RSA Report
In 2020 the RSA reported:
The National Picture: from the 2020 RSA report*, assessing arts-rich schools
A nationwide problem is that children from more disadvantaged backgrounds are not able to be involved in the arts, given that many young people only take part in cultural learning activities such as music and theatre during school hours. The Social Mobility Commission and the Sutton Trust have found that children from disadvantaged backgrounds are less likely to take part in extra-curricular arts activities.
In 2018 the Tracking Arts Engagement and Learning (TALE) project by the RSC and the University of Nottingham, asked RSA Fellows and the wider public to nominate any schools that they considered to be ‘arts-rich’ defined as: “All students, whatever their heritage, status or family income, have access to and participate in arts and cultural education. The school sees arts subjects and cultural education as vital to the compulsory school curriculum.”
The resulting research showed the national experience is that the artistic environment of schools is enhanced by creating art-rich spaces; dedicated rooms for art and music where children can practice in breaks and also be used for Special Educational Needs art therapy. Some schools have made partnerships with arts professionals and volunteers and exhibited student work in public halls and local shops.
There have been concerns raised about subject ‘deep dives’ in primary schools under the new Ofsted framework, given that primary class teachers teach across the curriculum rather than focusing on a specialism. This is compounded by the lack of trained specialist teachers at secondary and primary levels. One way of dealing with this can be skills audits of staff, which identify teachers and teaching assistants (TAs) who are practicing artists or arts educators or had previous careers in the arts. Their expertise can be employed to deliver curricular and extra-curricular activities and to offer continuing professional development to other staff who had minimal opportunities to learn about arts teaching during their initial teacher training. There are clearly potential opportunities to develop these skills in primary schools by working with specialists in local secondary schools.
In 2017, the RSA launched ‘Learning About Culture’, the UK’s largest ever study into understanding the value and impact of arts based learning, particularly for children experiencing deprivation. The evaluators’ report was published in September 2021 and can be summarised by saying that many school leaders spoke about an improvement in exam results or Ofsted outcomes that they attributed to their school’s commitment to the arts. Often Ofsted inspectors made the same connection. In talking about these improvements school staff spoke of ‘transfer benefits’, i.e. how participating in the arts has led to improvements in other subjects, especially English and maths. Staff and students consistently cited the benefit of personal development, increased confidence and improved motivation at school.
*Royal Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufacturers and Commerce.
