An arts-rich curriculum make for happy children

As schools readjust to life after the pandemic, Victor Guerro (Curriculum Lead in Creative Arts at Hillyfield Primary Academy), discusses the power that art and creativity have when embedded into the curriculum. 

I started at Hillyfield Primary Academy just when the pandemic started. It was that moment when schools became a quiet and spooky place without children playing, laughing, and buzzing. I was introduced to Mr Griffin, the artist in residence. Working together, we had the job to revive the gloomy gym with a huge and colourful mural. From there, I saw the power the arts have had in this school.

We have dedicated budget to using specialist arts teachers to ensure quality experiences for pupils but also to upskill class teachers and support their development. All the specialists were in zoom dancing, singing, teaching art, doing exercises. The teachers delivered inspiring lessons, exploring children’s creative skills through a screen. The few children that came to school were shining thanks to the support of the LSAs and support staff, despite the uncertainty of a global pandemic on everyone.

Two years on, when we’re now all back in the classroom, our Artsmark journey has picked up momentum and the arts are now core to the curriculum. Without arts and creativity, there is no fun. With creativity, we recovered more effectively as a school and supported the children to recover, re-engage and look forward to exploring, discussing and discovering in class!

The success of Hillyfield’s commitment to offering a broad and ambitious curriculum, where creativity plays a vital role, has ensured our children are happy, confident well-rounded young people.

We are committed to ensuring that our pupils learn to express themselves, discover their brilliance and build confidence through creative opportunities. 

Every week, we use drama, art, and music in our wider curriculum. All subjects are enriched by the arts. This supports pupils to not only understand certain concepts in a different and active way, but to express themselves while learning. Children spend the Planning, Preparation and Assessment (PPA) day every two weeks with the specialist team reinforcing dance and music skills. This helps them to have a day off from core learning to give everyone the opportunity to explore their brilliance and confidence. Specific art days take place every term and school clubs are other great opportunities we offer to support children expressing themselves through technology and arts.

We provide a safe space for young people to explore their feelings, identity and relationships.

At Hillyfield, childhood memories and relationships are very important to our pupils’ wellbeing and development. This means that their relationships with school staff, and with each other, are nurtured and supported. With the whole school assemblies, various competitions, art galleries and other events, the school generates a sense of community where we’ve created a respectful, tolerant, safe environment. We have a ‘time to talk’ at break and lunchtime and staff build positive, consistent relationships where children genuinely believe that grown-ups care about their learning and about them as a whole person. They feel accepted by, and able to talk, to staff. Children can voice their worries - their voices matter so we’ve provided a safe space to talk, a worry box for each class and an online worry button. Through storytelling and the zones of regulation framework, children can verbalise their worries or thoughts and link them to situations.

We encourage our children to engage in life changing and memorable opportunities.

We host programs to explore, develop and support children’s skills. Hillyfield 6 gives children the opportunity from Year 1 to Year 6 to attend an artistic venue every year. Children in Year 6 will have the experience of 6 big event experience like musicals, concerts, theatre, ballet throughout their schooling, where they may not otherwise have outside of school.

We believe that creating memories and offering opportunities in primary school will help children to develop independence, critical thinking, improve relationships and many other benefits. Opportunities like sleep-overs from Year 2, daily storytelling, collaborative learning and research is a must at Hillyfield.

We are united in our desire to nurture our young people, who will go on to make positive contributions and lead fulfilling happy lives. 

We observed several times how children whose confidence was not developed in the core subjects were thriving in the art lessons. Through the arts they could express themselves, have a voice through music or drawing and be understood. Art days are a great opportunity to continue developing this. While the specialist teacher leads the class, class teachers become students and engage with their class in the learning of artistic skills. It is great to see pupils helping teachers with their work with energy and confidence.

We continuously collect and develop creative resources for teachers and parents to use with children in the class and home to support with their wellbeing.

Every term, we publish our Wellbeing newsletter with information and resources for our families. The art specialist team collaborates with the newsletter to include activities, exercises, and other resources. You can also view these online – feel free to take inspiration from them! We have engaged with creative projects from our regional Bridge, A New Direction. They offer creative activities that can help children to nurture their emotions and relationship whilst having fun making art together.

The last two years have been very challenging for everyone, and certainly my teaching profession. During these uncertain times is more important than ever to support mental health in children and staff. I am very proud working in a school like Hillyfield where we promote learning and wellbeing through arts and creativity. Our commitment is to see children thriving at school, expressing themselves and being free. Our motto is “brilliance in every child, excellence every day” and that is what is achieved at Hillyfield.

Artsmark’s Day to Create on 6 July will be the perfect way to celebrate with our pupils and shine a light on their brilliance. They have been through so much, and we can’t wait to get involved in the day and see them taking a lead and being more creative and freer than ever before.

Victor Guerro, Curriculum Lead in Creative Arts. 

You can follow Hillyfield Primary Academy on Twitter here. 

Get a sense of Hillyfield’s vibrant school environment on their Artsmark20 gallery page.