The Art Department at The Grove School, Market Drayton is working in collaboration with the Market Drayton Arts Festival Team to raise funds, via local donations and community-hosted events, to help with the purchase a much-needed replacement pottery kiln for the Art curriculum. With our old kiln having been declared unserviceable and the school management unable to commit funding for a replacement, it has become necessary to resort to fundraising to replace this vital resource for our students.

The pottery kiln that is housed within The Grove School’s Art Department had been in active use since the school was first opened in 1958. It had always supported a significant part of the Art Department’s curriculum experience, being utilised to develop skills in Key Stage 3 and supporting practical elements of both GCSE and A Level coursework, whilst also generating confidence, success, and high levels of achievement for our students. The Department’s staff are extremely frustrated that they are no longer able to offer students any classes in this specialist area of the curriculum. The catchment area of The Grove School includes areas of the town identified nationally as having high levels of socio-economic deprivation. We are particularly concerned that students from these areas are no longer able to access or experience activities within the framework of ceramics education in their school.