We surveyed Southampton Cultural Education Partnership (SCEP) members in the spring of 2023 about the future of the SCEP. Key things you said you valued about the SCEP were:
- The generosity of spirit SCEP engenders and how egalitarian our spaces feel
- How our meetings increase your understanding of the cultural sector in Southampton and new policies and strategies
- That our work improves your practice through sharing approaches, projects and training
- Developing your networks which feeds into new projects and work
- That we extend the reach of the cultural sector into other areas in the city e.g. Youth and Health services
You said you liked the meetings being a mix of online and in person, and that the SCEP newsletter was useful for finding out about new funding and activities, although you asked for bullet points at the top of each newsletter on its contents.
We also asked about your priorities and the areas you felt the SCEP should focus on. You told us children’s health and wellbeing was a key concern, how young people’s employability skills were supported, and how we ensure that it was easy for children in Southampton to know what was on offer and access arts and culture. As a result the SCEP Steering Group agreed our three strategic aims which are:
- Increasing Health & Wellbeing for children and young people through arts engagement
- Pathways & Progression: testing out new approaches to conserve capacity and resources including referrals processes
- Building a workforce for the future: providing inclusive training and skills development opportunities for young people and the cultural sector
Over the past year, as well as concentrating on how the SCEP delivers our strategic aims, we have focused on delivering the things you value about the SCEP. We have:
- Set up termly member meetings that are online (October 2023) and in person (February 2024)
- Planned in extra time to in-person meetings for networking
- Added a section to meetings for members to present emerging practice
- Added bullet points to the top of our newsletters
We look forward to continuing our work with you to nurture creative and cultural education for all children and young people in the City over the next year.