Chailey School awarded prestigious Gold Artsmark

Pupils and staff at Chailey School are celebrating after receiving a prestigious Gold Artsmark Award.

Artsmark is the only creative quality standard for schools, accredited by Arts Council England. It transforms teaching through creativity, empowering teachers with the skills they need to embed arts, culture and creativity across the whole curriculum, and is proven to support pupil outcomes and wellbeing.  

To achieve their Artsmark Award, Chailey School had to develop their arts and cultural provision to embed a broad and ambitious curriculum. This was achieved by creating an overall plan that was committed to and delivered across the whole school.

Over two years, Chailey School received professional support through an immersive learning programme from Artsmark’s delivery partner, Goldsmiths, University of London, who are world-renowned leaders in creative pedagogy and cultural placemaking.

The Artsmark Assessor commended the school, noting that, ‘Your school sounds like a really engaging place to be and your strong commitment to arts and culture is having measurable effects on staff and pupils. There is SLT support, and the arts are clearly embedded into school planning and ethos. There is a credible and growing exam offer. All pupils can access an established range of arts and cultural provision through work with local and national arts and cultural organisations, in school and on enrichment activities outside the classroom through the Chailey Award and Diploma, which leads to showcasing opportunities in school and the local community, such as local choir performances …Strengths in your application include your arts-based values and ethos, including the strong descriptions of your pedagogy behind the planning; your pupil voice activities … and your consideration and measurement of equity, diversity and inclusion throughout.’

On receiving the award, Head Teacher Paul Holt said: “We’re extremely proud of achieving our Artsmark Gold Award. We are committed to delivering a high-quality arts and cultural education. Our Artsmark journey has transformed our school by

Dr Darren Henley OBE, Chief Executive of Arts Council England, said:

“I would like to congratulate Chailey School on their Artsmark Award. Creative activities and cultural experiences enrich our lives, open our minds to new possibilities and help us make sense of the world around us. As an awarded Artsmark school, you’re demonstrating that by offering a broad, ambitious and creative curriculum, your young people will develop character and resilience, increasing their knowledge, curiosity and skills that will remain with them through to adult life.”

For more information, contact Tim Dudgeon, Assistant Headteacher at Chailey School at tdudgeon@chaileyschool.org