Seaburn Dene Primary School has a long tradition of excelling in the arts. Drama, music, art and dance are all significant features of our school so we investigated renewing our Arts Mark status. Having been awarded gold standard twice, we are confident that it would be renewed at this level. However the application was to cost the school between £500 and £800. Added to which, staff would need to attend courses with the cost of supply cover at £180 a day. For a school with a very tight budget this seemed a lot of money.

Yesterday I asked the School Council to consider the issue. Should we reapply for Arts Mark gold, which is very prestigious for the school, or should we spend the money on children in the form of an arts specialist or visiting author? Today Lloyd reported back on behalf of the School Council. The issue was discussed thoroughly then a decision made that the money is better spent on an event for the school rather than given to an organisation to receive a badge. The School Council believe that we can let people outside know how fantastic our Arts opportunities are in other ways.

We will begin our search for a really worthwhile visitor to support children's learning in the Arts.