After achieving Bronze Arts Award, many students want to progress to the Silver Award, but some advisers may wonder how they can help to prepare their students for the step up to Silver. The following extension activities for each section of Bronze can be used to familiarise students with the standard of work required for Silver.
Please note: We do not recommend that the activities below form the basis for a Silver portfolio, but that they are used as part of a transition/introduction to support students’ progression.
Bronze Part A:
Thinking about how skills can be developed further, or what new skills can be learnt, is an integral part of the Unit 1 arts challenge of Silver Arts Award. Encourage students to think about an aspect of the art form that they have recently taken part in:
- Would they consider developing their skills further?
- What did they think they were good at — why was this?
- What would they need to work on if they were to develop their skills further in this area?
- What would be challenging for them?
- What additional help and support would they need to develop their skills?
- Who or where do they think they could ask for help?
- Who could they share their challenge with to get feedback, and how might they present it to them?
- How could they review their challenge and reflect on if they had developed their skills further?
Bronze Part B:
Students will have already reviewed one arts event for Part B of their Bronze Award. For Silver Unit 1 Part C, they must attend and review at least one arts event which must be shared with others. Ask your students to research other arts events they could attend, and read some reviews for these events:
- What arts events would they like to attend? How might they find out about arts events?
- Discuss how students might extend their Bronze Award review — what further information/descriptions/viewpoints relating to the creative elements of the event might they add?
- Students could think about producing their review in an alternative format and how they might share it with others
Bronze Part C:
Having completed research into their chosen arts inspiration, students could be encouraged to find out more about arts activities and opportunities in school or in their local area, and how they might get involved. This can work as preparation for Unit 1 Part D of their Silver Award. Ask students to find about more about their Bronze art form activity or a new arts activity:
- What opportunities are there in school or locally to take part in this activity or to try a new activity?
- Encourage students to collect any flyers or posters about relevant arts activities that are advertised/take place in school or locally. This information could then be used to make a poster, booklet or presentation which summarises what takes place when and where
- If students know someone who is already involved in an arts activity that they would like to find out more about they could: attend that activity to find out about what’s involved, interview someone who is already involved, interview the person who runs an activity, report back on their findings
- Are there any local colleges where students could go on to study their chosen art form further? What can they find out about future opportunities and career pathways?
Bronze Part D:
Further development of Part D of Bronze Arts Award enables students to prepare for Silver Award Unit 2, arts leadership. Students have already shared their skills with others, but they could now be encouraged to develop ideas for a project to lead in preparation for Silver Unit 2:
- Thinking about the skill they have shared, what kind of project would they like to develop that could be accessed by other students/the community (this could be an exhibition, performance, workshop(s), a website or publication)?
- Who would their audience be?
- What area(s) of their project would they lead?
- How might they work with others and what skills would they need to do this?
- What issues would they need to consider when planning their activity/event (eg audience needs, health and safety)?
- What developments in their project might mean that they had to change their original plans?
- What practical steps (include here a discussion about publicity, recruitment, resources, practical issues such as using equipment safely etc) would they need to take in order to set this up?
- Who would they get feedback on their project from and how would they collect it?
- How would they know if their project had been a success? How might they show this?
Once your students are ready to begin their Silver Award our Silver mapping resource and Portfolio Building Templates for Unit 1 and Unit 2 will help you get started. And you can watch back our Spotlight on Silver webinar for the answers to all of your Silver questions.
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