Fratton school strikes gold for good work to promote the arts
The prestigious Gold Artsmark Award has been awarded to a school in Fratton.
Celebrations are being had at Penbridge Junior School following the news of the award, which is accredited by Arts Council England.
Artsmark is the only creative quality standard for schools, with the assessor commending the school on its support for teachers delivering music lessons for children to enjoy.
Ashlee Cole, deputy headteacher at the New Road-based school, said:
“We love teaching the arts at Penbridge School.
“We place importance on these subjects and believe creativity has a positive impact on children’s wellbeing.
“It’s therefore important that all children feel they can achieve in an area of arts, so we ensure there is always something of interest to everyone.
“As a school, we will continue to evaluate what we are already doing well and then what other opportunities we need to look at for our children to enjoy.
“We continuously look at the arts curriculum and work towards becoming an Artsmark Platinum school someday.”
Art ambassadors have been appointed in every class at Penbridge.
They work with artists to then share their skills with their peers, as well as discuss arts provision in school and give feedback to staff on what arts activities they would like.
They have also introduced a Cultural Passport, which encourages children to access a wider range of arts and cultural activities.
The assessor who visited Penbridge Junior School also praised its work in promoting careers in creative and cultural industries.
Claire Young, lead on music at Penbridge Junior School, said: “This Artsmark Gold award is confirmation of all the good work that we’re doing across the school, promoting the arts in music, artwork, dance and drama.
“Applying for Artsmark has really brought the importance of the arts to the forefront, so we have been focused on achieving this over the last couple of years.
“We are already looking at what else we can do to inspire the children.”