The Arts are celebrated at Bluecoat Wollaton, with extra-curricular opportunities supplementing lessons in Art, Drama and Music. The wonderful opportunities afforded our students was reflected in BWA being recognised by Arts Council England with the Artsmark Gold Award in May 2022.
The Artsmark Award is the only creative quality standard for schools and education settings, accredited by Arts Council England. Arts Council England support schools to develop and celebrate their commitment to arts and cultural education for all children and young people, embedding arts, culture and creativity to support a broad and ambitious curriculum, strengthen pupil voice and support personal progression.
Wider engagement of students with the arts is a cornerstone of the school, and a large number of students work towards Bronze and Silver Arts Award. We have a strong network within the local community, working with local churches, and have had artwork publicly displayed across Nottingham, as well as part of the Royal Academy of Arts’ Young Artists’ Summer Show in 2019.
Below is a selection of the various activities and achievements enjoyed by students over previous years.
2022
Our Silver City 2022
A number of our budding Year 8 artists had the opportunity visit Nottingham Contemporary Gallery as part of the Our Silver City exhibition which pictures what Nottingham may be like in the year 2094.
Their day included a guided tour of the gallery’s current exhibition Our Silver City, 2094. Pupils then took part in a workshop with a visiting artist, where pupils contributed to the making of an original piece of artwork that was be exhibited in one of the gallery spaces alongside other school’s work. This was a fantastic opportunity for our students to experience a leading Art gallery and be involved in a creative project in which their work was exhibited alongside professional pieces in their own exhibition called Our city has memory
Coram Shakespeare Schools Festival (April 2022)
BWA was very lucky to be invited to take part in The Coram Shakespeare Schools festival. This was run as part of an outreach programme with Oxford University Magdalene College. A group of Year 10 students travelled to Oxford and took part in various activities, including lectures from world renowned Shakespeare professors. Students stayed in the university halls of residence and eat in the beautiful cafeteria, before the residential concluded with each of the schools performing their abridged version of a Shakespeare play in Magdalene College Theatre. Our cast had a lot of fun performing Comedy of Errors.
Wollaton Arts Festival 2022
The Wollaton Academy Band and choir were asked to perform at the annual Wollaton Arts Festival along side other local schools and performers. It was a lovely fun day out in the sun at Wollaton Hall.
Summer Arts Showcase 2022
In July 2022 BWA took over the Bonington Theatre in Arnold for 2 nights for our Summer Arts Showcase. This was an evening of spoken word, musical performances and our production of Annie Jr.
The Wizarding World of Harry Potter (December 2022)
BWA had our second trip to the Wizarding World of Harry Potter World with 50 Year 8 students travelling to the Warner Brothers’ Studios in Leavesden. They enjoyed a workshop about how film makers bring the original script to life when making the films. The students then got to explore the amazing exhibition of different sets. They also had their own green screen pictures taken of riding a broomstick in a Quidditch match as well as enjoying a tankard of Butterbeer (non-alcoholic).
Summer Arts Showcase 2023
In May 2023, our talented artists, actors and poets showcased their talents at the Nottingham Arts Theatre for 2 nights for our annual Summer Arts Showcase. This was an evening of spoken word, musical performances and our production of Peter Pan Jr.
Here is a selection of the spoken word poems from the showcase:
