Starting the day with arts activities

What did the school do?

Activities

Pupils throughout the school started each day with 15 minutes of a specific arts activity. These activities -- which included observational drawing, dance, clay modelling, listening to classical music and rhythm work -- were rotated daily, but repeated weekly. For example, a class might focus on observational drawing on Monday, dance on Tuesday, modelling on Wednesday, music on Thursday and rhythm on Friday. The skills they learned were then reinforced and extended through timetabled arts lessons.

The school chose the different activities carefully to ensure that pupils experienced all styles of learning (eg kinaesthetic, aural, visual). It believes strongly that individuals have a specific style of learning and that pupils need to be exposed to a wide range of styles.

For each activity area, teachers set out a plan of development that was progressive throughout the school. Programmes were devised with the help of subject specialists and other practitioners in school at the time (eg a sculptor).

Regular practice at the start of the day allowed for greater extension in subject lessons. For example, observational drawing and clay modelling sessions gave pupils in years 5 and 6 the basic skills they needed for a project on Rodin and 'The Thinker'. PE lessons built on dance sessions and pupils were able to carry on developing their skills even when dance was not a PE focus. Music and rhythm sessions supported pupils' work on composition, enabling music lessons to move at a faster pace and giving pupils more time to develop their ideas.

Teaching strategies

The school had clear, short-term goals for each of the activities. These goals were challenging and allowed for some differentiation of response. For example, the rhythm work started by asking pupils to repeat simple patterns, which gradually became more complex and led to two-part clapping using increasingly demanding patterns.

The pace of sessions was kept brisk to keep pupils focused and teachers tried to make all tasks enjoyable. They used positive reinforcement to raise standards, often using examples of pupils' work to show the rest of the class what was expected and what could be achieved.

The teachers challenged the pupils not to accept second best and to always try hard to 'make it a bit better'.

Use of time and resources

The activities took place every morning for 15 minutes after registration and followed a rotating pattern. Dance took place in the hall, while all the other activities were carried out in the classroom. As the entire school was following the programme, it was timetabled to ensure that resources were available to all.

Teachers were keen for the activities to take place early in the morning, as they hoped that pupils would feel more motivated and concentrate better during the rest of the day.

Class teachers led the arts sessions. Learning support assistants (LSAs) and teaching assistants (TAs) carried out observations on the pupils who formed the cohort for the research study.