A Broad Cultural Education for All Children

Statement of Entitlement

Holy Cross Catholic Primary School

 

Part of the school’s Spiritual, Moral, Social and Cultural ‘Outstanding Practice Plan’

 

(This document includes extracts adapted from ‘The importance of Music, a National Plan for Music, Henley 2011 and ‘Cultural Education in England’ Henley 2012. Holy Cross Catholic Primary School endorses these expectations and asks the governing body to adopt the statement)

 

“There should be a minimum level of Cultural Education that a child should expect to receive during his or her schooling as a whole…”

(Recommendation 1: Broad Cultural Education for all children, ‘Cultural Education in England’ Henley 2012)

 

 

Schools remain the single most important place where children learn about Cultural Education. This takes the form of structured curriculum lessons in subjects such as history, English literature, art and design, design technology, drama, dance, film studies and music, alongside programmes of after school activities for children who wish to pursue a passion for a particular art form.

 

The best performing schools bring Cultural Education practitioners into schools, alongside classroom teachers, to share their knowledge with pupils. These include artists, designers, historians, writers, poets, actors, musicians, curators, archivists, film-makers, dancers, librarians, architects and digital arts practitioners. Many of these in-school experiences are provided by cultural organisations, who have dedicated education departments, or by private sector companies from within the Creative and Cultural Industries.

‘Cultural Education in England’ Darren Henley 2012, Section 2.0 (THE CULTURAL EDUCATION LANDSCAPE)

 

Cultural Education includes: archaeology, architecture and the built environment, archives, craft, dance, design, digital arts, drama and theatre, film and cinemas, galleries, heritage, libraries, literature, live performance, museums, music, poetry and the visual arts.

(Section 1.0 Introduction, para 1.5 Henley review 2012)

 

By the time a child is 5 years old they should have:

• Regularly explored the arts to express and communicate their ideas, thoughts and feelings and stimulate their imagination.

 

• Regularly taken part in different cultural activities, such as reading books and story-telling, music making, dance, arts design and crafts.

       

• Visited age appropriate events and venues, such as a theatre, cinema, concert hall, museum, gallery, and library or heritage site.
• Had opportunities to create and explore work by themselves

 

• Had age and developmentally appropriate opportunities to present, display and perform to a range of audiences.

 

• Developed the use of age and developmentally appropriate arts-specific vocabulary to respond to, evaluate, explain, question and critique their own and other people’s artistic works.

 

• Taken part in workshops with professional artists and musicians

 

• Been made aware of the other activities and resources available to them in their local area

 

By the time a child is seven years old, they should have:

• Regularly explored the arts to express and communicate their ideas, thoughts and feelings and stimulate their imagination

 

• Regularly taken part in different cultural activities, such as reading books and story-telling, arts and crafts, making short animations, singing, music-making and dance.

 

• Visited age appropriate events and venues, such as a theatre, cinema, concert hall, museum, gallery, and library or heritage site.

• Had opportunities to create, to design, to devise, to compose and to choreograph their own work.

 

• Had opportunities to present, display and perform to a range of audiences.

 

• Developed the use of appropriate arts-specific vocabulary to respond to, evaluate, explain, question and critique their own and other people’s artistic works.

 

• Taken part in workshops with professional artists and musicians

 

• Been made aware of the other activities and resources available to them in their local area

 

By the time a child is eleven years old, they should have they should have enjoyed a high quality curriculum offer and:

• Had opportunities to gain knowledge, skills and understanding of Cultural Education subjects and also to explore their own thoughts feelings and imagination.

 

• Visited age appropriate events and venues, such as a theatre, cinema, concert hall, museum, gallery, and library or heritage site.

 

• Had the chance to create, to design, to devise, to compose and to choreograph their own art work in collaboration with their classmates as well as independently.

 

• Had opportunities to present, display and perform to a range of audiences.

 

• Use appropriate arts-specific vocabulary to respond to, evaluate, explain, analyse, question and critique their own and other people’s artistic works.                                                                                                 

• Learnt about the application of the latest technology to help them to access culture.

 

• Taken part in workshops with professional artists and musicians

 

• Been made aware of the other activities and resources available to them in their local area.

 

 

In addition, they will have:

• Been encouraged to be adventurous in their choices about cultural activities, by learning about literature, films, visual arts, crafts, heritage, music and dance that is beyond the scope of their normal everyday engagement.

 

• Learned about the people who have created or are creating art forms. They will also have gained knowledge about the historical development of those art forms.

 

• Had the chance to learn a musical instrument.

 

• Regularly taken part in singing.

 

• Taken part in dramatic performances.

 

• Taken part in workshops with professional artists, craftsmen, architects, musicians, archivists, curators, dancers, film-makers, poets, authors or actors.

 

• Become a regular user of a library.

 

• Regularly read books for pleasure, rather than only as part of their schoolwork.

 

• Been encouraged to use digital technology as a means of accessing and gaining a deeper understanding of great culture.

 

• Taken part in the making (writing, acting, shooting, editing) of a short film.

 

• Had the opportunity to gain a qualification through the Junior Arts Award.

 

• Received the support necessary to take an interest or passion further.

 

• Been able to join a lunchtime or after school club to continue their interests.

 

 

At Holy Cross Catholic Primary School, Governors, Staff and Parents will work together to ensure that Cultural Education is provided for our children via the curriculum, through visits and visitors, homework projects and clubs/extra-curricular activities.