School Celebrates Platinum Artsmark Redesignation
Students and staff at Penwortham Girls’ High School are celebrating after receiving a prestigious Platinum Artsmark Award.
Artsmark is the only creative quality standard for schools, accredited by Arts Council England. It transforms teaching through creativity, empowering teachers with the skills they need to embed arts, culture and creativity across the whole curriculum, and is proven to support pupil outcomes and wellbeing.
To achieve their Artsmark Award, Penwortham Girls’ High School had to develop their arts and cultural 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.
Over two years, Penwortham Girls’ High School received professional support through an immersive learning programme from Artsmark’s delivery partner, Goldsmiths, University of London, who are world-renowned leaders in creative pedagogy and cultural placemaking.
The Artsmark Assessor commended Penwortham Girls’ High School on having a well-established arts curriculum stating that “You are working to support and improve the quality of arts education in your locality through your LCEP, music hub and work with your feeder Primary schools and other local secondary schools. Through this Artsmark journey you have seen attendance improve significantly and attribute this to Artsmark activity that increased students’ sense of belonging. You have a solid arts offer for your students. Key Stage 3 students study Art and Music for an hour each week. You offer Arts Award Bronze to all Year 7 students. Year 8 take a Grade 3 LAMDA qualification and year 9 Essential Knowledge curriculum is focused on drama. All students are offered an Arts GCSE option, with Art in two option blocks. You have seen an increase in take up of Arts GCSEs as a result of work in Key Stage 3. You use the arts to foster wellbeing for your students and students contribute actively to the planning and delivery of arts activities.”
On receiving the award, Sharon Hall (Headteacher), said “We are very proud to have been reaccredited with the Platinum Artsmark Award. The arts are an important part of school life and provide a valuable way to celebrate the diversity of our multicultural community. This recognition reflects the commitment of our staff, and I would like to thank them for the hard work and creativity that have made this achievement possible.”
Dr Darren Henley OBE, Chief Executive of Arts Council England, said “I would like to congratulate Penwortham Girls’ High School on their Artsmark Award. Creative activities and cultural experiences enrich our lives, open our minds to new possibilities and help us make sense of the world around us. As an awarded Artsmark school, you’re demonstrating that by offering a broad, ambitious and creative curriculum, your young people will develop character and resilience, increasing their knowledge, curiosity and skills that will remain with them through to adult life.”
