Children & The Arts “Start” initiative expands to 1,200 children in Yorkshire

More than 1,200 children and young people in Yorkshire and Humber to access amazing arts and cultural experiences with Children & The Arts and we are IVE.

Local cultural education partnerships in Bradford, East Riding, Doncaster and Rotherham have partnered with Children & The Arts to deliver their “Start” initiative. £100K of funding, over the next 3 years, will come to the region to link disadvantaged children and young people with arts and cultural opportunities.

The ‘Start’ initiative will enable primary school children, particularly those from disadvantaged backgrounds, to participate in high-quality arts and cultural experiences with The Alhambra Theatre, Balbir Singh Dance Company, Junction and Cast (with darts) in Doncaster. Pupils will visit the cultural venues to see performances. Venue staff will then visit the schools, supporting the children with educational work inspired by the cultural visits. Pupils will also craft a response in the form of a performance or exhibition.

Teachers will have the opportunity to train to deliver Arts Award – an arts leadership qualification for children and young people. Schools will be able to find out more about the benefits of registering for Artsmark – the creative quality standard for schools accredited by Arts Council England – which could support them to embed subjects such as music, arts, drama and dance into the  curriculum and help to secure long term arts provision and development in their schools.

Since 2002, Children & the Arts have worked with arts venues across the UK to reach children in disadvantaged communities and hospices who are missing out on creative and cultural experiences. The aim of their programmes is to give those children who are at risk of being left behind, a more fulfilled, creative and exciting education, whilst raising their confidence, educational attainment and aspiration.

Jeremy Newton, Chief Executive of Children & the Arts, said:

“Our Start programme helps the many children in the UK who are denied the opportunity to engage with the arts.  Start shows that museums and galleries, theatres and concert halls, are places that will welcome them, places where they can experience and learn something new, and most of all, places that they can enjoy.”

“Over the past ten years we have seen how Start has had a huge impact on children’s confidence, their communication skills, and led to the personal development of thousands of children across the UK. We are delighted to be starting our first year of partnership with IVE to provide these opportunities for children in Yorkshire.”

Sarah Mumford, IVE Director of Cultural Education said:

“We are delighted to work with Children and the Arts to bring high-quality cultural experiences to more disadvantaged children and young people in the Yorkshire and Humber region.”

“START is a fantastic initiative that will improve the engagement with arts and culture for these children & young people through further teacher development and more opportunities to access cultural experiences.”

Funding has been secured from private individuals; £50,000 from Jonathan Moulds (Halifax-born, ex-head of Bank of America Merrill Lynch); £23,500 from the Eranda Foundation and £26,500 from the MariaMarina Foundation.

Are you a school or teacher looking for more information? Find out more about Arts Award and Artsmark and register for upcoming training events.