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Leaving arts subjects out of the Ebacc will deprive poor children of culture Leaving arts subjects out of the Ebacc will deprive poor children of culture
(about 3 hours later)
I grew up in rural Essex, my stepfather was a newsagent and my mother was a housewife who also worked as a secretary for his business. I suppose you'd call it a cultural household. There were no books around and most of the pictures on the walls came free with washing powder. There was one Stubbs reproduction stuck on to chipboard, because my sister was mad on horses. I grew up in rural Essex, my stepfather was a newsagent and my mother was a housewife who also worked as a secretary for his business. I suppose you'd call it an acultural household. There were no books around and most of the pictures on the walls came free with washing powder. There was one Stubbs reproduction stuck on to chipboard, because my sister was mad on horses.
I went to King Edward VI school in Chelmsford and art was part of the curriculum from the word go. I was a keen student from first to last, through O and A-level. The first time I went to a gallery it was on a school trip to the National Gallery when I was about 14 or 15. It was a pretty academic school, so alongside the practical art exams, we also did art history: we learned about architecture and European painting. Whatever I thought about the content, at least I left knowing what an oriel window and who Giotto was. Going to art school wasn't something I'd considered at all, until the art teacher told me I should definitely think about it. I assumed I'd join the army as I was a very keen cadet.I went to King Edward VI school in Chelmsford and art was part of the curriculum from the word go. I was a keen student from first to last, through O and A-level. The first time I went to a gallery it was on a school trip to the National Gallery when I was about 14 or 15. It was a pretty academic school, so alongside the practical art exams, we also did art history: we learned about architecture and European painting. Whatever I thought about the content, at least I left knowing what an oriel window and who Giotto was. Going to art school wasn't something I'd considered at all, until the art teacher told me I should definitely think about it. I assumed I'd join the army as I was a very keen cadet.
If arts subjects aren't included in the Ebacc, schools won't stop doing them overnight. But there will be a corrosive process, they will be gradually eroded if they are not part of the core curriculum that goes towards the Ebacc certificate. By default, resources won't go into them. With the best will in the world, schools will end up treating arts subjects differently.If arts subjects aren't included in the Ebacc, schools won't stop doing them overnight. But there will be a corrosive process, they will be gradually eroded if they are not part of the core curriculum that goes towards the Ebacc certificate. By default, resources won't go into them. With the best will in the world, schools will end up treating arts subjects differently.
For so many children, doing art just isn't something they come across until they are taught it at school. Not everyone's mother sits down with scissors and paper and makes collages with them or discusses cultural issues over the dinner table. It is the children from poorer homes who will be disproportionately deprived of exposure to culture. The idea that art will somehow look after itself – that society will breed untaught geniuses – is rubbish. We'll end up with a cultural sector even more skewed towards the privately educated. A bit like what has happened to politics. Enough said.For so many children, doing art just isn't something they come across until they are taught it at school. Not everyone's mother sits down with scissors and paper and makes collages with them or discusses cultural issues over the dinner table. It is the children from poorer homes who will be disproportionately deprived of exposure to culture. The idea that art will somehow look after itself – that society will breed untaught geniuses – is rubbish. We'll end up with a cultural sector even more skewed towards the privately educated. A bit like what has happened to politics. Enough said.
If you think about the opening ceremony of the Olympics and all the things that we think of to symbolise modern Britain – from the Beatles to the internet – so many of them are based in creativity. To sideline the arts makes no sense. The government is not looking at the country as it actually is: a place that is brilliant at fashion, broadcasting, design, the arts, drama, film. Great swaths of what's left of what people are actually doing in this country comes out of creative subjects. To regard them as secondary subjects in the curriculum is, to me, a bizarre view of what's useful.If you think about the opening ceremony of the Olympics and all the things that we think of to symbolise modern Britain – from the Beatles to the internet – so many of them are based in creativity. To sideline the arts makes no sense. The government is not looking at the country as it actually is: a place that is brilliant at fashion, broadcasting, design, the arts, drama, film. Great swaths of what's left of what people are actually doing in this country comes out of creative subjects. To regard them as secondary subjects in the curriculum is, to me, a bizarre view of what's useful.