Education

Arts Council Wales has announced it is pausing two funding schemes targeted at educators and learners for review.

The Go and See and Have a Go funds will close at 12pm on 3 October and reopen on 4 November.

Go and See offers grants up to £1,000 to enable teachers in Welsh state-maintained schools to take learners to see high-quality art in venues across Wales.

Meanwhile, Have a Go aims to facilitate hands-on activities or workshops that focus on the expressive arts with grants of up to £1,500 to state-maintained schools, pupil referral units and arts and cultural organisations in Wales.

In announcing the change, ACW said: "Our popular grants for schools, artists, and arts organisations help support access to high-quality arts activity for learners and teachers and have had a huge impact across Wales.

"We are reviewing both our Go and See and Have a Go grants, and they will be temporarily closed from 12pm on 3 October.

"Please be assured that both schemes will reopen again on Monday 4 November 2024."

Bath & North East Somerset Council has launched a new scheme to enable more school children from across the country to visit the city's Roman Baths and Victoria Art Gallery for free.

Free visits and learning sessions will be available to state-funded primary and secondary schools across the UK, where 30% or more of pupils receive free school meals. 

The scheme is in addition to a current provision offering all school groups in Bath & North East Somerset free entry to both sites, with no additional eligibility criteria.

"High-quality, immersive school trips should be accessible to all students," Paul Roper, Cabinet Member for Economic & Cultural Sustainable Development at the council, said.

"We understand that cost can be a significant barrier for schools, and we hope that our new offer of free entry and free learning sessions for eligible schools will make a difference.

"We are committed to sharing Bath’s rich heritage, and through this new initiative, we aim to ensure that more children can experience the excitement of learning in an unforgettable setting."

Lindsey Braidley, Learning and Participation Manager at Bath’s Heritage Services added, "Experiencing history and art firsthand is invaluable for young learners. Not only do school visits enhance learning, but engaging with heritage also provides significant benefits for health and well-being.

"For many children, a school trip to a museum or gallery might be their only opportunity to discover heritage and culture, and we want to ensure this is available to as many students as possible.

"As well as offering a memorable way to discover history, a visit to the Roman Baths can inspire conversations around culture, science, lifestyle, engineering, health, and other subjects across the curriculum. We look forward to hearing from eligible schools to arrange their free visit.”

More than half of UK school librarians have been asked to remove certain books from circulation, a new survey suggests - with the majority of those requests coming from parents.

The Index on Censorship asked 53 librarians about their experiences of books being challenged. Twenty-eight (53%) said they had been asked to remove books and, of these, 56% said they had acted on the request.

According to the campaign organisation, many books called into question had LGBTQ+ themes, including This Book Is Gay by Juno Dawson, Julián is a Mermaid by Jessica Love and the alphabet book ABC Pride by Louie Stowell.

Index on Censorship said other books, including Manga comic books, were removed because of the perceived sexualisation of characters and explicit or violent content.

Books were also challenged over the use of homophobic language, swearing and self-harm discussions.

The organisation notes that in the US, where book censorship is a subject of frequent debate, the American Library Association records requests for bans of specific titles. Equivalent data is not collected in the UK. 

Alison Tarrant, Chief Executive of the UK School Library Association, said: “I doubt this is a new phenomenon. And it’s probably been going on for as long as school libraries have existed. 

“I wonder whether it’s a symptom of the more polarised society that we’re living in now, and that’s why things have got stronger.”

Concern over censorship of LGBTQ+ books for young people was brought to the fore last year after it emerged that the V&A Director Tristram Hunt decided to remove two illustrated books on queer identities, and a trans rights poster, from the Young V&A. The move prompted a backlash from the museum's union members, as well as artists and members of the public.

Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy has emphasised the role the cultural and creative sectors can play in driving national renewal in her first major speech in post.

Addressing more than 150 organisations at the People’s History Museum in Manchester, Nandy said the “inspiring and inclusive story” seen in the 2012 Olympic Opening Ceremony is “waiting for someone to give voice to it again”.

Highlighting Manchester’s groundbreaking cultural achievements such as the world’s “first free library”, Nandy said the new government would show similar drive, creativity and inclusion, as well as a “willingness to do things differently”.

She said this spirit was already evident in the government’s activity, including a curriculum review to give children more creative and sports opportunities, and its investment in grassroots sport.

Stressing the significance of creativity and culture to economic growth, Nandy claimed: “Through our partnerships with our mayors, councils, businesses and charities, we’re putting rocket boosters under our growing industries – film and theatre, TV, fashion, video games, heritage and tourism – to take the brakes off the economy, create opportunity for every child and to export our incredible talent across the world.”

She added that she intended to make sure public appointments “truly reflect” the country’s diversity – “not to fulfil a quota, but to ensure that our government draws on the creative might of all of our people”.

Nandy promised those that shared her vision “that we will walk alongside you. We will have your back. And we will give voice to the country many of us have believed in all our lifetime but never quite yet seen.”

The summit included representatives from major media and entertainment companies such as the BBC and Amazon, alongside national sports, tourism and cultural organisations.
 

National Youth Arts Wales (NYAW) and the Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music (ABRSM) have announced a new partnership to support music education in Wales.

The scheme will focus on three strands in its first year. One of these will involve identifying “cold spots in provision”, and running projects to boost young people’s skills and experience in areas such as choral singing and stringed instruments.

The organisations will also support each other’s youth representation programmes. This will include sharing experience to develop new best practice models and giving young people opportunities for “training, influencing policy and work experience”.

In addition, the ABRSM and NYAW will gather and bring together data to help understand the strengths and gaps within instrument learning, and which parts of Wales need more support.

Evan Dawson, Chief Executive of NYAW, said his organisation was excited to begin a partnership with “one of the world’s leading music education organisations”.

ABRSM’s Deputy Head of Engagement James Welburn said he expected the initiative to be “engaging and energetic”.

A new programme focused on specialist Postgraduate Research (PhD) degrees in dance has been launched by the University of the Arts London (UAL) and London Contemporary Dance School (LCDS).

The institutions said they hope to establish a cross-institutional and cross-college supervisor network, which would provide student researchers with a "distinctive sense of community whilst promoting dance, choreography, performance, and movement research."
 
The collaboration aims to build a cohort of postgraduate research students in dance and related embodied practices within a cross-arts and interdisciplinary framework.

Professor Vida L. Midgelow, Dean of UAL’s Doctoral School, said the programme extends an existing relationship with LCDS into doctoral research. 

"This relationship reflects the UAL Doctoral School’s ambition to provide innovative research degree environments and support PhD projects that make a difference in the world," she said. 

"The collaboration brings new opportunities for dance-based researchers, increasing the visibility and significance of their work at a time when dance in higher education is at risk. We are very much looking forward to welcoming our first co-supervised students!”

Dr Efrosini Protopapa, Director of Postgraduate Courses and Research at The Place, where LCDS is based, said: "We look forward to supporting PhD projects that seek to navigate some of the challenges of contemporary life through practice in imaginative, outward-facing, groundbreaking ways.”