New Artsmark Award...

Now in its fifteenth year, the Artsmark award has helped the Arts Council and schools to ensure all children and young people have access to high quality arts and culture and reach the Arts Council goal of achieving Great art and culture for everyone.

Following changes to the educational landscape and as evidence of the impact of high quality cultural education grows, the Arts Council is working with school leaders and specialist art teachers to update and refresh Artsmark.

From September 2015, Artsmark will encourage and support schools to celebrate the strengths in their arts and culture provision, and to celebrate the impact of their arts and culture activities on their community.

The new award is designed by schools, for schools and will support deeper connections with schools' own strategies, align with school curriculum and planning cycles. Through the new Artsmark, all participating schools will develop a Statement of Commitment to arts and culture that connects to the broader curriculum and help provide evidence for Ofsted.

The newArtsmark award will be tested in a hundred schools across England this summer and an evaluation of the findings will influence the final design of the award. It will support schools to improve their artistic practice and outcomes for their students, and to build new and exciting partnerships with arts and cultural organisations. It will be an award that schools and education organisations can aim for at several levels, with expertise and support available to those who would like to improve.

Artsmark will help more schools give children and young people access to high quality arts and culture and unlock their skills and personal confidence to improve life chances.

The Mighty Creatives, as the Bridge organisation for the East Midlands, look forward to supporting schools, cultural organisations and music hubs through the new Artsmark award from September.

Please feel free to email artsmark@themightycreatives.com if you have any questions about the new process or are interested in receiving more information about our work supporting schools to achieve Artsmark.