COLLABORATING FOR CREATIVITY

The UK’s First National Education Arts Festival is being organised by a group of people who know better than many about the power of the arts and creativity in our schools, that ultimately ripples through to our work, to fuel the economy, and our lives, by helping connect communities.

It’s been organised by a collaboration of our teachers and school leaders - the unions and associations represent them national on a range of matters.

We were delighted when Geoff Barton, General Secretary of ASCL joined us on World Creativity and Innovation Day to announce this exciting and important initiative.

Which has one goal…

Celebrating the creative achievements of children and young people

Join us on 28 May 2021 to celebrate the vital role of the arts in our schools and colleges around the country, and the fantastic work created by children and young people.

We’ll be live streaming all day from a cardboard Coventry cathedral we’re building on the playing field of Ludlow Primary School in Shropshire.

See children from Joseph Cash Primary perform on our cardboard cathedral.

We’ll have five hour long live session that any young person can sign up to be part of:

  • 9am - #AimHigh21 Assembly

  • 11am - Creative Showcase

  • 1pm - Creative Showcase

  • 4pm - Creative Showcase

  • 7pm - Creative Showcase

See below for the live stream links

We’re looking for live and pre-recorded performances, ideally on green screen so we can put them on our stage

We’ll have a Studio Audience Zoom room open all day that people will be able to join and contribute from but if you’d like to book a slot for some of your children and young people then sign up here now

Additionally the event will take place on Twitter and Instagram using the hashtag #EduArtsFest – and we want to fill it with the voices of children and young people playing music, performing drama, sharing artwork, poetry, singing, or dancing.

After over a year of despair and disruption, let’s get back to the creativity and joy which forms such an important part of education.

A cardboArd cathedral?

What better symbol to capture the need for our children, our schools, our communities, our country to rise up after a such a challenging period than Coventry cathedral, which rose from the ashes after the war as a sign of determination, togetherness and hope?

What better symbol to capture the importance of creativity in all its forms, than a cathedral made from cardboard, code and creativity, first seen at our #Coventry21 Community Art Festival in a school in the city, UK City of Culture 2021?

A cardboard cathedral that we’re currently taking to school communities across the UK on our #InspiredToLearn Summer Live and Live Streamed Tour and launching before their eyes, to inspire our #RocketKids - children and young people to find and #AimHigh with their art.

LIVE STREAM LINKS:

LIVE FROM SHROPSHIRE

Our #InspiredToLearn21 Summer Tour is going to be live streaming from Ludlow Primary School, in Shropshire on Friday 28th May to help celebrate and showcase #EduArtsFest.

Be part of it.

9.45am: #AIMHIGH21 Assembly

First we’ll live stream an #AimHigh21 Assembly for the school community of Ludlow Primary from the Coventry cathedral in their playing field. This will be live streamed to the country too.

Other social media live stream links:

  • YouTube - above and here. Do like and share

  • Facebook - is here. Why not start a watch party?

  • Twitter - will be pinned here. Do RT - #CaringIsSharing

For the rest of the day, we’ll be inviting children and young people from across the country to join us to perform, sign, dance and talk about their art - whatever it is.

11.00am CREATIVE SHOWCASE

Other social media live stream links:

  • YouTube - above and here. Do like and share

  • Facebook - is here. Why not start a watch party?

  • Twitter - will be pinned here. Do RT - #CaringIsSharing


BRAVE SCHOOL LEADERS

A few years ago we coined the phrase, hashtag too - #BraveSchoolLeaders - after working with Northern Saints Primary in Sunderland whose headteacher said “Ofsted are clear - they value creativity but it takes brave school leaders’, indeed as you can see below, our #InspireToLearn21 summer tour is dedicated in part to them, as well as their teacher colleagues and the whole community, who work together to inspire children and young people with creativity.

Hear from two of our school leaders’ leaders below, speaking in the past at STEAM Co. events

“9/10 schools are cutting the arts and it’s happening on our watch”

See the clip below of a short, punchy talk that ASCL’s Geoff Barton gave at our Art Connects event in King’s Cross a couple of years ago.

“What did Churchill say during the war when asked if he’d cut the arts budget”

Hear this short talk by Bill Watkin, CEO of the Sixth Form College Association about the importance of arts subjects, at our event at the top of Barclay’s Tower.