National Awards
Arts Mark Gold
Artsmark is a national award scheme managed by Arts Council England that recognises schools with a high level of provision in the arts. The award scheme is open to all schools in England: primary, secondary, special schools and pupil referral units, both maintained and independent. Artsmark provides a benchmark for arts provision which encourages schools to consider the opportunities they offer in art, dance, drama and music. By gaining an Artsmark a school shows its commitment to the wider development of young people and teachers and to raising the profile of the arts in the school and local community. There are three levels of the award: Artsmark, Artsmark Silver and Artsmark Gold.
The Chase has twice been successful in its application for Artsmark Gold, being unusual in achieving the highest level on first application. The demands for qualification are stringent and we have done very well to manage two successful Gold awards. With a wide diversity of Arts experience both in and out of the classroom, students have multiple opportunities. These have been further extended as a result of the rescheduling of the school day.
Among the opportunities available are: Art & Design opportunities at home and abroad, Creative Writing at home and abroad, Dance, Debating, Drama, Film Club, Music (individual instrumental tuition, bands, choirs, ensembles, orchestras) newspaper production, Photography, poetry readings given by writers of national and international repute, public speaking, theatre visits and visiting theatre practitioners.