The British School of Beijing , Sanlitun and The British School of Beijing, Shunyi today announce that they will become two of the first schools in the world to benefit from a new collaboration between Nord Anglia Education and The Juilliard School in New York. From September 2016, students at the schools will benefit from an enhanced embedded arts curriculum developed by specialists from Juilliard, along with continued support from, and engagement with, Juilliard alumni and affiliated artists.
The collaboration between Juilliard, the world renowned performing arts conservatory, and Nord Anglia Education, the world’s leading premium schools organisation, is designed to enhance The British Schools of Beijing performing arts offering with its innovative structure, design and approach. The new embedded arts curriculum, which focuses first on music, was developed by curriculum and music experts at both Juilliard and Nord Anglia Education.
To celebrate the launch of the new embedded arts curriculum, Nord Anglia published a short position paper – Excellence through inspiration – which sets out the importance of inspiration in education and how performing arts in particular can help ignite that inspiration. It further argues that the increasing obsession of schools and governments with league tables of public examination results has reduced many schools to ‘exam factories’. Instead, Nord Anglia argues that it is the duty of educators to inspire students, and facilitate their cognitive stimulation and development. As part of its commitment to inspiring students, Nord Anglia collaborates with world-leading institutions to bring their excellence directly into the classroom.
It is through this approach that Nord Anglia has formed a close collaboration with Juilliard, the world-renowned performing arts conservatory. This will see an innovative new curriculum, developed by curriculum and music experts at Juilliard, rolled out in Nord Anglia schools across the globe. Nord Anglia believes that working with such a highly-regarded institution and giving students direct access to Juilliard performers and teaching artists will help inspire them in their studies. Ultimately, the curriculum aims to nurture cultural literacy and develop key skills in students, such as discipline, creativity and confidence that will enable them to succeed anywhere in the world once they’ve left school.
The music curriculum is designed for all students, not just those who are serious about learning an instrument or musical performance. It is based around a repertoire of 12 core works covering a wide range of cultures, genres and historical periods, each of which has been carefully chosen by Juilliard to open the door to categories of music and fundamentals essential for all young people to know and experience.
David Laird, Principal of The British School of Beijing, Sanlitun said,
“While working at the British School of Guangzhou, I was in the fortunate position of seeing first-hand the fantastic opportunities and experiences that the Juilliard collaboration brought to the school. I am delighted that students at BSB, Sanlitun will now be able to engage in those same fantastic opportunities. Performing arts is an important part of any school and this link will only serve to enhance the provision that we already offer. Whether it’s music, sports, academia or social development, it is important that as a school we always look to provide the very best avenues for students to ‘Be Ambitious’. The Juilliard collaboration is perfect for this reason!”
Andy Puttock, Principal of The British School of Beijing, Shunyi said,
“Our students are the leaders of tomorrow and it is our genuine privilege to help them develop the skills and attitudes that will make the world a better place. High academic standards are at the root of all good schools, but I believe that to be truly great we need to offer much more. Our students give their very best in all they do, be that in the classroom or in the performing arts, sport, charity work, volunteering, debating, public speaking or adventurous activities, and the chance to develop one of these areas with a world leading organisation is no less than these amazing students deserve. I look forward to seeing this programme go from strength to strength in the coming months and years and am truly grateful to those who have made it happen.”
Andrew Fitzmaurice, Chief Executive Officer at Nord Anglia Education, said, “Excellence comes from inspiration rather than league tables. Working with the world’s best is inspirational. How many times can any of us truly say we have had the opportunity to work with the best? At Nord Anglia Education, we want it to be a daily occurrence for every student and our collaboration with The Juilliard School does just that.”
“The evidence for an education in the arts is clear – learning music can increase academic development, helping students to improve literacy, mathematics and cognitive development. It also helps young people develop cultural literacy and personal skills – from collaboration through to perseverance – which are critical to the modern workplace.”
“The Juilliard School shares our vision for the value of the performing arts to society, and we strongly believe that this curriculum will equip our students with the skills needed to excel in their future careers – whether that be as a Juilliard-trained pianist or a corporate lawyer.”
Joseph W. Polisi, President at the Juilliard School, said, “In collaborating with Nord Anglia, we have a unique opportunity to share our expertise, offering those studying at Nord Anglia schools the chance to learn from the best that our two institutions can offer.
“We believe that the performing arts should have a significant role within today’s global educational environment. By working with Nord Anglia, we can reach students from around the world to cultivate their skills and help guide them in their future growth.”
Drama and dance curriculums will be rolled out to all Nord Anglia schools over the coming years, and Nord Anglia and Juilliard are also launching a performing arts summer programme. The first two-week programme will be held in Switzerland in July 2016 and will include drama, dance, voice and instrumental tuition. It will be open to students from non-Nord Anglia schools.
For more information, please visit www.naejuilliard.school