Getting started
It is important to be clear about why your school is contemplating building performing arts facilities. Addressing the following questions may help to clarify the priorities and scope of your project.
- Have enrolments in our arts courses increased to the extent that we need more arts teaching spaces or more specialist facilities? Are we planning to meet immediate or future needs?
- Do we want better arts facilities as a catalyst for progress on the arts curriculum? Will better facilities enhance staff, student, or community engagement with the arts curriculum or with a particular subject? Do we want better facilities to attract specialist staff and more students?
- Have we been introducing new programmes over the years and making do with interim facilities? Has the time come to build specialist facilities? What we have now may be fine, but do we see expansion coming?
- Are our current music and drama facilities past their best? Have they been overtaken by changes to the curriculum, qualifications, or technology?
- Has the nature of our teaching staff changed? Have teachers changed the way they approach their subjects? Do we have more expert staff?
- Are we deciding what to do with our underused school hall? Do we need a better auditorium? Why are we including arts classrooms as part of this project? Is that a pragmatic convenience or a matter of principle?