A celebration of student creativity in Scotland, the RSA Schools Art Award has been inspiring young artists since 1986. Each year, we welcome entries from Stromness to Castle Douglas, Oban to Edinburgh, and the level of creativity and imagination is excellent.
Alongside awards for individual students, we also offer the Brodies Inspirational Art & Design Department Award, which grants £1,000 to support the most deserving and inspirational project proposed by an Art & Design Department. In 2024, this award went to Hazlehead Academy in Aberdeen, whose proposal focused on easing the transition between Primary and Secondary school through the power of art.
Hazlehead Academy planned to use the award funds to strengthen links with its five local feeder primary schools, inspiring P7 pupils before they enter secondary school. Recognising that many primary schools no longer have specialist art teachers, the team identified a gap in access to art education. Their project aimed to give all incoming students a positive experience of Art & Design, boosting confidence, building skills, and helping them feel more comfortable with the transition to secondary school.
Since receiving the award, Hazlehead Academy have set about bringing their vision to life. The planned a range of P7–S1 transition activities and used the funds to build a ‘legacy box’ of reusable resources. Primary pupils were then invited to Hazlehead Academy for a creative activity.
Later, all six Art & Design teachers visited local Primary schools and delivered a variety of workshops:
We carried out 4 days of an art activity, this is where our ‘legacy box’ of materials was used. Some did clay, some did print, some did mixed media collaging, and some did animation. These lessons have been collated and shared with all the Primary schools to provide a bank of resources for the teachers, allowing them the opportunity to teach these lessons themselves.
Mrs Hilary Forbes, Art and Design
These sessions created opportunities for primary pupils to meet Academy staff, engage with different materials, and gain confidence in a secondary school setting. Primary teachers also benefited, with many welcoming the chance to develop their skills in art education through these shared sessions.
With some of the award funds still set aside, Hazlehead Academy plan to further develop their ‘legacy box’ ensuring the award will continue to benefit students in years to come.
We are incredibly thankful to Brodies LLP who have supported the RSA Schools Art Award since 2016. We’ll be announcing the recipients of the 2025 Schools Art Award soon, and the exhibition will be available to view on our website from Wednesday 18 June.
