupils between 2019-2021. 61 arts and culture clubs take place each week The school's ambitious trips programme supported arts venues as they reopened after pandemic shutdown Pupils visited museums and local mills to explore history and culture, carried out photography work, and fed these experiences into curriculum focuses

Pupils enjoyed industry insights from artists, poets, filmmakers, curators, architects, theatre producers, and digital strategists Pupil voice and co-creation strategies were key drivers of the school's arts development The school participated in an offline day of Mass Observation directives during lockdown, providing rich data about the school community's cultural priorities and interests event planning.

The school's Concert Band received a platinum award at the National Concert Band Festival in 2019 and the school was a finalist in the Performing Arts category of the Independent School Parents' School of the Year Awards in 2021 for its work to maintain performing arts delivery over the course of the pandemic

IMPACT ON STAFF, SCHOOL LEADERSHIP & COMMUNITY

School's Creative Learning lead received training from the Arts Council and Manchester International Festival, as well as participating in national arts leadership programmes with the Royal Opera House and the Local Cultural Education Partnership network This had a direct impact on cultural provision for young people in Bolton, including the strategic redevelopment of Bolton's CEP and Bolton School steerage of their strategic and delivery groups

The Head of Music/Arts Award Co-ordinator and Head of Art participated in Curious Minds' Leading the Arts in Your School training

The school developed the basis of its own "Flourish" model to begin exploration of teaching creativity and character, establishing links with Bill Lucas and the Centre for Real World Learning to progress this work.

Pupils who worked on RSA design projects shared their work via Radio 4 (Descendants, RSA Roots to Empowerment Brief ) and ITV s Tonight programme on matters of women ’ s safety. Additionally, the school's work was represented in national CPD programmes such as Tybed and Evolve Arts. Pupils contributed to this CPD delivery, demonstrating the impact of their

VALUES & DEVELOPMENT

School Development Plan:

The school development plan aims to advance partnership and outreach and to continue to develop creativity in all aspects of school life.

The school has a Platinum Artsmark Award and plans to produce a longer-term development plan linking creativity to all of its development aspirations. Connection of creativity and culture to pastoral care, skills for learning, literacy, character, engagement with parents, strategic development of ECA, position on social media, and pupil voice

Curriculum Design, Careers, Skills + Talented programme: Embed arts careers signposting in arts curriculum and extend arts qualification offers to include Trinity acting qualifications and competition programmes.

Use Arts Award to create a narrative for the progression of talented pupils and connect curriculum design to artistcommissioned enrichment and partnership work. Develop a weekend community theatre offer in partnership with the local theatre for public showcase and group qualifications.

Character and Creative Habits, ‘Flourish’: Use creativity to support character development and wellbeing, demystify skills, and reframe 'soft skills' as central. Eventually, use academic coaching that includes creative and cultural participation data to support inclusion and social mobility.

Undertake phased CPD to support the delivery of this.

Diversity and Inclusion Practice:

The school has used Artsmark development to amplify the impact of SMSC and diversity and inclusion practice Further exploration of pedagogical approaches to embedding cultural learning across the curriculum should occur in the next phase. The school has produced enrichment work in the areas of race, gender, and well-being There is intent to champion the work of neuro and physically diverse artists and cultural figures in the next phase

The school aims to deepen pupil empathy via experiential range and reflection.

Partnerships and Outreach:

The school plans to extend curriculum activity to lead pupils into sector experience and integrated community opportunities

The school plans to continue to develop outreach programmes that sensitively seed cultural capital and support social mobility