Highgate Primary School on the importance of teaching art

It certainly grabbed mine, as championing creativity has always been at the heart of our educational ethos at Highgate Primary. 

Without doubt, art as a subject has suffered in recent years as a direct consequence of the standards-driven agenda that has created, among other things, league tables, Ofsted’s ‘one-word judgements,’ and government websites such as ‘Compare School Performance’. 

The assumption is that to do well in the things that are measured - reading, writing and maths - all a school has to do is focus on these things more – at the expense of everything else. Hence the decline in art in our schools.

At Highgate Primary, we’ve been seen as a bit of an outlier in recent years, focusing on creativity across the curriculum - with a strong investment in the arts. 

It’s a standpoint that has confused some visitors to school, including inspectors.  It actually made some of them rather cross: "I haven’t come here to see (insert collage, textile design, pottery, lino-printing…), I’ve come here to see progress in reading, writing and maths."

William Dean says Highgate Primary focuses on creativity across the curriculum (Image: Highgate Primary School) But our focus on art hasn’t been at the expense of great standards; it is fundamental to children achieving well across all areas of the curriculum. 

Art builds confidence, encourages creativity, supports critical thinking and - don’t underestimate it - improves mental health, wellbeing and happiness. 

So, while art rooms are no longer the norm in primary schools, ours at Highgate Primary is thriving. 

Our studio, run by art teacher and artist Andrea Rodriguez-Lagartos, allows children to work in ways that are difficult to manage in the classroom. They work in smaller groups, on a larger scale, produce collaborative pieces, get the chance to work with specialist equipment, and experience creating with high quality materials. 

All of our children spend time in the studio and they universally love it. They are always keen to share their work and are so proud of what they produce. 

We are therefore delighted that, alongside the work of over 30 international and local artists, our children’s work is being exhibited at the forthcoming Highgate Art Fair, which is taking place over the weekend of November 9 and 10. 

If you want to see first-hand the transformative effect of art, do pop by and see it for yourself.

For more information on Highgate Art Fair: highgateartfair.co.uk

• William Dean is the headteacher at Highgate Primary School (highgateprimaryschool.co.uk).