Creative Arts & Music
Creative Arts at Ashley Down Schools Federation
Congratulations to the Curriculum team at Ashley Down School Federation who have put together a successful submission for the Arts Mark. The panel recognised all the work that had been put into the creative arts at Ashley Down have given us the Gold Award.
The panel commends the positive steps that you have taken to build upon your existing strong arts provision at Ashley Down Primary through the implementation of your ‘Start with Art’ project and your combination of arts and curriculum school improvement teams. Your integrated, cross-curricular approach has enabled your pupils of all ages and abilities to express themselves artistically, creatively and confidently. For future development, you should consider introducing an arts accreditation process, such as Arts Award, in order to recognise and celebrate the achievements of your pupils’ arts work. It would also be good to evidence the impact of your newly appointed arts governor. You may wish to consider ways to further develop the arts advocacy work that you’ve embarked upon, and what difference this is making to other settings.
Congratulations on your Artsmark Gold Award!
Arts Council England celebrates your ongoing commitment to arts and cultural education at a leadership level, and the opportunities established across your whole setting. Your children and young people are offered equal opportunity to plan, experience, participate in, and evaluate a broad range of high-quality arts and cultural activities, and you recognise the importance of development opportunities delivered by specialists for your staff that have measurable effects in these areas. You engage with a range of arts and cultural organisations and other settings, and can evidence the positive impact of these partnerships. Your children and young people have an opportunity to further develop their knowledge, skills and understanding of arts and culture, and you are working to share the good practice you have established.
Thank you to Mr Croughan who put together the submission and for all the teachers at Ashley Down for having the skill and talent to implement our broad, balanced and creative curriculum
Music at Ashley Down Schools Federation
Ashley Down Schools Federation delivers music education as a key part of our children’s development and an integrated subject in our enquiry-based curriculum. We understand how music, singing and instrument playing can aid the development of children’s overall literacy as well as developing socio-emotional, motor, auditory, language and intellectual skills.
Please click here to see our Music Curriculum.
Our Singing Strategy:
As a school, we want singing to occur, unabashed, both formally and informally in all areas of the curriculum and the school building. If children are singing in the playground and humming in the corridors it is likely we are succeeding in achieving this goal. We aim to give all staff the resources and development to confidently grow our singing provision.
Weekly singing assemblies are themed each term (KS2: world music, musical theatre, Bristol folk songs and sea shanties, rock and roll, 20th century music, classical music including part-singing) and integrate key celebrations and calendar events such as Black History Month, Children in Need, Harvest and Christmas into what we sing. We always sing for purpose as well as pleasure with a focus on conveying meaning and having an effect on the listener/audience/ ourselves. Children have an active voice in selecting the music we come into the hall listening to and there is always information, thoughts and questions about what we are listening to on the screen.
Please click here for more information about Musical Instrument Lessons.
The schools’ four choirs (a KS1 and a KS2 choir at each site) perform at major venues in Bristol including the Colston Hall, St Georges and the Bristol Cathedral. They have performed in front of small audiences (HRH Prince Edward, Duke of Kent and local dignitaries) and large audiences (over 1,000 people at the Colston Hall). They aim to be a part of all the Bristol Plays Music events for KS1 and KS2.
Please hear the children's wonderful work below
Avengers theme played by 200 musicians!
Over 200 children packed the Anson Rooms on the 18th June from 14 Bristol primary schools. 37 of the children there were from Ashley Down and Brunel Field. Have a listen below to the fantastic sound they made. The Avengers theme (Alan Silvestri) was one of three pieces the children played.