Our Specialist Visual & Performing Arts Status

After four years hard work, fundraising and planning with Larkmead and Fitzharrys, we have achieved the status of a Specialist Visual Arts & Music School! Thanks to everyone’s hard work and commitment: staff, students, parents, friends and sponsors.

A More Exciting School Environment

We are going to make the school more visually exciting and attractive. A good environment is essential for our well-being. We are creating new exhibition space and a welcoming entrance to our new arts and technology area. We will place more art and design around our school, inside and out, to celebrate the talents of our students.

More Individual Creativity

Being creative and learning how to explore your imagination helps us lead a more rewarding life. New technology is helping more and more people to discover their hidden creative talents.

Better Results for All - We can do it!!

We are going to improve the results of all our students. Our tough target is for over 65% of our students to reach five or more GCSE grades A*-C. Our best results so far have been 57%.

More Personal Attention

Our plan is to increase the amount of personal attention students receive and to match our teaching to their learning needs. ‘Next Steps to Personal Best’ is our motto for the year.

More Varied and Stimulating Lessons

We are going to make lessons more varied and interesting through visual means: diagrams, pictures, charts and models, all assisted by ICT and digital projectors. This will help young people be more motivated to work hard and achieve their best.

Art, Graphics and Music

For specialist school status, schools have to choose an area they are already very good at. We could have chosen a number of subjects but in the end we chose Art, Graphics and Music as three of our strongest.
Better Facilities, More Space and More Equipment

In these subjects, extra money will improve the facilities so that students reach even higher levels. We will make larger rooms, with more resources and better storage so that students can use a wide variety of methods. Class sizes will be smaller so that individual students can have more attention.

Computers for Design, Animation and Film Making

We will invest in computers and software so that students can use modern techniques for designing. We will set up facilities so that students can learn web-design, animation and film making. We are going to set up a new course in animation and web-design, open to students from all three schools. Larkmead and Fitzharrys are also setting up courses open to our students.
Modern and World Music, with New Technology

In music we aim to help young people explore their musical interests in a wider variety of ways, for example by linking with other arts such as dance, film and design. We would like people to learn more about a wider range of music from all over the world, connecting with our international links programme.

Contributing to Primary Schools and the Community

We will be working with other groups in our community. For example we will be employing visiting artists to work in our school and in our partner primary schools. We will help primary teachers to develop their artistic and creative techniques. We will also work on projects such as film making with other community groups.

Paying a Community Organiser

The three schools will employ a community organiser to help us take forward our plans.

Links with Business

Through links with our major sponsors, for example Vodafone and Unipart, we will be learning the latest management techniques for improving performance and giving students a springboard to employment in high-tech industry.

£1.6 Million for Abingdon

Each year John Mason will receive an extra £126,000 in government funding to help us achieve our objective. We expect to use about £300,000 of government money to improve our buildings and facilities and to buy new equipment. The three schools will receive at least £1.6 million extra over the next four years and there is a good chance of the project continuing after that.

High Standards in all Subjects

We are going to be just as dedicated as we always were to giving young people a first class education. Our motto ‘High Standards, Happy School, Honourable Service’ remains just the same. We are not going to neglect other areas, nor do you have to be brilliant at art, graphics or music to come to John Mason School. In fact our specialist status will improve all our work. We will go on working closely with Larkmead and Fitzharrys so that we all benefit from specialist status.