Education Today Education Today Magazine
The Griffin Schools Trust is coming together to celebrate the value of art in education in its ninth annual Griffin Arts Festival over the next two weeks, running from now through to 07 July 2022.
Park Lane Primary School and Nursery in Nuneaton and Race Leys Junior School, and Nicholas Chamberlaine School in Bedworth are taking part in the festival, amongst other schools in the Trust.
The arts festival programme encourages children to develop and express their creativity. Pupils will participate in projects, workshops, and collaborations during the next two weeks, including song, dance, acting, poetry, painting, and monologues.
All 12 schools within the Griffin Schools Trust will participate in the festival and will be celebrating the theme of ‘change makers’, people who take creative action to improve a situation, highlighting those motivated to act and think beyond their own experiences for the greater good.
The likes of Amanda Gorman, The Beatles, and Courtney Matheson are to be celebrated for artistic impact on the world, with new additions, including Marcus Rashford and Greta Thunberg, for their use of communication and speech to make change happen.
Anne Powell, Chief Executive of Griffin Schools Trust, comments: “The festival is a proud tradition of the Griffin Schools Trust, which aims to create high achievement for all its children. The next two weeks will both celebrate their achievements and widen their horizons through art and discovering change makers to look up to.”
As part of the festival, Year 5 pupils entered a competition responding to the theme of change makers. Ten winners from each school have been selected to attend four days of arts-soaked activity, including a Macbeth performance by Oddsocks and a Night of the Proms performance by Ratby Band.
Kim Waldock, Director of Arts for Griffin Arts Festival, and former Head of National Programmes at the Royal Opera House, adds: “It’s important to help children consider the arts beyond simply the skill of painting or singing and to consider the wider impact the arts have on vocation. Through the Griffin Arts Festival, we can stimulate broader thinking and get children excited about what is possible through the arts.”
At the end of the festival, parents will be invited to Griffin Schools Trust schools to view the work their children have been working on in a showcase ceremony.
