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ARTS AWARD

WHAT IS THE ARTS AWARD?

Arts Award is a range of unique qualifications open to anyone aged up to 25. The awards aim to help young people grow as artists and arts leaders, inspiring them to connect with and take part in the wider arts world through setting personal challenges in the art form of their choice.

Through Arts Award young people gain a nationally recognised qualification; they gain knowledge and understanding in their chosen art form as well as developing leadership, creativity and communication skills. 

Students have described the Arts Award as ‘similar to DofE, but for the arts’ and certainly, as with DofE, the Arts Award qualifications exist in Bronze, Silver and Gold and have a similar focus on personal challenge and independence.

GORDON’S SCHOOL: OUR ARTS AWARD JOURNEY

Here at Gordon’s we hope the Arts Awards will give students a worthy qualification for the musical and artistic activities many already undertake, as well as maintaining and increasing students’ interest and enthusiasm in music and the Arts in general. We also believe it will prepare students well for the level of independence required at GCSE and beyond.

In January 2014, the Music Department launched Arts Award qualifications with 20 selected music students, to trial the qualification. News and interest of the Bronze Award spread and we had soon doubled our numbers.

In our first year, students completing the Bronze Award have shown real creativity not only in their musical performances, but also in the way they have chosen to display their work. It’s been fantastic to hear their thoughts about the activities they’ve taken part in and the different concerts they’ve seen; I’ve learned a lot from their ‘Arts Inspirations’, which ranged from musicians and actors to architects and they have been real ambassadors for the arts, ‘sharing their skills’ with a variety of other students, from the children at Tringham Pre-School to Year 6 students at Holy Trinity. 

Arts Award has continued to grow at Gordon’s School and the Bronze Award is now introduced as a non-compulsory option to all Year 8s. Pleasingly, some 40 or 50 Year 8s voluntarily undertake the award each year. In addition there is high demand for the Silver and Gold Award Period 7 options with around 20 students achieving this qualification each year.

Results 2022 - three students achieved Gold Awards; seven Silver and 49 Bronze.

Mr A Stanworth, Director of Music

If you would like to find out more about Arts Award or nominate your child to take part in it, please contact astanworth@gordons.school