Stafford school achieves gold creativity award

St Patrick's Catholic Primary School on Marston Road has been awarded the Artsmark Gold Award. As the only award for arts and culture provision in the country, it recognises schools for their 'exceptional commitment' to creativity and is accredited by Arts Council England.

A report of the school written by the Artsmark assessor said: "You are rightly proud of your recent Oftsed inspection result, where the arts were singled out as exceptional.

"Part of what makes your approach work is your commitment to connecting arts learning to real world contexts. For example, you have ensured pupils have visited the Lowry Museum twice, the Potteries Museum and Art Gallery, painted 'en plein air' at Shugborough (National Trust), Wightwick Manor (National Trust) and on location in your small county town. You also secured a whole school National Trust membership. As part of your whole school strategy each year group must visit a site and experience an ‘Art on Location’ trip, and this enriches the way children learn and helps imprint the content and skills by embedding it within a broader experiential endeavour."

Mark Brandon, principal of St Patrick's, said: "I am delighted with this achievement and what it means for our children. It is safe to say that our pupils really do love art!

"We have also seen that developing pupils’ creativity has impacted on other areas of learning in school and at home. In other areas such as RE, we have seen improved responses to scripture through poetry, drawing and painting."

St Patrick's is part of The Painsley Catholic Academy, and is the specialist hub school for art – meaning other schools within the academy will benefit from their expertise.

Mark added: "An important point to note is that our commitment to the arts has not only benefited the 200 pupils at our school, but our planning and strategic direction has also impacted positively on hundreds of other pupils across our local Multi-Academy, as they follow our guidance and planning.

"This is an incredible achievement and one that we know will having a lasting impact."