A school’s commitment to the arts has been rewarded with a prestigious national quality award.

Tannery Drift first school in Royston has been awarded the Gold Artsmark, quality standard given out by the Arts Council – the national development agency for the arts.

The award recognises the high quality of provision in all sectors of the arts, from music to art, dance and drama.

Anna Greetham, head teacher Tannery Drift first school, said: “Last year one of our whole school priorities was to further enhance the enriched curriculum we offer. As part of this priority we worked towards achieving Artsmark.”

Assessors visited the school, and commented that it provides pupils with a “rich and well planned range of arts opportunities within and beyond the formal curriculum. Timetabled hours for the arts are high, extracurricular activities are plentiful and their take up is good.”

As a result they were awarded the Gold Artsmark, the scheme’s highest accolade.

Mrs Greetham said: “The hard work of the children and staff has been recognised with Tannery achieving Artsmark Gold. We were delighted with the comments made by our assessor

“We are now looking forward to building on this achievement by continuing to work with Creative Royston [organisers of Royston Arts Festival], giving more children the chance to access music tuition and further developing the outdoor areas for creative learning.”

Tannery Drift hosted a number of events as the Arts Festival kicked off at the weekend, including a performance by the school choir, and a number of creative workshops such as jewellery making and lessons on how to play the ukulele.

On Sunday Royston Town Band will be carrying out an open rehearsal at the school. This runs from 10am-1pm and entry is free.