School Celebrates Specialist Status (From Wilts and Gloucestershire Standard)

School Celebrates Specialist Status

A Cotswold school, which just two year's ago faced the closure of its sixth form, is this week celebrating becoming a specialist arts school.

Sir William Romney's in Tetbury will now become a centre of excellence for visual and performing arts, a move that will bring benefits for the community as well as the pupils.

The news marks the end of the many months of effort which went into fundraising for the application.

Headteacher Eric Dawson said the whole school was delighted "It's been like a hurricance, going from low pressure to a maximum high, it's just great, it's new facilities, a new direction, new opportunities.

"Everybody's really excited. Hopefully we can put the lows of the past behind us.

Mr Dawson paid tribute to all those who made the application a success, including Stefan Chilcott, head of creative and performing arts at the school.

He said: "It's really important to get across the fact has been a whole community effort. We have been so well supported - by Tetbury Town Council, by the School's Parents Association, by businesses within the town, by the Gibson Trust, by Renishaws, as well as big companies.

"We had a lot of support through EMI, the Music and Sound Foundation, contributions from local primary schools, youth groups and the elderly and it's all come together."

Mr Chilcott said he was equally delighted with the news of specialist status.

He said: "This is a recognition of the strength and quality of our Arts provision currently and a clear commitment to the Arts transforming the learning across the whole school in the future.

"Recognition as a centre of excellence for the Performing and Visual Arts will be instrumental in enabling the exciting, interesting and challenging work that we already do to be extended and developed within both the school and the local community in and around Tetbury."

Specialist status will mean that Sir William Romney's can focus on visual and performance arts, while still delivering the requirements of the National Curriculum.

They are now in line to receive a capital projects grant and further funding which will be used to create facilities for school and community use. The school will look at ways to spend the funding including a new drama space and the possibility of having resident artists and theatre groups. Now staff and pupils are looking forward with renewed optimism.

"The future's very bright," Mr Dawson commented. "To have the sixth form decision turn in our favour, which people said wouldn't happen, and to get the specialist status, it's hard to describe how we are feeling. It's tremendous."