‘Arts Explorers’ is an action research programme – primarily looking at ways of encouraging families with primary school aged children to get involved in arts and cultural activities. The programme is funded by Creativity, Culture and Education (CCE) and managed nationally by CapeUK. Please click here to view the Arts Explorer National Report.
Arts Explorers in Kirklees – An exploration of the cultural ecology of a single neighbourhood
Four pathfinders have been commissioned to provide additional evidence about ‘what works’ in the engagement of primary school aged children and their families. The Birkby pathfinder is being delivered at a local level by CapeUK and Kirklees Council’s Children and Young People Service.
Birkby lies just outside the centre of Huddersfield in Kirklees. They explored whether families’ uptake of arts/cultural activity can be increased by providing low risk ‘first steps’ at natural meetings places within the community, such as shops, playgroups and the health centre? Please click here to read more about the activities and findings of the Birkby pathfinder.
YOU CAN NOW DOWNLOAD FOR FREE OUR MOST RECENT RESEARCH REPORT
In 2010, CapeUK was commissioned to research how four primary schools developed creativity in learning. At the time, creativity was seen as a central strand in the imminent ‘new primary curriculum’, built on the work of the Rose Review and was therefore of immediate interest to the education community.
However, during the course of the research, a new Government was elected and the ‘new’ primary curriculum was shelved.
At the time of writing it is not clear how the next Primary Curriculum will be shaped, except that it will have ‘a relentless focus on the basics’ and will be ‘a minimum national entitlement organised around subject disciplines’.*
However, there is also a strong message that schools will have ‘more freedom from unnecessary prescription and bureaucracy’ and that changes will ‘give teachers more flexibility than the proposed new primary curriculum offered’.*
The holding position is that the current National Curriculum remains in place until 2012 and this ‘provides flexibility for schools to adapt the curriculum to their needs’*. Which is true – the values, aims and purposes of the current curriculum are wide ranging and visionary.
Does this make our report a historical document? We think not.
It looks likely that there will be two years of learning and teaching ahead of us before the next new curriculum will be in place and practitioners at the ‘front line’ will need to try and influence the shape of that new curriculum from the basis of best practice.
Good learning is rooted in being proactive, excited and challenged by the process, fascinated by the content and motivated by the outcome of the work. This lies at the heart of creativity and drives cultural development – and good teaching builds on this. Whatever shape the curriculum takes, this will always be a key driver in the learner / teacher relationship. All schools will need to think this through – good and outstanding schools will always think it through, reframing their curriculum and pedagogy to keep learning alive and exciting for their pupils and staff.
*Department for Education, National Curriculum [online]. Available: http://www.education.gov.uk/curriculum [accessed 9 June 2010]
CapeUK is the delivering agency for the Creative Partnerships programmes for over 150 schools in Yorkshire. This is England's flagship creative learning programme, it aims to help young ...
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