Teach Primary 18.8

24 | www.teachwire.net Year 6 teacher is indignantly blowing the dust off the sketchbooks muttering at the impertinence of you thinking they would have time for art during SATs year. If only we had the same status as the core subject leads. All that staff meeting time, a consistent place on the school development plan and a budget for CPD and training. Imagine the impact an art lead could have with that kind of set-up. But, instead of a strategic leadership responsibility, the art coordinator’s role is normally viewed as the person whose job it is to tidy the art cupboard. We are under appreciated; especially given the magic we work with little to no resources. It’s amazing what an art lead can achieve with a few dry felt pens (all the reds have run out of course) and four glue sticks with no lids. It is pure alchemy. Unto the breach... Art is worth the fight though. If, like me, you have spent your career advocating for your subject to senior leaders who just do not value art, then here are some headlines that might make your colleagues sit up and listen. Children who engage in the arts actually do better in school, particularly in English and maths. In fact, regular participation in structured arts activities can increase a child’s cognitive function by up to 17 per cent (Cultural Learning Alliance, 2017). It’s sad B eing the art lead in a primary school can be a tough job. In the hierarchy of subjects, let’s face it, art is hardly top of the bill. In the battle for time and resources, English and maths emerge victorious and the threat of an Ofsted deep dive in art is really the only thing preventing the already meagre art budget from being repurposed to buy more Numicon. It’s a hard sell getting the staff to care about your subject. Art is always the first casualty of the over-stuffed timetable – and who can blame teachers, really? If you have ever had the misfortune of witnessing reception children try to wash up paint palettes independently, or been party to children trying to clean clay off tables with a wet paper towel, it’s enough to break even the fiercest art advocate. An unequal footing Another challenge is trying to collect evidence for your subject leadership file. You wander round the school collecting artwork for the annual ‘book look’ to discover that the paints in Year 1 are still in mint condition as the teacher ‘can’t be doing with the mess,’ Year 5 are certain they made Christmas cards once... but they can’t show you because they’re pretty sure the children took them home. Meanwhile, the that we have to resort to making the case for arts because it might improve our SATs results, but desperate times call for desperate measures. The Cultural Learning Alliance report also discusses the positive impact on health, well-being and social mobility, as well as employability and community engagement. Suffice to say, our children deserve more art, not less. So how can we reform art in schools to harness these positive effects for all our children? First, we need to fight for improvements in the quality and quantity of art within schools. This does not have to be expensive: contact local businesses, parents or members of the school community and think outside of the box for art projects that could be centred around the materials you are able THE HEAD... Heavy is It’s tough being art lead, but this is a role that really matters, says Kaytie Holdstock