Hi! Iâm Philippa and joined as the SCEPâs new communications assistant in late February: you might have seen me on a few social media posts. The first two events I attended so far have been at the wonderful Cantell School. Iâd love to showcase what Iâve been up to.
First, Lucy Marder (SCEP Lead) and I attended Cantellâs Future Focus Evening on Wednesday 25th February. This was aimed at Year 9 and 10 students, we attended with Silva Chega from Mayflower Theatre and used the opportunity to spread the word about the creative and cultural industries to more than 30 students and their families. We discussed a diverse range of routes into creative futures and shared leaflets that exhibited a variety of our membersâ offerings. Itâs so important to showcase the variety of opportunities that are out there for young people interested in the creative and cultural sectors.Â
Whilst at the Future Focus Evening, we asked the question,
âWhat will you create in your career?â
And received a variety of brilliant responses from young people. Some of our favourite answers were,
It was a pleasure to talk to aspiring cardiologists, cinematographers, photographers and many other aspiring young professionals!
For National Careers Week, me and Lucy returned to Cantell School (Thursday 12th March) with an assembly. Here, we had the opportunity to represent the cultural industry to over 200 Year 8 students. We signposted them to Discover! Creative Careerâs brilliant resource, whilst showcasing the many creative careers out there. We also had the opportunity to answer a variety of thoughtful questions, that we hope encouraged them to pursue a career theyâre passionate about. Thanks for having us!
As I continue my work with the Southampton Cultural Education Partnership, I look forward to spotlighting the incredible work of our members and connecting with you through regular updates and newsletters.Â
The Better Lives Through Culture programme launched in 2021, aiming to create better lives for children and young people through culture.
At the time, childrenâs mental health was worsening. Confidence was low and inequalities were widening. We knew arts and culture could help. The need to widen access to cultural education felt urgent so, as a Cultural Education Partnership, we embraced that mission.
Two years on, as concerns over wellbeing continue to grow, the evaluation and film of Better Lives Through Culture offer hope.
Better Lives through Culture Film by City Eye
Better Lives through Culture
Better Lives Through Culture aimed to enable children and young people, who weren’t participating in arts and culture, to access cultural education.
It consisted of a Creative Curriculum project and a Creative Mentors project, both co-designed with young people. The two projects involved 325 children and young people, 40 teachers, 4 artists and 6 early career creatives.
The programme, delivered in partnership with Artswork with Bridge Investment funding from Arts Council England, has delivered âlife-changingâ results.
âMy whole life has changed. I went from working one day a week in an art gallery. Now Iâm working full time in a school that specialises in autism.â
Creative Mentor
Cultural Curriculum
Students worked with local artists to develop Creative Curriculums, offering new ways to learn different subjects.
Banister Primary School explored Geography and Science curriculum through dance and movement. Oasis Academy Lord’s Hill collaborated with a writer to address literacy and oracy within Art and Design. Cantell School added music to the English curriculum, while Woodlands Community College introduced a multi-artform approach to History.
“There has been a turnaround in the children’s confidence in wanting to have a go and be involved and to share.”
Banister School SLT Teacher
Teachers reported increased confidence, engagement and teamwork for all pupils. Learning benefits included improved retrieval for Primary pupils and access to learning for children with Special Educational Needs and Disability (SEND).
“Linking movements to vocabulary is really helping them to secure that language.”
Banister School SLT Teacher
Teachers have learnt new ways to work with their pupils that improve access for students with SEND. Primary age SEND students who normally cannot demonstrate the vocabulary they know through writing have been able to show their knowledge through movement. When studying butterflies, students could flutter like a butterfly or act out a life cycle when they could not write the terms. Teachers reflected it gave them a different way to support the students to be successful.âŻâŻ
“Most importantly, the children are enjoying the sessions. They are excited to be having an input in the planning process and those who are usually reluctant to answer and share are more willing to since these sessions, which is fantastic!”
Banister School Teacher
Creative Mentors
As part of the programme, Early Career Creatives also took part in mentoring training. Equipped with new skills they then mentored young people from Cantell School.
The project nurtured creative talent across the city and helped shape career pathways for mentors and mentees. The young people who were mentored described how the process had helped them improve their knowledge of careers in the arts.
The future
With the number of young people affected by poor mental health predicted to continue rising, galvanising cross-sector expertise to address wellbeing is vital.
Better Lives Through Culture has shown the important role arts and culture can play in building confidence and enjoyment, enhancing learning, and equipping young people with skills for the future.
Southampton Cultural Education Partnership is passionate about continuing to nurture creative and cultural education for all children and young people in the city. We are proud to have worked with so many Southampton students and artists. 135 have achieved Arts Awards in the process.
With your help, there is so much more we can do to achieve better lives through culture.
Thank you to
Our partners and funders: Artswork, Arts Council England, Artsmark, Arts Award, University of Southampton
Artists and Organisations: Abi Thommes and Arts2Educate, Louis Duarte and SoCoMusic Project, Natalie Watson, Susmita Bhattacharya and ArtfulScribe
Schools and Colleges: Banister Primary School, Cantell School, Oasis Academy Lord’s Hill and Woodlands Community College
Creative Mentors: Issa Loyaan Farrah-Kelly, JJ Gale, Jilly Evans, Ellen Gillett, Aidan and Amy Spencer
And all the brilliant young people who took part in Better Lives Through Culture.
Pupils at Banister Primary School have been using movement and dance to look at geography and science from a new perspective.
Natalie Watson and Year 4 students at Banister Primary School exploring geography and science using dance and movement. SCEP Cultural Curriculum, part of Better Lives Through Culture. Photographs: Nosa Malcolm
Movement and dance specialist Natalie Watson has been working with the school to devise new ways of teaching geography and science as part of the Southampton Cultural Education Partnership (SCEP) Cultural Curriculum project.
After a term working with the Year 4 classes (together with teachers Miss Golden and Mr Darling) to devise a new scheme of work for geography, the project has been rolled out across different key stages and Natalie has now worked with the Early Years Foundation Stage, Year 2 and Year 5 on their science curriculum.
During an inset day in April, Natalie also ran whole school CPD workshop with the full teaching staff to discover ways to bring dance and movement into their daily lesson planning.
The Cultural Curriculum project is taking place in four different school settings across Southampton with Arts2Educate, SoCo Music Project, ArtfulScribe, as well as dance practitioner Natalie.
Are you a school setting looking to develop Cultural Capital and creative learning in the classroom? Get in touch with scep@soton.ac.uk to explore how we can support your ambitions.
SCEP supported by
Better Lives Through Culture, in partnership with Artswork
Creative Mentor Amy Spencer describes exploring creative ideas in the ‘safe place’ of the art department with her mentee.
Amy Spencer, visual artist, SCEP Creative Mentor
Hello, my name is Amy and I am a visual artist and mentor for SCEP. Since starting my training for the Creative Mentoring Programme back in November last year, I have been trying to imagine how it might play out in real life.
Creative Arts combine with History at Woodlands Community College as Year 7 students bring creativity into their learning about the Mongol Empire this term.
Arts2Educate and Yr 7 at Woodlands Community College, song writing about Genghis Khan in History. SCEP Cultural Curriculum, part of Better Lives Through Culture. Photographs: Nosa Malcolm
Abi Thommes from Arts2Educate has spent the past term working with students to find out how they would like to bring music, art and drama into their lessons. This is one of four arts/schools partnership to develop a Southampton Cultural Curriculum, as part of the SCEP’s Better Lives Through Culture Programme.
