The Arts are being threatened in our schools now :(

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JayLou62
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The Arts are being threatened in our schools now :(

Post by JayLou62 »

Dear All,

I received this petition from Richard Wilson:

The expressive arts, including drama, music, fine art, dance and photography are the lifeblood of our nation and our identity. From Shakespeare to Danny Boyle, via every other author, artist, actor, comedian, playwright, sculptor, architect, rock band, director, dancer, composer, journalist, choreographer… the expressive arts contribute to how the world sees us. The creative industries are vital to our economy. According to UNESCO the UK is the world’s largest exporter of cultural goods. This is achieved with a tax payer investment which is 0.1 percent of the recent HBOS bailout. Not only that, with this tax payer investment we generate more economic activity than tourism, and we do this without a bonus culture, and without a ‘talent drain’. 6.2% of the UK’s local income (GVA) comes from the creative industries, the arts provide over 2m jobs and are mentioned by 8 out of 10 tourists as a reason for their visit.

However, Michael Gove and the coalition government have set in place policies which marginalise the arts, restrict access to arts courses by children and which will, over time, threaten the future of our artistic success story. They include:

• The EBacc, a measure that excludes all arts subjects, as well as technical subjects, compelling all schools to restrict access to arts courses or risk failing on a league table. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-20356662. Here is a more recent article in which, amongst other things, Mike Nicholson, the admissions tutor for Oxford University, states clearly that they look for a broad range of subjects at GCSE level and do not consider the EBacc at all: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-24533511
• Dance and drama being classed as one subject on school league tables, meaning that students will be dissuaded from taking both subjects as it makes the school look bad, this is despite the proven fact that performing arts colleges in the FE and HE sector are often looking for the triple threat of a student with dance, drama and music experience. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-24130657
• The removal of standards for speaking and listening from the national curriculum, at all key stages, meaning that schools are no longer compelled to teach or assess a student’s ability to do either of those things.
• The dominance of negative rhetoric about arts subjects as not “rigorous” when students up and down the country know how hard so many of their courses are. An A* student of Drama & Theatre Studies has to be both highly academic and creative and talented. How many students can lay claim to that?

Here's the final insult. Now it transpires that Ofqual are consulting about banning up to 20, so called, "soft" subjects from the GCSE standard, subjects including PE and Media as well, so that all students are left to choose from as GCSEs are traditional subjects and the rest as devalued and less academic alternative qualifications. http://www.thesundaytimes.co.uk/sto/new ... 2013_10_26

We want an end to this short sighted, Orwellian drive to force the arts from our children’s schools before we drive creativity, passion and enjoyment from our primary and secondary schools.

We demand the abolition of the EBacc measure or the inclusion of the arts within it.

We demand that all arts subjects be given equal billing with other, non-core subjects in terms of how they contribute to school league tables for GCSE results.

We want all our children to have continued access to a wide and exciting curriculum, without restrictions being placed on subjects which are just ideologically out of favour with the current ruling elite of public school educated professional politicians.

We want the national curriculum for Key Stages 1-4 to reinstate explicit descriptors for speaking and listening.

We want Gove, the DfE and the government to acknowledge the importance of the cultural industry to our national identity and to our economy and to talk up the importance of the arts in our schools and our country.

In solidarity with our colleagues in PE departments, teachers of Media Studies and teachers of the miriad other, so-called, soft subjects, we also demand that this regressive and ridiculous narrowing of school curiculi, by mesuring schools' success only by the core and facilitating subjects, ends immediately.

Join in on facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Stop-the ... 3149402485

Read the blog: http://savetheartsinschools.wordpress.com/page/3/I just signed the petition "Michael Gove: Stop the marginalisation of the Expressive Arts in education policy" on Change.org.

It's important. Will you sign it too? Here's the link:

http://www.change.org/en-GB/petitions/m ... e_petition

Thanks!
TalyaB
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Re: The Arts are being threatened in our schools now :(

Post by TalyaB »

Signed and shared. Thanks for posting this.
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riverdancefan
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Re: The Arts are being threatened in our schools now :(

Post by riverdancefan »

Have already signed via a teacher but well done for posting and hopefully more will sign and share
"Tall and proud my mother taught me, this is how we dance" - RIVERDANCE
possiblypushy
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Re: The Arts are being threatened in our schools now :(

Post by possiblypushy »

Signed, thanks for sharing.
jollyjelly
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Re: The Arts are being threatened in our schools now :(

Post by jollyjelly »

Signed too and passed on :)
Gatesheadangel
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Re: The Arts are being threatened in our schools now :(

Post by Gatesheadangel »

Thank you for posting this. Schools are currently being asked officially to confirm how much they spend on sport. No one has asked about any creative time or expenditure.
paulears
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Re: The Arts are being threatened in our schools now :(

Post by paulears »

I've been teaching drama all week, standing in for a teacher off sick, and the feeling in the staff room was that Michael Gove is the Dr Beeching of the education world. Dance courses that were popular just a few years ago are vanishing as the funding dries up. Frankly it's a real mess!
Dwafffamily
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Re: The Arts are being threatened in our schools now :(

Post by Dwafffamily »

Such a shame, children should not all be pushed into one branch of education/learning. Some may be brilliant mathematicians, scientists etc, but then some may be a brilliant musician, artist, actor and so on, I've gladly signed.
fartoomuchtodo
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Re: The Arts are being threatened in our schools now :(

Post by fartoomuchtodo »

Signed and she shared. This is so important as once these subjects disappear from the curriculum it'll be really hard to get them back (once the all-time idiot MG has gone). Until very recently I was a governor at a secondary school - he makes me SO mad!!
lyndahill
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Re: The Arts are being threatened in our schools now :(

Post by lyndahill »

Bliming cheek-he needs to stop meddling - signed and shared
igloobabe
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Re: The Arts are being threatened in our schools now :(

Post by igloobabe »

I have signed this a while ago and also written to my MP because this has directly affected my daughter already! Her school, lagging behind others in the league tables, decided to adopt the Ebacc curriculum in anticipation of it becoming 'law'. Because it's a church school. RE is also compulsory, which left each student only ONE option of free choice. Not enough people chose Music or Drama, so both were scrapped, and a 'performing arts' GCSE was introduced. L only wanted to do Music, as she already has Drama GCSE, but the only other choices were IT, food tech or PE none of which she likes or is good at!
The PA course has been a disaster - the main teacher has left, and a whole term went by before the teachers even went on a training course to enable them to teach it! I'm disgusted, and if I hadn't had another child at the same school who's doing fine, I'd have taken her out.

This bias against the Arts sickens me. The school is constantly trumpetting news about Sports achievements, Maths Challenges and Science /Tech awards for individual children and groups. But nothing is ever mentioned about musical achievements, or drama, or dance. The school has 2 children in West End shows, and last Month my daughter was chosen to sing her own song in the Albert hall Schools Proms - not a dicky bird about any of them. I'm sure this bias comes from 'above!' GRRRRRRRR!
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nextinline
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Re: The Arts are being threatened in our schools now :(

Post by nextinline »

In my experience the subjects some people refer to as "soft" often require more time and effort than traditional subjects. My eldest ds took GCSE Art a few years back and there was so much coursework to do. My middle ds did the Double Award Performing Arts with Music and that too was a lot of hard work. Besides we all need to broaden our experience and the Arts are great for learning about humanity. We need to be thinking about childrens' emotional well-being as well as their academic development. In my experience children who experience a love of sport, music, art, dance (whatever it is) are often more rounded as individuals than those who don't. They learn all sorts of skills, discipline, team-working, coping with defeat etc that holds them in good stead for later in life. Any attempt to narrow the curriculum should be avoided.
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riverdancefan
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Re: The Arts are being threatened in our schools now :(

Post by riverdancefan »

igloobabe wrote:I have signed this a while ago and also written to my MP because this has directly affected my daughter already! Her school, lagging behind others in the league tables, decided to adopt the Ebacc curriculum in anticipation of it becoming 'law'. Because it's a church school. RE is also compulsory, which left each student only ONE option of free choice. Not enough people chose Music or Drama, so both were scrapped, and a 'performing arts' GCSE was introduced. L only wanted to do Music, as she already has Drama GCSE, but the only other choices were IT, food tech or PE none of which she likes or is good at!
The PA course has been a disaster - the main teacher has left, and a whole term went by before the teachers even went on a training course to enable them to teach it! I'm disgusted, and if I hadn't had another child at the same school who's doing fine, I'd have taken her out.

This bias against the Arts sickens me. The school is constantly trumpetting news about Sports achievements, Maths Challenges and Science /Tech awards for individual children and groups. But nothing is ever mentioned about musical achievements, or drama, or dance. The school has 2 children in West End shows, and last Month my daughter was chosen to sing her own song in the Albert hall Schools Proms - not a dicky bird about any of them. I'm sure this bias comes from 'above!' GRRRRRRRR!
Igloobabe I absolutely identify with you, both with the lack of subjects, and choice on the curriculum.
DS had to audition for the school he attends, dance sing and act. 10% of their place go out of catchment to sports and PA talent.
Whilst overall it's a good school it's been less than supportive to DS in some areas. He gets time off for castings and certain outside commitments, yet in school his achievements are overlooked and often not acknowledged at all.

Every newsletter contains reams of info on their sporting achievements yet DS is told constantly he isn't good enough to cast in their productions or given an opportunity to sing solo in the choir. They feel "everyone should have a chance"
They pick their best strikers for their football teams, they choose their best cricket players for the team, not everyone " gets a chance there" so why do they exclude their best performers from doing a fantastic job representing them? It's like a good child performer is a dirty secret , to be slapped down at every opportunity.

DS recently found out they were performing Midsummer Nights Dream, he asked if he could audition only to be told he wasn't experienced enough...HELLO..... Globe Young Player!!!!!!!!!!! ](*,)
If he was a show off then I could understand it but he's the nicest kid, and has done 3 years of singing in the background , choir and being turned down for main roles in their productions, without a flounce or moan.
Not once has a teacher from that school EVER come to see him perform, and they won't bother seeing The Malcontent either. Yet his performing arts teachers, his singing teacher and his wonderful friends are there as much as possible.
So due to timetable restraints he can't do one performing art GCSE either, not dance, drama or music!
Utterly crazy when English and maths are taken early....
If only I could win the lottery , he would be at a performing arts school.
"Tall and proud my mother taught me, this is how we dance" - RIVERDANCE
pg
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Re: The Arts are being threatened in our schools now :(

Post by pg »

Don't despair riverdancefan! It's obviously something that matters hugely to him and that he will continue with come what may. My ds scarcely counted anything he did at school as important or influential for his own development or career - other than the shows he and his mates organised themselves. It was what he did outside school that influenced him - and these were the things that helped him with getting in to drama school. Things have improved at his school now - but during his time there there was very little attention given to the performing arts. It hasn't stopped him - and I'm sure it won't stop your ds either. I completely agree with you that there seems to be an aversion to praising or highlighting performance skills in some schools - and I do think that some people regard it as "showing off" (my mother regarded it like that when I was young). "Showing off" is rarely a criticism levelled at pupils who excel at sports or science.
paulears
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Re: The Arts are being threatened in our schools now :(

Post by paulears »

I think we do need to consider the 'whole'.

While the arts is (to us) culturally important, to the vast proportion of society it really isn't. It's a social activity, something that is fine to support when things are good, but thinking about Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy, the arts is the 'B' Ark, the one society could do without and hardly miss.

We're all biased, for obvious reasons - but society needs certain professions, and can exist without others. We are training an entire trench of kids for a job area with few real prospects apart from the luck few. The Government have the statistics to prove this. We import doctors, engineers, nurses, and lots of people to do the more basic, and lower paid jobs. It's easy to see why they wish to encourage certain subjects, and restrict, by cutting off funding, the so called 'soft and fluffy' subjects - which as an educator and industry professional, I do have to agree that we are!

I'm realistic enough to understand the Government agenda. Indeed my own son and his girlfriend have jumped ship and are now earning 3 times their performing arts salary and work proper hours and have for the first time a credit rating. Dancers and actors can't even get credit because society does not consider their job secure enough to get a mortgage or loan.

Having worked in schools recently, the standard of everything is dreadful, and the system is broken. Our industry, pus the other allied one - the media, is just oversubscribed with students, poor courses and no employment prospects. We have topics on the go bemoaning the state of the agents, who seem unwilling or unable to get people work - but there are simply too many agents, too many actors, singer and dancers, and too few jobs.

Over the past five years, the arts has ceased being pushed in education because it's blown out. Any subject, with 'studies' in the name is also suffering - so think theatre, media, dance 'studies' - nobody in the units are interested in people studying these subjects if they do not actually have practical skills in them, so they are probably right in discounting them as also ran subjects. BTEC is far weaker than it has been before because funding is leading to less hours and less credit, and of course less useful content. A Levels in music subjects no longer have kids doing them that can read music, or know any music theory, so their results go down and the course gets axed. It's a real mess. The future is extremely bleak. Arts subjects will become out of school activities, paid for by more well off parents who can afford it. These kids have always been at the top of the classes in state education anyway - their outside activities far more beneficial than what they learn in school and college with a high percentage of lazy people in the groups.

I suppose I'm saying that those people who say the arts is elitist could well be right! Never thought I'd say that. Now I'm a production and company manager, I see every day the most critical feature of performing arts - money!
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