Part of Better Lives Through Culture Programme, in partnership with Artswork
Artwork made by a young person in a workshop with artist Nazneen Ahmed
From September 2022, Southampton Cultural Education Partnership is piloting a Cultural Curriculum for Southampton.
Teachers and student will work together with creative practitioners to co-design and create a Cultural Curriculum for Southampton, that supports delivery of Cultural Capital and aligns with Southampton City Councilâs Future Work framework which prioritises levelling up, skills development and social capital.
The appointed contractor, or organisation, will be contracted to devise, train, and deliver a 6 month mentoring programme to six early career Southampton-based creatives to develop their engaged practice, skills and experience as Creative Mentors to young people. The programme objective is to develop the Creative Mentors as local role models, who will work directly with and inspire Children and Young People from at risk, marginalised backgrounds or NEET (not in employment education or training).
The contractor will train the Creative Mentors to develop their mentoring skills and understand how to support young people, developing a personalised plan of support for their mentee and appropriate ways of working to support them. This could range from building up soft skills such as communication and confidence, to researching career options in the film industry.
This Creative Mentoring programme will provide an essential pilot to support, inform, and develop the SCEPâs practice overall. The Creative Mentors, who will be from a breath of artforms, should come away with the skills to be creative problem solvers and the skills to support young people to achieve to build their confidence and develop their ambitions, as well as the skills to support a vulnerable young person. The training will provide the Creative Mentors with transferable skills about coaching, safeguarding and structuring mentoring sessions. The young people will be recruited via a referral process through different organisations and settings, e.g., youth centres, Pupil Referral Units, schools and colleges. The age of the pupils will be secondary school age up to 18 years.
This programme is essential to the delivery of Better Lives Through Culture (BLTC), an exciting project to galvanise cross-sector expertise to ensure children and young people that are at risk, disadvantaged, marginalised, not in education, employment, or training benefit from cultural education.
For full details and how to apply, download the Brief (PDF & Word) :
We want to ensure the application process is accessible, and to give everyone the information they need to decide whether they might be suitable. If you require this Brief or any further information in a different format, or have questions before you apply, please get in touch via SCEP@soton.ac.uk
If you have general questions about this opportunity, please email SCEP@soton.ac.uk in the first instance and provide a contact telephone number. Please note that queries may not be answered immediately due to the working hours of the team.
Jodie Sadler, Programme Manager (left) and Frankie McCormick, Creative Programmer (right) join the SCEP team
We are excited to announce two new appointments to Southampton Cultural Education Partnership (SCEP) team. Jodie Sadler as Programme Manager and Frankie McCormick as Creative Programmer will deliver our ambitious Better Lives Through Culture programme.
Together, Jodie and Frankie will drive the BLTC programme forward, enabling the SCEP to galvanise cross-sector expertise to ensure children and young people that are at risk, disadvantaged, marginalised, not in education, employment or training (NEET) benefit from cultural education.
Children and young people will co-design and create a Creative Curriculum for Southampton, in collaboration with practitioners and teachers, and in alignment with Southampton City Councilâs Future Work framework which prioritises levelling up, skills development and social capital. The work will harness Youth Voice and the ingenuity of the cityâs communities, insights and practice, to root and feed creative connections to place.
Creative Mentoring activity will build strategic capabilities in Southampton for emerging creatives and artists, organisations, children and young people along with Arts Award delivery, Digital Badging and Artsmark Partnerships.
Louise Coysh, Interim Lead, Southampton Cultural Education Partnership and Associate Director, Arts & Culture at University of Southampton, said: âWe are thrilled to welcome Jodie and Frankie to the team and our growing SCEP community. They each bring a wealth of experience and expertise, that will ensure Better Lives Through Culture positively impacts the lives of children in Southampton. This is an exciting moment for our City, with Southampton’s shared ambitions for children and young people clearly stated in the UNICEF Child Friendly City commitment and UK City of Culture 2025 Bid.”
Frankie, McCormick, Creative Programmer, said: âI am incredibly excited to be joining the SCEP as Creative Programmer. Having recently moved to Southampton, I have been hit by its vibrancy and feel so fortunate play a part in supporting the next generation of creative leaders to continue the legacy of this wonderful city.â
Jodie Sadler, Programme Manager, said: âSouthampton has a broad and rich cultural offering, I am energised to work on with the Southampton Cultural Education Partnership to further the access to this wealth of creativity and support the next generation of creatives to see what is possible when it comes to creative futures.â
Jodie and Frankie will begin their roles in June and look forward to meeting and working our SCEP members, stakeholders, partners and most importantly children and young people over the coming months.
Frankie McCormick has recently moved to Southampton from Liverpool, where she has managed multiple large scale arts programmes with Royal Liverpool Philharmonic, ranging from higher education partnerships to Music and Mental Health programmes in partnership with NHS trusts. Frankie has spent the past three years managing Liverpoolâs biggest musical talent development programme, Liverpool Philharmonic Youth Company, and has worked with communities from across Liverpool to give young musicians world-class opportunities for music making. Frankie is a clarinetist and composer specialising in Klezmer and Balkan music, and has worked with highly acclaimed ensembles from symphony orchestras and choirs to community focused chamber groups.
Jodie Sadler joins us from working at a local authority in Wokingham where she developed a Cultural Strategy as Arts and Culture Development Officer. Previously she has worked as a Senior Project Manager for a multi-disciplinary national arts charity supporting vulnerable groups access the arts to improve confidence, teamwork, artistic skills, reduce isolation and enhance well-being. Jodie has worked within the community outreach and education departments of Dulwich Picture Gallery and The National Portrait Gallery. Before this Jodie set up a creative programme whilst working as an administrator in a mental ill health hostel in Westminster, where she worked with residents to co-design an arts showcase called Challenging Stigmas. Jodie studied Fine Art Sculpture at Loughborough University.
A student at Mount Pleasant Junior School in Bevois, Southampton, with their Arts Award Discover certificateÂ
Today we are spotlighting the Connecting Culture research project, led by the Arts and Culture team at University of Southampton and supported by Arts Council England. The project has recently reached the end of its ambitious âCreative Consultationâ programme of artist-led creative workshops held with children and young people in Southampton. With children at the heart, the research explores the question of how Southamptonâs thriving Cultural Quarter can enrich their lives as a future creative hub. Â
A total of 25 workshops took place at 15 schools and youth settings across the city, with around 600 of Southamptonâs young people taking part. All participants earned themselves an Arts Award Discover certificate for their efforts and, at a special presentation at Mount Pleasant Junior School, certificates were awarded to around 70 of their year 6 students.
