How do arts and culture currently play a role within your setting’s strategic values?
Reddish Hall School is a co-educational school catering for pupils with complex educational needs, communication difficulties and challenging behaviour- all our young people have an Education Health Care Plan. The school accepts pupils with social, emotional, and behavioural needs, though they may face additional challenges and diagnoses including ADHD, Asperger’s, SpLD, MLD, OCD, Dyslexia, Dyspraxia, Dyscalculia, Foetal Alcohol Syndrome or a variety of other conditions. Additionally, many of our pupils have serious social issues and very difficult home lives resulting in complex emotional difficulties. All pupils attending Reddish Hall School have individual needs that have proved too complex to be addressed within a mainstream setting. The school offers a bespoke pathways across two separate buildings Reddish Hall and the HIVE. Reddish hall provides a more ‘mainstream’ curriculum across primary and secondary whereas, the HIVE provides a vocational pathway suiting children who prefer hands-on learning, as they can engage with Motor Vehicle Maintenance, Construction, Hair & Beauty, and hospitality and catering.
How and why will your Artsmark journey contribute to the priorities in your strategic improvement plan?
Our Key Stage 3 and 4 curriculum at Reddish Hall School is broad and balanced. It takes a lead from the National Curriculum and personalises it to the needs of our pupils. Pupils are in class groups of usually no more than six, with a teaching assistant who remains with them for most lessons, and pupils are placed into class groups according to need. Pupils study a wide range of subjects: Maths, English, Science, PE, Geography, History, PSHE, Art, Food technology, DT, MFL and outdoor education. They have access to music through external providers.
Arts and creativity hold a broader spectrum of learning within Reddish hall school. The curriculum is highly personalised to support varied and specific learner needs. Depending on the changing needs of learners, our setting embeds creative approaches in a curriculum design offered to all students. The school offers Art GCSE and Art award to students across the school and HIVE. The arts are a positive force in society: children who feel ownership of the arts feel more confidence in their ability to create, challenge and explore, to be part of society, and to make change happen.
Likewise, enterprise has been introduced recently where students have been creating crafts to sell learning valuable life experiences as well. School offers lunch time activities, after school Art Clubs and intervention. Students are offered extra curriculum opportunities such as circus skills, African drumming, and craft competitions across the school outside of their timetable. This are vital for our students as some students do not get offered these opportunities outside of school. Personal development and the art department have been working on different seasonal competitions or creating work inspired by a key event.
At Reddish Hall we encourage all pupils to develop their love of music and the arts with increased self-confidence, creativity, and sense of achievement. These achievements are celebrated during weekly whole school activities. This is also evident when you walk around school and see displays or talk to the children about their experiences. Extra-curricular are where our pupils from all backgrounds find new ways of expressing themselves and of understanding the world. Although Music is not within our curriculum, we do offer music intervention has recently and a work in progress been put in place and students can put this towards an Arts Award qualification.
Looking at the Artsmark Award criteria, where does your setting currently have strengths and where would you like to develop?
At Reddish Hall we provide a highly inclusive environment where everyone can enjoy their learning and celebrate their achievements. A primary focus of our curriculum is to challenge our pupils to have high aspirations for themselves regardless of their starting point or the barriers to learning they may face. It is built on developing key skills and providing exciting learning opportunities for children to continue to apply and evolve acquired learning in a range of situations. This Artsmark journey will contribute to our curriculum and support the school towards achieving these specific targets outlined in the School Development Plan (SDP).
1. Opportunities for students to engage within the wider world of arts and culture. Providing opportunities for those that have struggled to access afterschool club or wider city opportunities. Pupils will have chance to interact with a wider selection of peers and develop social interaction skills, self-esteem and communication skills with some activities enabling some subject areas and improving final outcomes.
2. Implement arts and culture within all subjects by embedding into the curriculum planning.
3. CPD for staff in house and out within art skills and Arts Award planning.
Careful planning which will identify and support staff on building a broader and wider curriculum with effective skills across the arts. Topics and projects with will be planned systematically so key skills are interwoven into teaching throughout the school. Teachers and leaders will continually review the framework that will be implemented through the 2-year course and adapt where necessary. Subject leads will meet and discuss possible strategies that will impact pupils to engage in their learning and make good progress.
At Reddish we actively promote a lifelong love for learning and enjoyments of arts and culture and offer children a range of experiences and opportunities. Each subject is led by a leader who plans and timetables that suits the needs of their class that is taught across Primary, Nurture, Project 3, Ks3 and Ks4.
For example, GCSE art is an option for students in year 10/11 who can access the course. Likewise, Art Award is available for those students who have creative talent but just need a different style of course. GCSE groups have visited local museums and exhibitions to take primary imagery for their qualifications.
Primary and Nurture have excellent cultural opportunities both visiting different museums and cultural sites that have been planned within their wider curriculum. Although, as a school this could be expanded into other departments of our curriculum offer.
Students have opportunities to engage within music by engaging in taster salsa drumming, vocal groups, and intervention music lessons. Likewise, our vocational pathway has recently engaged within a Levi jeans music studio in Hulme, where they have learned to use different musical software and record their own tracks.
What are the goals and ambitions for your Artsmark journey and what steps will you take to achieve these?
The next step with this Artsmark journey is to share this Statement of Commitment with the Senior Leadership Team. It is essential that senior leaders are aware of, and support, the process to ensure that future work taking place can make the greatest impact possible.
A school meeting will be planned into the CPD calendar to share the Artmarks goals and vision with staff as it is crucial that all staff are aware of the process and can get on board. It is imperative that staff are involved with the process to ensure a real commitment to achieving excellence by all involved, as our common goal will be to raise the profile of the Arts across the whole school. CPD will be arranged with our Quality of education lead to implement an arts and culture box in our whole school planning proforma this will encourage teacher to embed and highlight within their planning. Likewise, CPD for staff will be arranged to further support them interweave arts and culture withing planning.
It is a goal to present our students with creative opportunities within school and off timetable across school. The students already completely different work within the arts, however trips and visits would equip students with cultural knowledge and understanding that will enable them to make better sense of the world and their place within it. Coming together for school trips to museums, galleries, theatres, and historical sites forges ties with the community as well as within the school and enriches the enjoyment and learning journey of all involved. Connecting with arts and cultural organisations can offer students the chance to take part in placement opportunities or volunteering programmes that provide them with valuable life skills and may even open doors to future career opportunities.
What support will you need and what resources will you commit to achieve your goals and ambitions?
To achieve our Artsmark goals we are going to need the support of the Senior Leadership. The SLT will be able to support with the distribution of budgets and money needed towards the arts. The SLT will also oversee the timetabling of subjects and performances when needed as well as allowing time for staff to prepare for events. It is also extremely important that the project has the support of the staff as it would be unable to run without them. Staff will be given the relevant CPD to ensure best practice and correct skills are used.
Reddish hall has sound links with local practitioners and organisation who deliver exciting music, drama and art workshop to students within Manchester, Salford and locally within Stockport. It is important that we offer both inside and outside practitioners to help students interact within the wider world of arts and culture.
Likewise, the school will also continue to build its partnerships with Artsmark and Culture Bridge who will be contactable for support and advice when needed. We are hoping to branch out and build other relationships throughout this journey with other areas of the Arts too.
How will you know you have achieved your goals and ambitions? What will success look like and how will you evidence it in your Statement of Impact?
At the end of this Artsmark journey, we are hoping that the profile of the arts around the whole school will have been raised significantly. At the moment, we see pockets of excellence in certain areas and certain year groups, but we are hoping that this will be across the board in the very near future. Children and staff will feel proud of their achievements and there will be a real buzz about the Arts across the whole school.
We are going to be collecting data from the past year about how many showcasing opportunities in school. We are then going to keep collecting data over the next two years to show the progress that will have been made in increasing these opportunities across the whole school. Not only will we be able to show an increase in the number of opportunities, but we will also be able to show a greater range of activities being celebrated. Leaning walks and SOW by SLT and Subject Leaders will also evidence the impact our Artsmark journey has had on specific subjects. Progress will also be tracked on our Target Tracker Assessment programme.