Artsmark in action: Manchester Hospital School
This week, Manchester Hospital School proudly received an Artsmark Gold Award. To celebrate,Lisa Biggar, a teacher at the setting, discusses some of the things she’s most proud of…
A bit about us
Manchester Hospital School is a special community setting that provides education for children and young people who cannot attend their usual school because of ill health; physical, mental, or both. We are a unique school with a national and international reputation for excellence in our field, teaching across seven sites in Manchester. These include Royal Manchester Children’s Hospital, Galaxy House, Leo Kelly, Wythenshawe Hospital, North Manchester General Hospital, The Christie, and within the community.
As we are a multi-site setting, the arts are delivered differently across our schools. At Leo Kelly School and Galaxy House, creativity is taught in a friendly classroom environment. At the hospital sites, they are often delivered at the bedside. We are masters of thinking on our feet and have to adapt almost instantly to suit the needs of our young people.
Embedding creativity into the curriculum
The Arts are delivered through a range of engaging topics suitable for our young people, varying to age and abilities. When planning our curriculum, we ensure our teaching and learning encourage our students to express their creativity, appreciate British values, celebrate diversity, and fulfil cultural capital. We often link topics to inspirational sources and value the creative journey with a key focus on celebrating student outcomes and displaying them across our sites. We offer ample opportunities for our students to get involved with the arts, including trips to museums and the theatre, and visits to the hospital from drama companies, visual artists, and musicians.
For Leo Kelly students, the iconic history and architecture of the wonderful city of Manchester are often used as a starting point for creative projects, with explorational visits to cultural sites such as Manchester Museum enhancing students’ experiences. We’re very lucky to have a large hall space at the site, which houses our GCSE Art Exhibition. It’s magical to see the pride gained from students who are able to see their artwork displayed for the community to see. This also offers so much motivation for other students, who can see the achievements of their peers who are in similar situations to themselves.
Celebrating achievements
Celebrating our creativity is so important for the wellbeing and happiness of our students. We have developed a great relationship with John Lewis, and artwork from our students is regularly displayed on the Community Art Wall in their store at the Trafford Centre. The young people get invited to celebrate the opening of the exhibition and have regular visits to visit – which always results in many big smiles and selfies in front of the amazing work. Through our wonderful link with John Lewis, we were fortunate to receive a charitable donation from them, which allowed us to buy new iPads and Apple pencils for our students. Our young people attend our settings with so many challenges, getting something wrong can often be very challenging for them. Using iPads to create digital art has provided an accessible medium to which they can explore their creativity without fear of making mistakes – giving them the freedom to really let go! It’s been truly magical seeing what they have accomplished.
Looking ahead
In the future, we are hoping to create a digital gallery space celebrating the creative achievements of all our young people. As we are a multi-site setting, we’d love to bridge the physical distance between us by creating a central space for students, staff, parents, and carers. We also plan on broadening our relationships with external providers, to continue enhancing our current curriculum offer.
We are very proud of the way the arts are celebrated at our school. We shine, we put ourselves out there and we share our expertise with our young people. Our main objective is to see them leave a big smile, more confidence, motivation, and the skills and ambition to succeed in their creative pursuits in the future.
You can follow Manchester Hospital school on Twitter, here.
