TWO Bolton schools have had a brush with success by joining a select group across the country to be honoured for their commitment to the arts.

The Deane School and Farnworth's Harper Green have both been awarded the prestigious Artsmark award by the Arts Council of England.

The two schools join just 377 across the country to be given the award which has been presented for the first time.

The Artsmark celebrates schools that have made a strong commitment to the arts and have a range of arts provision that is on a par with the best there.

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The award also aims to encourage schools to raise standards and the profile of arts education.

For staff at Harper Green it is part of a continuing success story in the arts which includes a new music block being built.

It recognised the school's broad range of out of school hours opportunities through after school clubs, a long tradition of school productions and steadily improving exam results.

For The Deane the award represents a chance to shine after they went one better and were awarded the coveted Artsmark Silver award in recognition of their excellence in the subject.

School head of drama Trevor Kay, who put the school's bid for the award together, said it was a tribute to his teaching staff.

He said: "We are delighted to receive this award and it's all to do with what teachers are prepared to put in and organise events.

"Staff here are extremely dedicated and we strive for perfection in the arts. We never use the excuse that the works created by our pupils across the range of the arts as just the work of children, much of it is brilliant."

And to prove its commitment to all things artistic The Deane recently welcomed young pupils from its two feeder schools Haslam Park and St Mary's to take part in an event full of music, song and artwork with a distinctly oriental feel.

The school used the unique Indonesian musical instrument called the Gammelan -- which is a collection of drums and cymbals -- as the centrepiece to the event which spawned Indonesian artworks and traditional folk dancing. DRAMA WORKSHOP: Above from left: Fred Halliwell, Ashley Ceesay and Nicola Morgan, 'bullying' Stacey Hatton, pupils The Deane School. Ref: j2163/18 Ref: 2163/15 MUSICAL DELIGHT: Left, a pupil enjoys taking part in tuneful activities at The Deane School

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"One of the themes we explored was trust," explained Mr Kay. "It takes a group of people to play the Gammelan and it is all about keeping in time with the leader.

"It is not very well known in this country but it is incredibly popular in Indonesia.

"In this country young people would go out and play football, Indonesian children would go out and play the instrument together."

Both schools get to keep the Artsmark title for three years before having to re-apply for it.