At Simon de Senlis Primary School, we are proud of our commitment to the Arts.   We are one of only 7% of schools in the UK that has achieved Artsmark Gold with a ' highly commended' recommendation by the British Arts Council.  Artsmark Gold status is the highest level of achievement a school can achieve and is awarded to schools which enthuse and inspire their young creatives in the four art forms: Dance, Drama, Music and Art.

Simon de Senlis Primary School provides a high level of provision in the arts through its wide range of extra-curricular clubs; a rich curriculum with highly skilled specialist teachers in dance and music and opportunities to perform in the community and beyond.

Simon de Senlis children are keen to share their learning in and through the arts and are able to celebrate the skills they develop in their artistic studies. We believe that participation in the arts promotes confidence, self‐esteem, positive behaviour, and a good attitude to learning.  Staff too have built on their expertise and passion in the arts and have worked closely with our fine arts consultant to develop pencil drawing and watercolour skills.  As well as this, we work with specialists from the Royal Shakespeare Company to enhance our use of drama to support learning across the curriculum.

We are passionate about giving our children a wide range of creative opportunities, both to develop their skills and also to give them memories to cherish for the future.  This includes the thrilling opportunity, in Year 5, to appear at the Derngate theatre in front of a live audience in a dance performance.  In addition to this, we offer children a wide number of musical experiences: in Year 3 for example, children learn to play the recorder.  This is developed in Year 4 where they learn to play a brass instrument and Year 5 where they learn to play the ukulele.  In Year 6, each child extends their musical repertoire by learning to play the African drums. These opportunities are celebrated with an end of unit performance to parents and carers.  It is hoped that through these experiences, our children will find an instrument that inspires them to join the existing 25% children in KS2 who currently play an instrument taking lessons from our professional tutors.  

As a school, we are proud of our three choirs; one each for KS1 and KS2 together as well as a boys’ choir who perform different musical genres.  Each of these three groups rehearse weekly and perform at school and community events throughout the year.

Working in conjunction with the choir, our drama club, ‘Simon de Senlis Players’ perform at Christmas to celebrate this special time of year.  The group is run by a specialist teacher who enables children to achieve high quality outcomes in singing, dance and drama.  Their confidence and love for performing flourish as quickly as their new skills in the arts.

At Simon de Senlis, we are passionate about the difference that involvement in the arts can make in children's lives and are committed to ensuring these high-quality experiences are available to all our children.