Collective voice for arts education

A strategic alliance between five of the leading professional subject associations for art, dance, drama and music is aiming to ensure that the voices of arts teachers are heard in discussions around education and arts teaching. The National Society for Education in Art and Design (NSEAD), National Dance Teachers Association (NDTA), National Drama (ND), UK Association for Music Education: Music Mark, and Incorporated Society of Musicians (ISM) will be working together as the UK Alliance for Arts Education, with a view to coordinating and maintaining educational expertise in arts subjects.  The group will act as a collective voice, putting forward the case for all children and young people to receive regular, high quality art, dance, drama and music teaching in school hours, as a basic curriculum entitlement until at least age 14.  It will argue that all children and young people should also be entitled to study arts subjects in school at Key Stage 4, should have access to a range of high quality arts activities, experiences and opportunities out of school hours, and be supported in their development as young artists in the art form of their choice. Deborah Annetts, Chief Executive of the ISM, which founded the Bacc for the Future campaign, said: “ We… look forward to working closely with our colleagues from other subject associations to ensure that our combined expertise is not only listened to, but also upheld.”