Session 1 – Learning from Lockdown 

The first in a 3-part series, consisting of presentations and panel discussions with colleagues from Dance East,  The Historic Dockyard Chatham and Rendered Retina Theatre Company, exploring the challenges and opportunities that have arisen for them over this period.  The session, which also  includes Q&A time,  aims to help colleagues better reflect on their own digital journey and plan for a new and uncertain future.   

Session 2 - Schools Online 

The Cultural Sector will hear from senior Education Leaders from across the ROH Bridge region, who will come together to provide an invaluable insight into the transformative change that has taken place in digital development in our schools over the last year. From back-room development to better understanding the pedagogy of online teaching, great strides have been taken in all aspects of online provision. This session will focus on the changes taking place and the opportunities and challenges that these may present for the arts and cultural sector in the future. 

Session 3 – Digital Delivery 

Using feedback from the first session, in this final seminar we will explore a specific aspect of digital delivery. From tech tools to safeguarding, evaluation to monetising your offer, the theme is open and will be determined by you. 

Research and further information

Blog posts

The starting point for this work was the premise that national organisations are a highly significant asset and resource in the national cultural education ecology. Many have national touring remits and exercise a sector leadership role, with a strong brand identity, a reputation for quality provision, a range of models, programmes and a body of knowledge that has a status and currency particularly with schools outside of London. A significant amount of their national delivery is distributed through their learning and participation teams who are balancing innovation alongside large scale delivery. Some national organisations also have the capacity to commission research, and many choose to invest in local and regional partnership infrastructure.

The Bridge organisations have a clear remit from Arts Council England to work strategically to ensure all children and young people can engage with high quality arts and culture. This is achieved through their own programmes and their stewardship of the network of Local Cultural Education Partnerships that they nurture. Each Bridge has a significant knowledge of the variety of cultural and educational provision in their region and the communities they serve.

We found in our research that the dialogue and relationships between Bridges and National organisations has not been consistent. For instance, Bridges are often unaware when delivery takes place in a region and national organisation often unaware of how we might support them. This feels like a missed opportunity to create an equitable distribution of offers in a place and ensure that the wider cultural infrastructure collaboratively reaches the widest number of children and young people possible.

We were keen for the research to:

• Provide insight to inform joint planning of schools/young people provision across the network of Bridges and national organisations
• Inform Arts Council England and other investors of key challenges and opportunities that are relevant to the development of a national strategy around schools engagement
• Uncover and share good practice across the cultural education community that will help raise the standard of work across the sector
• Extend networks and contacts
• Provide greater awareness on questions of remit and specialism, that will help develop joint working in the future.

Since the work was commissioned obviously the world has changed and it is likely to continue to change over the coming months and years. The pressures on schools and cultural sector and the uncertainty we all face around how we can work together more effectively is going to be challenging. In the short term as we all reset and rebuild, the ten Bridges are planning to hold a series of conversations in the Spring of 2021 (more than likely online) to explore future collaboration, dialogue and partnership working with national organisations. Dates for these will be shared in early 2021.

Names of national leads

We hope this is a first step to better co-ordination of regional and national cultural learning infrastructures that will place the aspirations, needs and situations of children and young people at their heart. We are grateful for the work of Natalie Highwood and Chloe Bird in undertaking the research.

View or download the Executive Summary (.PDF, 3.1 MB)

View or download the National Arts, Creative and Cultural Education survey report (.PDF, 907 KB)

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