Bracken Lane Academy has been awarded the Artsmark Silver Award, the only creative quality standard for schools and education settings, accredited by Arts Council England.
Receiving the Artsmark Award is testament to the commitment to arts and cultural education we have for all children at our academy. Art lead Lizzy Smith has responded to the news, saying: “I am so proud of what we have achieved and much of this was during some very challenging times”, principal Helen Cawkill echoed these sentiments and has said “we are all very excited to receive this award and want to thank everyone who has worked so hard and supported our arts events”.
The assessors shared some of their comments from the assessment, including how positive it was to read about our ‘Take One’ arts project, which occur on a termly basis. And praised our CPD support for teachers and our work with professional artists and engaging parents, which has helped to raise the profile of arts across the community. They also recognised many of our wider community arts events, including Pilgrim Fathers celebration, Christmas festivals, the Book Bench project and Morrison’s design competitions.
Feedback also highlighted our dedicated staff meeting time where we deliver arts based CPD to teachers and the impact this is having on the learning outcomes of children at the academy. The Arts Council concluded with this lovely statement: “You have established firm foundations across the arts over what has been a very challenging time and pupils, staff and the management team should be proud of your achievements.”
We are so pleased to have our commitment to the arts formally recognised and look forward to continuing to grow and foster this love for the arts in our academy and the wider community.
