Education

A pilot project to develop a new approach to arts education will be run across a group of schools in Hastings, East Sussex.

The Clore Duffield Foundation is working with the Ark group of schools to explore how it can support multi-academy trusts to "deliver excellent and inspiring arts education".

During the project, Ark will work with local and national artists and arts organisations to give all pupils the chance to develop their creativity. 

A range of arts initiatives and partnerships will be trialled, culminating in an arts festival in Hastings in July 2024.

Kate Bellamy, Director of the Clore Duffield Foundation said: “We believe that an excellent arts education is essential for children, young people and the creative industries to thrive. 

"The Foundation has spent the past 20 years supporting cultural institutions to create Clore Learning Spaces for arts education. 

"But not all schools and families can easily access these. So, we are partnering with Ark Schools to explore how multi academy trusts can develop inspiring arts education programmes, ensuring all their pupils benefit."

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.”

Theatre company Stockroom, which ceased to be an Arts Council England-funded organisation last year, has opened a new performing space in Islington through a partnership with drama school Collective Acting Studio.

The new venue, Collective Theatre, is located in a Grade II listed building primarily used for the provision of youth services for Islington Borough Council.

It will now home both the theatre company and drama school and will open to the public in mid-October with the premiere of Stockroom production Influence.

The venue features two performance spaces, as well as green room facilities, a café/bar, recording studio, rehearsal rooms, classrooms, library and office space.

“Since the loss of our NPO status we have been working hard to ensure the artists we work with will continue to have a home to express themselves and take risks,” said Stockroom Executive Producer and CEO, Martin Derbyshire.

“We have produced bold political work around the country and the world and now, having been based in Finsbury Park for 30 years, are excited to be continue that work while having a new home to present the best in the writing from underrepresented voices.”

Paul Harvard, CEO and Programme Leader at Collective Acting Studio, added: “Against the background of Arts Council cuts, and freezes in Higher Education funding, we believe that housing a drama school and a power-house new theatrical venue under the same roof is a way of creating a new collaborative, sustainable model that will allow our companies to thrive and grow in partnership”.

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.

Government must recruit "an army of music teachers" to avert the risk of a lost generation of talent, leaders in the music industry have warned.

A manifesto published by UK Music ahead of the general election expected next year, calls on a new government to develop a comprehensive, medium- to long-term music strategy for growth.

In addition to investing millions in music education and boosting the number of teachers, it calls for controls in relation to the use of AI, action on the difficulties faced by artists touring in the European Union and the introduction of a tax credit to encourage new UK music production.

The manifesto also calls for an end to "rip-off" secondary ticketing practices.

UK Music’s Interim Chief Executive Tom Kiehl said: “We run a real risk of a lost generation of musical talent in the UK without urgent action to stem the decline in music education.

“The government must put music education front and centre by recruiting and training an army of new music teachers to give young people the chance to learn to play an instrument and the potential of a rewarding career doing something they love.

“Unless we invest in our young people and give them the opportunity of musical education, there will be an existential threat to the talent pipeline on which the music industry relies."