The West of England Music Alliance is establishing a Cultural Education Hub, in partnership with WECA’s Creative and Cultural team, covering the West of England Region.
Our vision is to ensure every child and young person in the West of England can access a cultural experience each year, in or outside their school.
The Hub will act as a bridge, advisor and mentor between education settings, cultural organisations and the creative sector. We will also apply for funding for a post to act as commissioner and producer of a cultural offer for schools.
Our intended outcomes are that:
- Schools and other education settings have support to access high quality, inspiring cultural experiences, both in and out of school, every year
- Cultural organisations and practitioners will have support to integrate into education settings in an appropriate and meaningful way
- An industry pipeline is established, inspiring young people’s cultural ambition at an early age, nurturing this passion through to higher education and into the creative industries
- The West of England’s reputation as a hotspot for arts and culture creates a vibrant and stimulating schools’ cultural education ecosystem across the region
The Hub will address a range of priorities for the region and for schools, including
- broad representation through an EDI strategy
- linking cultural practice with education from early years through to work experience, apprenticeships and beyond
- targeting young people in challenging circumstances such as those with SEND, those who are NEET or not accessing mainstream education, harnessing the power of culture to address SEMH challenges and more
- moving from STEM to STEAM – promoting the power of the arts to accelerate learning and achievement in STEM subjects
Having established the scope of our ambition, West of England Music and Arts and WECA are bringing together a steering group comprising education settings, arts and cultural professionals and organisations, cultural strategy organisations and regional decision-makers.
Planning will commence in early summer 2023, leading to a strategy and action plan by early 2024.
