Arts Educational Schools

Overview

ArtsEd provides specialist vocational training at secondary, further and higher education level in musical theatre and acting for film and television. The school also offers part-time and holiday courses in the performing arts.

ArtsEd is one of twenty-one specialist performing arts schools approved to offer government-funded Dance and Drama Awards, a scheme established to subsidise the cost of professional dance and drama training for the most talented students at leading institutions. It is a member of the Federation of Drama Schools.

History

School

ArtsEd was founded in 1939. It was formed as a result of a merger between the Cone School of Dancing founded in 1919 by Grace Cone, and the Ripman School founded in 1922 by Olive Ripman. Both Cone and Ripman offered curricula combining a general academic education with training in the arts, in preparation for professional careers connected with the theatre. The two schools were amalgamated in 1939 to form the Cone-Ripman School, the predecessor of today's ArtsEd.

The school was first based at Stratford Place, off Oxford Street in London. Teaching was disrupted by the outbreak of the Second World War, but in 1941, the school reopened at Stratford Place, while a second school operated at Tring Park. In 1945, the Cone-Ripman School obtained the lease to Tring Park; later, it purchased the building. In 1947, both schools were renamed the Arts Educational Schools. The London school was for a while, until 1962, based at Hyde Park Corner (144 Piccadilly). The school then moved repeatedly to other buildings in Kensington. In 1969, the school acquired a lease for 21 years on Golden Lane House in the Barbican area of London. In 1986 the school purchased the former buildings of Chiswick Polytechnic.

In the 2000s, the two schools became independent of each other, and the Tring school was renamed Tring Park School for the Performing Arts.

For many years, the president of the school was prima ballerina assoluta Dame Alicia Markova; Dame Beryl Grey became Director in the 1960s. Dame Alicia was succeeded in 2007 by Andrew Lloyd Webber.

Iain Reid was dean of the schools from 1999 until his retirement in December 2006. He was succeeded by John Baraldi, former chief executive of Riverside Studios, and former director of the East 15 Acting School; Baraldi left the school in 2009, and was succeeded by Jane Harrison. In 2017, Chris Hocking assumed the role of principal; he resigned in 2021 and was succeeded by Julie Spencer as interim principal.

In 2013, ArtsEd was awarded a grant by the Andrew Lloyd Webber Foundation to fund a refurbishment project. The money was spent on the main theatre, costume storage, the School of Film and Television and the school's access facilities.

Chiswick School of Art

Main article: Chiswick School of Art

The arts and crafts architect Maurice Bingham Adams designed the Chiswick School of Art as part of the Bedford Park Garden Suburb's community focus on the site on Bath Road in 1881. The school was depicted by Thomas Erat Harrison in an 1882 book Bedford Park, celebrating the then-fashionable garden suburb. The Chiswick School of Art building was destroyed by a V-1 flying bomb in 1944.

File:Chiswick School of Art, Bath Road, 1881.jpg|Design for Chiswick School of Art by Maurice Bingham Adams, 1881 File:School of Art, Stores and Tabard Inn by Thomas Erat Harrison 1882.jpg|School of Art, Stores and Tabard Inn by Thomas Erat Harrison, 1882

Academics

Day School and Sixth Form

The Day School and Sixth Form cater to students aged 11 to 18. Students are required to study mainstream subjects, in preparation for the GCSE and A-Levels, alongside their performing arts pursuits. Besides the A-Levels pathway, Sixth Form students have an option to complete a BTEC Extended Diploma in a performing arts discipline.

In 2015, the school was rated "Outstanding" by Ofsted. In 2019 it ranked second in the borough for percentage of pupils passing five or more GCSEs at A*-C.

Tertiary

The school had been accredited by Drama UK (organisation dissolved in 2016). It offers Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education recognised qualifications validated by the City University London or Trinity College, London. A non-degree foundation course is offered for students who do not meet the audition and/or academic requirements for admission into the bachelor's degree programmes.

Former pupils

• Moyo Akandé (Taggart, Sleeping Beauty)
• Kai Alexander (The Stranger, Catastrophe)
• Julie Andrews (The Sound of Music, Mary Poppins)
• Simone Ashley (Sex Education, Bridgerton)
• Samantha Barks (Les Misérables on stage and screen)
• Darcey Bussell (Former Principal with the Royal Ballet, Strictly Come Dancing judge)
• Gary Carr (Death in Paradise, Downton Abbey, The Deuce, The Good Fight)
• Adam Cooper (Former principal with the Royal Ballet and New Adventures)
• Martin Clunes (Doc Martin, Men Behaving Badly)
• Omari Douglas (It's a Sin)
• Tom Francis (Sunset Boulevard)
• Laura Haddock (Da Vinci's Demons, Luther)
• Nigel Harman (EastEnders, Shrek The Musical)
• Nigel Havers (Chariots of Fire, Coronation Street)
• Finn Jones (Game of Thrones, Marvel's Iron Fist)
• Bonnie Langford (Doctor Who, Spamalot, EastEnders)
• Margaret Lockwood (The Wicked Lady, The Lady Vanishes)
• Alexandros Logothetis (To Nisi, Magpie Murders)
• Lashana Lynch (Still Star-Crossed, No Time to Die)
• Madeleine Mantock (Charmed, Into the Badlands)
• Megan McKenna (Ex on the Beach, The Only Way Is Essex)
• Tuppence Middleton (Dickensian, War and Peace)
• Mimi Slinger (Emmerdale)
• Hugo Speer (The Full Monty, The Musketeers)
• Louis Spencer, Viscount Althorp
• Michaela Strachan (Springwatch, The Hit Man and Her)
• Oliver Tompsett (Wicked, We Will Rock You)
• Sally Anne Triplett (Mamma Mia!, Chicago)
• Will Young (Pop Idol Winner)
• 'Yungblud' (Dominic Richard Harrison) (21st Century Liability) ALPHABETICAL ORDER – CITATIONS MANDATORY --

File:Julie Andrews Park Hyatt, Sydney, Australia 2013.jpg|Julie Andrews File:Darcey Bussell (cropped).jpg|Darcey Bussell File:Martin Clunes.jpg|Martin Clunes File:Nigel Havers.jpg|Nigel Havers File:Bonnielangford86b (cropped).jpg|Bonnie Langford File:Will Young 2011.jpg|Will Young

References

References

1. "A message from our Principal, Louise Jackson". Arts Educational Schools.
2. "Grants and bursaries for adult learners".
3. [http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/EducationAndLearning/14To19/MoneyToLearn/DanceandDrama/DG_10023485 Gov.uk: Dance and Drama 10023485] {{webarchive. link. (16 July 2007)
4. "Rapid Scoping Study on Leicester Drama School". De Montfort University Leicester.
5. "History".
6. "Survey of London: 6. Stratford Place". Bartlett School of Architecture, University College London.
7. "History of the Mansion of Tring (From Domesday to the Present)".
8. Cove, Grace. (6 April 1962). "The Arts Educational Schools Limited". [[The London Gazette]].
9. "About".
10. "Tring Park School for the Performing Arts". Tring Park School for the Performing Arts.
11. (24 October 2021). "Arts Ed Principal Resigns After Safeguarding Report Published". Chiswick W4.
12. (12 April 2012). "Lloyd Webber donates £3.5million to 'Dorothy' performing arts school". Evening Standard.
13. "ArtsEd: 100 Parents “Horrified” Over Bullying Claims At Andrew Lloyd Webber-Backed Drama School". Deadline.
14. (26 August 2009). "1881 – Chiswick School of Art, Bedford Park, London".
15. (1882). "Bedford Park". Harrison and Sons.
16. "Chiswick School of Art".
17. "Day School Curriculum". artsed.co.uk.
18. "ArtsEd London Sixth Form – Curriculum Policy". artsed.co.uk.
19. Ofsted Communications Team. (14 December 2017). "Find an inspection report and registered childcare".
20. (7 February 2020). "School league tables in London: Find out how your school did for GCSE and A-Level results". Evening Standard.
21. [https://www.qaa.ac.uk/docs/qaa/reports/the-arts-educational-schools-her-ap-17.pdf?sfvrsn=af99f481_4 Higher Education Review (Alternative Providers) of The Arts Educational Schools]. [[Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education]]. October 2017.
22. "Courses: Foundation". artsed.co.uk.
23. Beacom, Brian. (16 July 2013). "Glasgow actress Moyo is casting spells in Macbeth". The Glasgow Times.
24. (1 June 2020). "Kai Alexander". Tresa Magazine.
25. (2022). "Alumni". Arts Educational Schools London.
26. Hanrahan, Laura. (18 February 2021). "Everything You Need To Know About 'Bridgerton' Season 2 Star Simone Ashley". Cosmopolitan.
27. Cassell, Paul. (3 June 2009). "Samantha Barks in the popular musical Cabaret". GetReading.
28. King, Gordon. "Darcey Bussell". Everenglish.org.uk.
29. Gordon, Bryony. (21 October 2008). "Darcey Bussell: Dance? Not for my daughters". [[The Daily Telegraph]].
30. "Gary Carr". [[London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art]].
31. "ArtsEd at the 2024 Olivier Awards".
32. "Watch Olivier Winner Tom Francis Sing 'Sunset Boulevard' in Music Video Directed by Jamie Lloyd".
33. (29 January 2008). "Food: Laura Haddock and Eleanor Wylde".
34. "The Arts Educational performing arts schools".
35. Vitsilogiannis, Vassilios Nicolaos. (4 April 2022). "Greek Actor Alexandros Logothetis: Real Life is Far More Interesting than a Nice Movie".
36. "Madeleine Mantock". TV Guide.
37. McKenna, Megan. (2018). "Mouthy". John Blake.
38. Pickstock, Heather. (15 March 2013). "Bristol actress Tuppence Middleton stars in Hitchcock TV thriller ...". [[Bristol Post]].
39. ArtsEd. (22 May 2018). "Our brilliant Saturday Skills #Alumna Mimi Slinger, will now be appearing as a regular character, Leanna Cavanagh in @emmerdale. Congratulations Mimi!".
40. "Charles Spencer on Instagram: "My son, Louis, graduated today from @artsedlondon with a First-class degree. He was selected as his year's valedictorian, and it was an absolutely beautiful speech – perfectly-delivered, touchingly generous, hugely grateful, and including references to so many of his 80 classmates. A final farewell hug to his brilliant principal here, and then on to his career. I couldn't be prouder of him – so much hard work, to add to a very rare gift. Congratulations, Louis!"".
41. (20 July 2020). "Timmy Mallett and Michaela Strachan: how we made Wide Awake Club".
42. (18 July 2013). "Abingdon's Oliver Tompsett on his star role in We Will Rock You". Oxford Mail.