Children and young people

Teaching creativity in primary schools can help students and teachers improve their skills, according to new research funded by Arts Council England and the Freelands Foundation.

The year-long study, which was conducted by University of Exeter and worked with teachers from the Penryn Partnership in West Cornwall, found "notable increases" in both teachers' abilities to facilitate creativity and students' capacity to develop creative skills.

Teachers taking part reported “increasing confidence and practice” in teaching for creativity. Meanwhile, researchers found children took more risks in developing ideas and experienced a greater connection with knowledge and skills they had previously been taught. 

One teacher said: "This study has confirmed to me that making the time and space for creativity in the secondary classroom is vital if we want to equip teenagers with the kinds of skills that they so clearly need for the future."

Associate Professor Kerry Chappell, who jointly authored the report, said the findings gave “insight into how it’s possible to teach for creativity."

She added: "The fact that our research synthesis was also able to demonstrate widespread developments in both creative teaching and students’ creative skills shows that the Creativity Collaborative project has impact and could be scaled up nationally.”

The Henry Moore Institute in Leeds will close next month for renovation works expected to last until next summer.

The refurbishment will include a new dedicated public engagement workshop, an improved welcome area and Research Library entrance, refreshed activity space and new toilets and baby changing facilities.

Meanwhile, solar panels will be installed on the roof.

Laurence Sillars, Head of the Henry Moore Institute, said: "These alterations will bring a significant step-change to how, and where, our programmes are experienced, retaining our world-renowned research facilities while ensuring that young people — our potential great creative thinkers of the future — feel at home. 

"We’re looking forward to reopening our doors next summer with revitalised spaces that better serve our visitors and the vibrant communities of Leeds and beyond.”

The institute will close to the public from 27 November.

Work to transform the basement of Portsmouth Guildhall into a new creative space for young people to collaborate and perform in will begin on Monday (23 October) as part of a £1.3m project.

The work, supported by £500,000 of funding from Arts Council England and £550,000 from Portsmouth Council, will see the main basement area and associated rooms remodelled to provide space for young people aged between 11 and 25 to "meet and explore their creative potential".

The facility, called The Base, will open in late Spring 2024.

Andy Grays, CEO of The Guildhall Trust, said: “The transformation of the basement is an exciting phase of the Renaissance of Portsmouth Guildhall. 

"The Base will allow us to provide a much more suitable environment for some of our existing work with young people, such as Urban Vocal Group, and importantly provide a new, supportive and much needed facility within our community that will help young people to flourish and feel safe.”

A campaign led by Society of London Theatre (SOLT) and UK Theatre is aiming to give every child the opportunity to go to the theatre before they leave school.

The Theatre for Every Child Campaign officially launched at an opening event at London Palladium yesterday (16 October).

It has set its first target as lobbying politicians to include a commitment in their general election manifestos for every child to attend a theatre before they leave school.

According to research conducted by SOLT and UK Theatre, 84% of parents would support the pledge.

The campaign is proposing government then introduces ring-fenced funding to ensure the target is met.

Claire Walker, Co-CEO of the theatre bodies, commented: “We believe every child has the right to experience and enjoy our country’s world-leading theatre. 

“Despite amazing work that theatres do up and down the country, access is not equal. This is not right. Which is why we are calling on all political parties to support our call for every child to attend the theatre before they leave school.” 

Actor, writer and campaign supporter, Lolita Chakrabarti, added: “Theatre changes lives. It encourages empathy and widens our understanding of ourselves in the world. Every child should experience the transformative effects of going to the theatre.”

“A Theatre Fund would guarantee minimum equal access, which can only benefit every child and in the end, the whole of society.”

An initiative designed to nurture young and emerging talent from East London has launched.

The partnership, based at Stratford Youth Zone, will see a £733,000-a-year investment go towards supporting creative and performing arts opportunities in Newham through social and emotional learning programmes, as well as activities focused on drama, music, dance, fashion, games design, filmmaking, screenwriting and visual and digital arts. 

Professor Amanda Broderick, Vice-Chancellor and President of UEL, said the "exciting and pioneering" collaboration will help support future cultural leaders, advocates and influencers of the arts. 

"Together, we are driving innovation in the arts sector and beyond, and of course making sure our young peoples’ voices are heard and supported to achieve their ambitions, their dreams and their aspirations,” she said.

Mayor of Newham Rokhsana Fiaz said the collaboration with the University of East London is an evolution of the council's commitment to young people and highlights the borough's cultural credentials as it bids for London Borough of Culture 2025.

"We are injecting a creative spirit into our programmes by putting arts and cultural at the heart of our mission," she said. 

"As we mobilise for our Borough of Culture 2025 bid, this collaboration shows that Newham is the heart of London’s culture.”

A new state school run in partnership with a professional orchestra has opened in the West Midlands, offering enhanced music education for students in one of England's most deprived boroughs.

Shireland CBSO Academy in West Bromwich has been founded in collaboration with the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra (CBSO). Pupils can take advantage of weekly workshops, performances, masterclasses and free instrumental tuition for at least two years. 

The school, which opened its doors to 138 Year 7s on 5 September, follows the national curriculum, with music embedded throughout. 

Principal David Green told the BBC, "We are a completely normal school. We have French, Art, Maths, Science - all the things you'd expect, but we have this really special partnership with the CBSO, which is giving these students a level of musical opportunity they just wouldn't get elsewhere".

The intention is for all students to study GCSE Music, which has seen a 45.2% nationwide drop in uptake since 2008.

CBSO’s Chief Executive Emma Stenning told the BBC there is "a crisis in music education in schools.

"There's not the funding, there's not the skill set, there's not the time made to study music. This school is here to buck that trend and prove what an amazing part of a young person's education music can be", she added.

South Yorkshire has thrown its hat in the ring to become the home of a new music education hub.

The South Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority (SYMCA) approved plans to apply to Arts Council England (ACE) funding to become a Hub Lead Organisation (HLO) at a meeting on Tuesday.

In June, it was announced that the number of music education hubs nationwide would be cut by almost two-thirds from the academic year 2024/25.

The change forms part of the new Investment Programme for Music Hubs, which ACE is delivering on behalf of the Department for Education (DfE).

Established in 2012, music hubs offer young people aged between 5 and 18 the opportunity to learn an instrument and join music groups and choirs, as well as provide training for teachers. There are 116 hubs across the country, including locations in Barnsley, Doncaster, Sheffield and Rotherham. 

The ACE-administered bidding process to become a new HLO opened in July. When the investment programme begins in September 2024, the number of music hubs will fall to 43, a reduction of 63%. 

A paper drawn up by officials said the new hub would build upon South Yorkshire's "rich, diverse and growing music ecosystem" and "enhance music education delivery across the region", according to the BBC.

Stuart Whatmore, Head of the Tri-borough Music Hub (TBMH), a leading figure in music education, has previously cautioned that the top-down nature of planned government reforms could create “more challenge, more crisis-management and potentially less creativity” in local areas.