Well done to Forton Primary School on all of its successes through its first Artsmark Journey. You have clearly valued the arts across your school and taken effective steps to develop greater impact from them for your pupils and school community.

It is good to read that you employ a systematic approach to ensuring that pupils are made aware of the potential careers pathways available to them if they continue to pursue the arts as their learning journey progresses. 

It is clear that curriculum and individual subject leadership played a big part in delivering your aims, and this was clearly supported through effective use of staff training allocation and meeting time to scaffold the improvements across the school. It would be valuable to gain more insight into the specific CPD and upskilling that took place, and evidence that this had a direct impact of the range of offer and quality of teaching and learning taking place in the delivery of the arts, beyond the very effective assessment data you have provided. In some cases you have provided some evidence of this, for example bringing in an outside party to aid in the teaching of clay techniques, which was clearly very effective. It was also interesting to hear how the value of celebrating the arts through seemingly unconnected activities, such as the pupils singing ‘chain gang’ provides evidence that the celebration of the arts has become a normal part of the everyday culture of the school.

The key strengths of your Artsmark journey have been:

Leadership - you have clearly demonstrated a systematic approach to the delivery of your Artsmark objectives, using data and strategic use of staff training to ensure that you are able to complete tasks and adapting to circumstances effectively as you have progressed. Your Headteacher has taken a key role in ensuring that this has been successful.

Range of Offer - you have effectively expanded your range of offer, particularly through music and accessing external provision to enhance what you can offer your pupils. Your areas for development going into your next journey are: Equality, Diversity and Inclusion - it would be valuable in your next journey to gain a greater understanding of how you ensure that all pupils are connected to the breadth of opportunities available, as well as the strategies employed to expose the pupils to the diversity of wider society and to support their personal development and wellbeing.

Children and Young people: you have provided the pupils with many opportunities to get involved in events and activities, and to lead events such as celebration assemblies. It would be very valuable to develop the ways in which they can now have an active voice and a part in steering your next journey.

Well done on all the successful work you have done, and we look forward to hearing of your future successes!