We need to start engaging children young if we’re going to inspire the next generation of arts enthusiasts, Beth Gardner believes.
The arts sector provides many opportunities for children to challenge themselves, develop new skills, engage in new activities and learn. It is important that the creative community engages with the next generation. A number of arts providers work closely with schools and other organisations in the local community to improve the learning experiences they provide. Educational visits can be amongst the most vivid memories from childhood and it is important that today’s children are given the same opportunity. For many children, these educational visits are often their first experience of the arts world, and there exists the potential to form such a strong attachment that it can foster a lifelong love of the arts world. A visit to a local art gallery or dance studio can also inspire other areas of a pupil’s educational development as well as their general behaviour. Most teachers agree, children learn best when they experience first-hand what they have read about in the classroom. Indeed, last year Ofsted recognised the power of learning outside the classroom, finding that getting out and about in small, frequent doses improves understanding and school standards as well as helping social and emotional development.
RECOGNISING QUALITY
It has now been a year since the launch of the Quality Badge, awarded by the Council for Learning Outside the Classroom. The Quality Badge is awarded to organisations and venues – such as museums, galleries and theatres – that offer good quality learning experiences whilst managing risk effectively. Visiting badged organisations makes life easier for teachers and parents organising educational visits as they can feel confident that their children and pupils are receiving high quality educational experiences in a safe environment whilst enjoying inspiring and exciting activities. As more and more organisations are awarded the Quality Badge, it is becoming the benchmark by which all providers of educational visits are judged – so schools, groups and families thinking about undertaking visits are likely to check that their chosen venue either has the badge or is in the process of acquiring it. Arts providers are particularly likely to benefit from applying for the Quality Badge as parents and teachers will want to arrange education visits to those organisations that can introduce children to the arts in a manner that is both educational and accessible – something that badged organisations can demonstrably offer.
SHINING EXAMPLES
The Liverpool Philharmonic Hall, home of the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, was one of the first arts organisations in the country to be awarded the Quality Badge. It offers a range of exciting and inspirational opportunities for thousands of people, including over 22,000 local children, to get involved in live music-making of the highest quality. Working with the Faith Primary School in West Everton, the In Harmony Liverpool project involves pupils making music with a team of highly skilled musicians led by Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra violinist Sally Anne Anderson. Just 12 weeks after picking up an instrument, the Faith pupils performed a special arrangement of Hey Jude alongside musicians from the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra in the Philharmonic Hall. Not only orchestras but also art galleries, dance studios and theatres across the country are establishing strong links with schools and the local community through several different educational opportunities.
One of these is the Quality Badge-accredited New Art Gallery in Walsall, which hosts a series of events designed specifically for children and families and acts as a great introduction to contemporary art. Their dedication to engaging with schools and children even extends to Disco, a tailored family gallery and hands-on area where visitors can touch everything, dress up as a Victorian dandy, create some computer art or compose a song on the xylophone. The Liverpool Philharmonic and the Walsall New Art Gallery demonstrate what many arts organisations across the country are doing to reach out to the local community and engage with the next generation of arts enthusiasts. Learning about the arts first-hand in galleries and theatres allows children to develop their creative skills whilst also inspiring other aspects of their education, but the arts community can also benefit from a closer relationship with schools and by inspiring the next generation of arts enthusiasts.
BETH GARDNER is Chief Executive of the Council for Learning Outside the Classroom, which believes that every child should experience the world beyond the classroom as an essential part of learning and personal development, whatever their age, ability and circumstances.
e contact@lotcqualitybadge.org.uk
w http://www.lotcqualitybadge.org.uk
This week Beth enjoyed an evening of camp hilarity at the pantomime performed by Youth on Stage – a Birmingham-based youth theatre – but failed to find her Prince Charming that night.