News Local schools triumph with Artsmark awards
This year the Arts Council England has awarded 146 schools from Yorkshire an Artsmark award, including five local schools.
Among the 146 were Barmby on the Marsh Primary, Riverside School, Gilberdyke Primary, Eastrington Primary and Reedness Primary, who all received the award for their commitment to, and excellence in, arts education including visual art, music, dance and drama.
There are three levels of the award: Artsmark, Artsmark Silver and Artsmark Gold.
More than half the schools in the region have once again gained the highest level of award, an Artsmark Gold.
Representatives from the schools were presented with their awards by Tony Lidington, writer and performer with Bradford Promenade Promotions, at an awards ceremony on July 1.
The ceremony, which was held at the West Yorkshire Playhouse in Leeds, featured performances by various schools, along with Leeds-based Notraz Dance Group and Scarborough rapper M C Firby.
Andy Carver, executive director of the Arts Council England said: "I am delighted to see the number of Yorkshire schools achieving an Artsmark award increasing every year. Arts Council England is committed to great art for everyone and these creative opportunities in schools lay the foundation for a lifelong engagement with the arts."
For a school to be awarded an Artsmark it must dedicate a minimum of 10 per cent of its curricular teaching time to the arts; to achieve a Silver Artsmark 12 per cent must be dedicated, and 15 per cent to qualify for a Gold Artsmark.
As the national development agency for the arts, the Arts Council supports a range of artistic activities from theatre to music, literature to dance, photography to digital art and carnival to crafts.
By 2011 the Arts Council will have invested £1.3 billion of public money from government funding and a further £0.3 billion from the National Lottery fund to create great art experiences for as many people as possible across the country.
Published on 10th July 2008 in News.
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