THE ARTS


Squeezing the arts T


Tight budgets and measures like the EBacc have put pressure on the


arts. Brian Rossiter looks at how schools are finding cheaper alternatives to keep delivering arts experiences


o say that the arts in schools are being squeezed is an understatement. Pressures are exerted from several directions with the twin pincers of curriculum and funding, or lack of it, seemingly marginalising arts provision in English secondaries.


In curriculum terms, the emerging game-playing in


relation to the English Baccalaureate (EBacc) is having an effect. The retrospective introduction of this performance


measure has led some schools to modify their options offer at GCSE. The contentious question being asked is: “Is this modification for the benefit of the student or the institution?” Some parents have been persuaded by the publicity


to ensure their child “opts” for EBacc subjects instead of the arts. Note the significant increase in uptake


Moral support: Teacher Support Network When a teacher does not perform


What kind of impact do teachers who are less than


high-performing have on pupils? Julian Stanley


asks the question THE EDUCATION Select Committee’s recent report on attracting, training and retaining the best teachers concluded something that, I suspect, most of us already know from our own experiences: “A year’s exposure to a high-performing teacher has a lasting impact on pupils, building confidence, earnings and wellbeing later in life.” The report explained that “evidence is clear that


outstanding teachers at all phases can have a profound positive impact on pupils’ performance, which in turn leads to better outcomes in further education, pay, wellbeing and for society at large”. The comments follow an inquiry by the committee


into what evidence was available to help identify which applicants were likely to become the most effective teachers and whether particular routes into teaching were more likely to attract high quality trainees. It also hoped to identify which types of training produced the “better” teachers. The validity of the report’s findings and


recommendations on these specific issues is a matter for discussion in another column, but what does stand out is this link between the performance of a teacher and that of their pupils. It is a link that we have long been interested in.


Indeed, we all know that, like everyone else, teachers have their limits, and that when this limit is reached, there can often be an impact on their health and wellbeing. We only need to look at the latest increase in


sickness absence figures to see this in practice: 56 per cent of teachers in service at any time during 2010/11 took time off sick from work, compared to 52 per cent in 2009/10. The average time taken off last year was 4.6 days, a small increase from 4.2 days in 2009/10. What is less well understood, however, is the knock-on effect that poor teacher health and


wellbeing can have on school pupils. If, as the report suggests, “a high-performing teacher has a lasting impact on pupils”, could the inverse also be implied? What is the effect of a “low-performing teacher” on their pupils? Could there be a negative impact on pupils’ attainment, confidence, earnings and health later in life? This then raises the question of what an “effective”


teacher looks like? In the evidence that we submitted to the committee, we said: “The definition of the effective teacher, and the effectiveness of strategies to attract them, changes as regularly as academic and political beliefs develop. This is evidenced, for example, by the fact that, come January 2012, there will have been three variations of Ofsted inspection criteria for maintained schools in the last three years.” In addition, we must also ask what support is


available to these teachers who are not performing well. While we would agree with the comments of Graham Stuart, committee chairman, that “it’s crucial that we have an educational system which celebrates great teachers, keeps more of them in the classroom, supports their development, and gives them greater status and reward”, is it not just as important to support those teachers who are struggling? These are not questions that can be answered


quickly, but they do need further discussion and exploration. This is why we are actively working to establish a review, with teachers, educationalists and those who work with them, that independently identifies and measures teacher wellbeing, its impact on pupil outcomes, and how teacher health and wellbeing can best be improved. In the meantime, our charity continues to provide


teachers with services designed to help them be effective in the classroom, even amid personal and professional difficulties. As we said in our submission: “The standards


for teachers ... should not only mention the need for every teacher to care for their own health and wellbeing and that of their colleagues, but that the subject of health and wellbeing must become an integral part of all teacher training, development and practice. This is not just in the best interest of the teacher, but also their colleagues, their pupils and the wider school community.”


• Julian Stanley is chief executive of the Teacher Support Network. Visit www.teachersupport.info or call 08000 562 561 (England), 08000 855088 (Wales).


in modern foreign languages since its introduction. The overall effect is a reduction in students following courses considered to be in the arts and other areas. The damage to the arts curriculum has already been


done. Allied to this squeeze on numbers is a view from some quarters that the introduction of £9,000 student fees at many universities will make students of the arts reconsider taking those courses post-18. So why then take them at 16 when there could be more relevant Level 3 qualifications a student could take to prepare for that step into higher education? The effects of the Comprehensive Spending Review


are still being felt by funding bodies such as the Arts Council, which in turn has an effect all the way down to the individual student actor, artist or musician. Previously support for schools has been directed to arts bodies such as Creative Partnerships who then fund specific programmes in schools. Central funding has also indirectly supported


schools and hence students via the local authority route. This too has dried up in many areas, although there are still some enlightened councils that, even in difficult times, support the arts. An example is that of Sheffield where Museums


Sheffield, an independent charity funded by Sheffield City Council, and the now defunct Museums Libraries and Archives Council, strives to offer the community and in this case students, a lively arts package in extremely challenging circumstances. Funding from the Department for Culture Media and


Sport Strategic Commissioning Programme allowed Museums Sheffield to work with secondary students in a different environment, and for students to fully engage in vocational learning in an arts context. They have worked with year 9 to 13 students at many


Sheffield secondary schools as well as an Action for Children group of young mothers. Using their historic collections as inspiration they have delivered projects to support the teaching and learning of manufacturing and design and technology as well as various units from the creative and media Diploma. For example, year 10 creative and media students


from Newfield School created their own theatre company and wrote, produced and performed a public play in the city centre Graves Gallery inspired by the concurrent “Writers” exhibition. Newfield teacher John Stocks described his


involvement as “the most exciting and exhilarating phase of teaching I have experienced, and I am currently in my 30th year”. The varied range of innovative partnerships,


interactive liaisons with artists and business professionals and the range of opportunities for students is unprecedented in these times. Museums Sheffield projects offer the opportunity


for young people to get close to their collections and to have unique access with their partner national institutions such as the National Portrait Gallery and the Victoria and Albert Museum. With the abolition of the Museums, Libraries and


Archives Council this year, taken over by Arts Council England, demands on funding for the arts has been further exacerbated. The Arts Council decision in January not to award any funding to Museums Sheffield under the competitive Major Grants Fund has had far reaching consequences. School-based activity will be radically curtailed


with the Learning Team being reduced from 27 posts to three. Museums Sheffield is now looking at new ways of funding its learning activity but for the immediate future, things look bleak indeed – although they are not giving up. Secondary schools are very aware of the pressures


on their own budgets and are withdrawing from many arts-based projects and enhancements to the curriculum. They believe that everything costs. Artists and writers in residence, and paid access to experts and resources are all in decline. Currently


14


Free art: Students were among the many visitors to the free LS Lowry exhibition at the Lakeside Arts Centre in Nottingham


there is no central database showing where support is still available locally or regionally. It is still only a pipe dream to have such a database in Sheffield. Organisations such as Museums Sheffield struggle to make schools aware of their “offer” at the same time as schools struggle to find such resources locally. It is almost like re-inventing the wheel each time


a teacher in a classroom wishes to deviate from that which has gone before. It does not always cost schools to work with outside organisations. Take a look at the MyLearning website, a source


of free learning resources, including images, audio and video from museums, libraries and archives across Yorkshire; all available to brighten up delivery in classrooms across the country. Throughout the country there are fascinating and


awe-inspiring free events that seek a school audience. Only last term one of the largest exhibitions of LS Lowry’s paintings and line drawings in 30 years opened at the Djanogly Art Gallery, Lakeside Arts Centre, on the University of Nottingham central campus. This world class exhibition, free and open to the public, was hosted as a result of philanthropic support from generous benefactors. Lakeside welcomed 47,000 visitors to the exhibition


and was delighted with the “overwhelming response from schools (primary and secondary) who attended in large numbers and enthused about the opportunity to engage with the work of Lowry”. The current Edward Burra (one of the greatest stage


designers of the 20th century) exhibition provides A level students in particular with a rich stimulus for study, given his incredible love of theatrical spectacle set alongside a collection of his monumental watercolours of British landscapes. Thanks to philanthropy, Lakeside is able to continue


to offer its entire exhibition programme free of charge. Its newest asset, the Museum of Archaeology, has a tremendous collection including Roman, Saxon, and Italian objects on permanent display and a fabulous free touring resource In Search of Margidunum (a Romano-British Town) – a museum in a box! Additionally the Weston Gallery draws on the


university’s tremendously rich resource of manuscripts and special collections recently creating a brand new handling collection, also available free of charge to schools. There are solutions to the pre-16 curriculum issues.


The introduction of three-year key stage 4 models with options programmes offering full GCSEs in one year via extended teaching time gives flexibility that in turn gives space for the much squeezed arts. Similarly, there are still curriculum support


structures to be found out there for schools to access. The examples above show how organisations and philanthropy can be brought together for the benefit of schools and the community. The trick is to now bring secondary schools and the


opportunities together in such a way that issues such as accessing the resource and releasing staff are deemed to be minor irritations that do not get in the way of bringing motivational experiences to students while raising levels of attainment. The squeeze on arts may exist but inspirational


organisations and teachers will always find a way to unlock creativity.


Further information


• Museums Sheffield: www.museums-sheffield.org.uk • My Learning: www.mylearning.org • Lakes Arts Centre: www.lakesidearts.org.uk


SecEd • May 17 2012 SecEd


• Brian Rossiter was formerly head of Valley School in Nottinghamshire and is now an education consultant.


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16