Art Performing Arts

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Arts Award Scheme

Engaging artistic activities from KS1 to KS5

On the Arts Award journey and need to provide your group with some exciting activities? All the venues and workshops you will find on this page are approved Arts Award Supporters or Arts Award Centres, keen to help your group with their Arts Award - whether they are starting out on the discovery project, or working towards their gold award!

Discover activities for the Arts Award

The Arts Award is an exciting scheme designed to engage school groups in the arts and encourage their creativity. This nationally recognized programme provides a structured framework for young people to get more involved with the visual and performing arts, where they can develop new skills, and earn valuable qualifications. Through the Arts Award, students are encouraged to participate in a diverse range of artistic and cultural activities, from painting and sculpture to dance, drama, music, and digital media. They work towards achieving different award levels - Discover, Explore, Bronze, Silver, and Gold.

So where can you get help and inspiration when working towards the award? Locations typically include museums, galleries, theatres, music venues, dance companies, but there are also arts providers who can come to you in the form of a workshop.

There are countless ways to participate in the Arts Award scheme and develop the creative talents of your students. Some specific examples of creative ideas that could be recognized by arts awards include the visual arts like painting and drawing, sculpture, or photography. Then there are the performing arts such as music, dance, theater, or film.

Your class could explore various forms of creative writing and poetry, or try their hand at digital arts like animation, game or graphic design. Budding musicians could elect to pursue their craft in any genre from classical to hip hop, rock to electronic. While those drawn to dance can study styles such as ballet, breakdancing, salsa or contemporary. The creative arts also allow people to thrive behind the scenes. You may not be cut out to be an actor, but that does not rule out the theatre - roles like stage management, lighting design, sound engineering or costume design need creative people, as do those working in marketing and promotion. The Arts Award provides a flexible framework to grow your skills.

Arts Award Centres and Supporters

To help your students create their personalised arts portfolio, schools can benefit from partnering with arts and cultural organisations. Working with these approved Arts Award Centres or Supporters can give students inspiring encounters with professional artists or give them access to high-quality arts venues and resources that count towards the award.

An Arts Award Centre is an organisation who actually offer Arts Award for your students. Whereas, to become an Arts Award Supporter, the organization has had to demonstrate that they provide high-quality, engaging arts programs suitable for young people at various levels of the Arts Award. This could include activities like workshops, classes, performances, exhibitions, artist talks, behind-the-scenes tours, or work experience opportunities in the arts. The Arts Award Supporter badge is a mark of excellence that shows the organization is committed to nurturing young artistic talent. Arts Award Supporters and Centres also form an essential link between young people and the arts sector.