Arts grant awarded to develop creativity in schools

The University of Wolverhampton’s Arts Connect team has been awarded a grant of more than £160k to help develop creativity in schools with children in Birmingham and the Black Country.  

Arts Connect, part of the University’s Faculty of Arts, Business and Social Sciences, has been awarded a £165,000 grant from Paul Hamlyn Foundation’s Teacher Development Fund (TDF) – Round 7 to fund the Arts Connect programme, Classroom as Studio. The Teacher Development Fund aims to enable teachers and school leaders to develop their skills, knowledge and experience in order to embed learning through the arts in the primary curriculum. 

Working with eight primary schools in Birmingham and the Black Country, six local artists and IKON, The New Art Gallery Walsall and Wolverhampton Art Gallery, Classroom as Studio is a two-year programme that has been inspired by the work of contemporary artists. It will look to develop the teaching practice of primary school teachers so they can reimagine their classroom as an artist’s studio and develop their leadership and influence in the visual arts in their school.  

The programme will embed change through teacher and artist workshops, in-school development work and visits to local art galleries. In the first-year, teachers will be assigned a partner artist, a local artist who will work in schools and with teachers to develop teaching practice and programmes of activity with children in the classroom, as part of an action research project. Teachers will be immersed in the work and ideas of current contemporary artists and be supported to introduce new practices and explore social issues with their children.  

In the second year of the programme, each collective will be asked to use their research to create a programme of creative activity that will become part of the ongoing School Improvement Plan and embedded in the partner school curriculum.  

As part of Classroom as Studio, children will visit local galleries and artist studios, enabling them to build their confidence and develop a sense of belonging and ownership in these spaces. Through investigating and working with local artists in their schools, pupils will be able to see that being an artist is a career pathway. 

The long-term objective of Classroom as Studio is to grow and embed arts-based learning in the school curriculum and in teaching practice. This will build sustainable capacity, support children in the partner schools to better develop their creativity, art skills, wellbeing and oracy with a strong collective of schools, teachers, art galleries and local artists.   

Rob Elkington, Director at Arts Connect, said: “We are thrilled to be part of the Teacher Development Fund and hugely grateful to Paul Hamlyn Foundation for their support and confidence in our partnership.  

“This grant gives us a unique opportunity to work over two school years with teaching staff and leaders of schools to test out and embed innovative approaches to art teaching for children from 5 – 11 years old.  

“Our focus is solely on the teachers’ skills, confidence and learning. They will be brilliantly supported and inspired by their partner artist, gallery staff and the work of practicing artists.  

“Our long-term aim as a partnership is to influence the experience of art for children in schools, way beyond the core group, inspired by the work that this pioneering group of teachers are already starting.”  

Anyone looking to study in the School of Creative Industries should look at the wide range of courses available in the School of Art and the Screen School. Book in for an Open Day to take a look at our facilities.