As we get increasingly closer to May’s General Election, each of the major political parties are setting out their stall in terms of how they would improve education within Schools. With this in mind, it’s interesting to see Labour’s pledge to move arts to the heart of education, giving each child an entitlement to a creative learning experience.
In his first major speech on the arts, Ed Miliband, Labour leader, told a gathering of cultural leaders that arts, culture and creativity would be integral to the next Labour government’s mission. He talked passionately about the “wider impact” these subjects can have on a young person’s education.
His speech comes a week after the Warwick Commission published the results of a year-long inquiry into the creative arts in the UK.The inquiry revealed some statistics showing the removal of creative and cultural opportunities for young people from the education system (the number of arts and culture teachers in schools has fallen by 11% since 2010 and in 2013, only 8.4% of students combined arts, culture and science subjects at AS level).
Importantly, Miliband made a commitment to linking strong creative education with Ofsted success within schools. Under a Labour regime, a school will only be rated outstanding if they offer creative and cultural options weaved into a broad and balanced curriculum.
At NCFE, we would like to support schools in offering high quality, rigorous, creative qualifications that capture the imaginations of the learner. That’s why we offer GCSE equivalent V Cert qualifications in a range of creative subjects which are the ideal addition to a Key Stage 4 curriculum. These subject areas include Art and Design, Graphic Design, Interactive Media, Craft, Performance Skills, Music Technology and more.
As well as meeting all Ofqual and DfE requirements for rigour and balanced assessment, NCFE’s V Certs are flexible to deliver and can improve your pupil’s engagement and achievement which in turn contributes to improved school data. Read more about NCFE V Certs.
NCFE are also currently running a ‘Make Your Mark’ creative competition that your learners may be interested in. Whether their speciality is sculpture, canvas, digital or photography, there is an opportunity for them to shine in this competition which is looking to find a high quality piece of work to be placed in a contemporary art gallery before being housed within NCFE’s headquarters.
