Springfield School 

Arts Policy

Springfield School believes that an education in the Arts involves learning experiences in the following subject areas:  Art, Music, Drama, Photography and Dance.  Together they should: 

·       Provide pupils with the ability to appreciate and understand their own cultural heritage and that of others.  It should also enable them to participate in the cultural evolution and development of their society and community.

·       Develop pupils' capacity to generate and develop ideas, which foster a personal response and imaginative approach to their world.  It should accomplish this through first-hand experience of creating materials and using a variety of techniques to shape and communicate ideas.

·       Enhance pupils' ability to perceive, understand and share social, moral and personal values.

·       Provide an opportunity to study the particular concepts and techniques of the separate Arts disciplines.  It should lead to an understanding and appreciation of the individual nature and quality of these disciplines and develop an awareness of the relationship between them.

·       Develop pupils' skills of observation, perception, listening, analysis, investigation, designing and problem solving and should enhance teaching and learning in other subject areas.

·       Present a broad perspective, which includes the applied Arts and Arts industries.  It should foster understanding of the role and significance of the Arts in an industrial and technological context.

·       Ensure continuity and progression of experience between primary and secondary schools and should enrich the life of the school community.

The curricular, extra curricular and extended curricular activities at Springfield School enable pupils to have a rich and varied Arts education meeting the aims above.

The Arts are a generic part of the curriculum and pupils are entitled to a coherent Arts curriculum.  An Arts entitlement encompasses visual, aural, verbal, kinaesthetic and enactive sensory modes of engagement.

All Springfield pupils are actively encouraged to access a range of Arts and cultural experiences in which they develop their appreciation of the processes of participation, expression and enquiry.  They are an essential part of a broad and balanced comprehensive experience supporting the development of the whole person. The Arts will enable pupils to:

·       develop self expression

·       gain informal aesthetic appreciation

·       develop critical skills and awareness

·       gain awareness of one's own and others culture

·       raise self esteem

·       develop group skills

Springfield School believes the Arts can be delivered in a variety of ways:

·       through Arts umbrella projects

·       as a discrete subject

·       as part of a pastoral system

·       through the local community

·       across the curriculum

Springfield School believes the Arts in school should be linked to the Arts in the broader sense.  It is important to introduce pupils to a live experience in the Arts to stimulate their own creative activity and to introduce pupils to forms of cultural expression that they might not otherwise encounter.  This experience can bring pupils face to face with adult professionals in fields of work they would not normally encounter and they can import skills and techniques that might not otherwise be available to them.  These experiences can also support and stimulate teachers in their own professional development and encourage them to explore alternative teaching strategies/ideas.  Artists in Residence, visiting Arts groups and Artists in Industry, all provide a valuable resource.

Community Arts Projects are evaluated and disseminated amongst head teachers, governors and staff in all feeder schools, Springfield School and to members of the community.

Link governors for each of Music, Drama and Art are invited to observe projects, classes, meetings and planning of projects so they are actively involved with the Arts. 

Review Date:   Summer 2012