Artsmark

The Into Film programme can support schools as they go on their Artsmark journey. Through a pilot project with a cluster of schools in Hull, we have identified how and where our programme can directly support schools in gaining an Artsmark.

What is Artsmark?

Artsmark celebrates schools that champion the arts and strive for excellence in their provision. Designed by schools and for schools to maximise its relevance to the changing educational landscape, Artsmark seeks to help schools strike a balance in meeting EBACC and STEM priorities. As well as recognising schools that make the arts come alive, Artsmark is a useful, practical and valuable tool for enriching a school's arts provision and ensuring the myriad benefits brought by the arts are infused across the curriculum and the school community. Artsmark is delivered by Arts Council England.

Ashai Nicholas of the Arts Council England explains how using film in the classroom can be a great way to gain Artsmark for your school.

Into Film and Artsmark

Within an Artsmark 'Statement of Commitment', a school needs to show what its current commitment is to arts and culture, and its plans for further development of the arts.

Schools are asked to demonstrate how engaging with the arts might help them reach particular school priorities, and then action-plan where they may use the arts over the next 12 months and beyond to help them achieve those goals.

Areas schools are asked to consider include (but need not be restricted to):

• Auditing current provision
• Establishing whole-school curriculum planning for the arts where the arts are used to improve teaching and learning in other curriculum areas, or where other curriculum content links to arts areas of the curriculum
• Developing a CPD programme
• Building partnerships with other schools and other relevant organisations,
• Developing approaches to capturing evidence of impact and evaluating progress

The Into Film programme connects with and helps schools on their Artsmark journey in the following ways:

• Film Clubs - Into Film Clubs provide an increase in arts provision in the school setting - connecting to curriculum priorities such as literacy, and other priorities such as increasing out of school arts provision or engaging harder to reach students.

• CPD and Training - The Into Film CPD programme helps schools plan a rich and engaging CPD programme for their workforce, and can also connect with school priorities to increase teachers' confidence when using art forms across the curriculum. Through our CPD programme teachers can begin to use film as a tool across the curriculum, bringing to life subjects which may not obviously lend themselves to using art forms, such as science or mathematics.

• Filmmaking and Industry Visits - The industry visits offered by Into Film could connect with school priorities such as reaching disengaged pupils, or increasing career and industry opportunities for students, as well as whole school arts and cultural activities. Films produced by groups of students can be screened for the whole school and, on occasion, with the external school community, thereby helping to build a large arts-focused and appreciative community. Filmmaking programmes such as See It, Make It also provide an opportunity for clusters of schools to connect, and develop communities of interest in the arts - especially if they begin to share inter school CPD and film screening events.

• Online Resources - Our extensive collection of free resources can really help with long term planning for schools going through the Artsmark journey. Making a commitment within an Artsmark statement to use our resources within your school during the next 12 months - especially when they tackle such varied subjects as literacy, anti-bullying, and modern foreign languages - ensures there are plenty of opportunities to use our tools to tackle your school's priorities and needs.

• Into Film Festival - The free Into Film Festival allows schools to visit and connect with cultural partners in their region. It allows schools to offer their students cultural experiences outside of the school environment. Our Festival also connects pupils and students with professionals from the industry to encourage them to engage more with arts and culture, or perhaps inspire them to forge careers in the arts themselves.

If you would like to find out more about how Into Film might be able to support your school with Artsmark, please contact us here.

Arts Award

One way to help your school on its journey to gaining Artsmark, is to encourage individual students to work towards an Arts Award. Schools hoping to gain the higher levels of Artsmark would be expected to embed Arts Award within their cultural offer to students.

The Arts Award accreditation links with our own programme of film watching, making and understanding - whether your students or youth group are discussing and reviewing films in a communal club, attending the Into Film Festival, taking part in filmmaking activities or engaging with members of the film industry.

Download our free resources below that outline what steps you can take through our programme to help your students achieve an Arts Award accreditation.