Arts participation and access is a vital factor in the successful development of children and young people as strong, confident learners who are able to contribute to the world around them.
School Workshops
The general value of arts and culture to society has long been assumed, while the specifics have just as long been debated. Try to imagine society without the humanising influence of the arts, and you will have to strip out most of what is pleasurable in life, as well as much that is educationally critical and socially essential.
Research has evidenced that a higher frequency of engagement with arts and culture is generally associated with a higher level of subjective wellbeing. Engagement in structured arts and culture improves the cognitive abilities of children and young people.
Students from low income families who take part in arts activities at school are three times more likely to get a degree than children from low income families who do not engage in arts activities at school.
(Arts Council for England – THE VALUE OF ARTS AND CULTURE TO PEOPLE AND SOCIETY)
Creativity and the arts are so powerful to young hearts and minds and can be their salvation … They are inclusive, can communicate in a universal language, and can change lives for the better.
(Wendy Rawlinson, Headteacher, Queen Victoria School, Dudley, Platinum Artsmark School
