15 June, 2009:  Arts Council England has awarded an Artsmark Silver to the Marist Senior School in recognition of the school’s commitment to, and excellence in, arts education.

Practitioners in art, music, drama and dance have been regularly invited to visit the Marist Senior School to showcase different skills and styles in each area of the expressive arts.  These include Sadie James who worked with Year 7 students on a Street Art project to explore aspects of identity, Mime Artist Steve Murray who conducted a drama workshop with Year 10 students to explore relationships, and the Black Eyed Theatre Company  who helped Year 11 drama students understand the dramatic themes in Chekhov’s play ‘The Cherry Orchard’ to improve their practical understanding of theatrical techniques.

Since Artsmark began 9 years ago, almost 10,000 awards have been made, with 1649 schools receiving the award this year.  A school must dedicate a minimum of 10 per cent of its curricular teaching time to the arts to receive an Artsmark.  Mrs Sandra Maynard, Head of Art at the Marist Senior School, will receive the award officially from Arts Council England at the end of June.