Welcome to our online area for Surrey schools. We hope you have arrived on this page because you are passionate about enabling the children and young people you work with to engage with the creative arts.
How to get involved
Look at the case studies on this site for some examples of how other Surrey schools are working with cultural organisations to deliver fantastic creative and performing arts opportunities.
There are various different arts and culture teacher networks available for you to get involved with to share best practice and opportunities.
Culture Collaborative: A partnership of schools based around New Haw Community Primary School, Addlestone, working collaboratively to support cultural learning. All are currently working together on the Artsmark accreditation for each school.
The Primary Art Network: An online space for Primary art subject leaders to network. Meetings usually begin with an art activity, which can then (usually) be used back in school, followed by a focussed session where best practice can be shared, and ideas for future areas of focus can be discussed.
The Surrey Drama Teachers Network: A network for Surrey-based secondary school drama teachers, set up by the Yvonne Arnaud Theatre in partnership with Surrey Arts/Culture Box Surrey. The network has provided workshops designed to support drama teachers to develop their own practical skills, and meetings where teachers can share teaching experience and examples of best practice.
Surrey Dance Network Teachers Hub: Hub activity is designed with and specifically aimed at teachers delivering dance in education across Surrey. They support teachers, as dance advocates in schools, to help promote the positive impact of dance and continue to deliver the highest quality provision for children and young people across the county. Find out more here: Surrey Dance Teacher's Hub - Surrey County Council (surreycc.gov.uk)
Consider registering for Artsmark accreditation for your school. This training will enable you to develop a long-term strategic plan for the development of cultural learning in your school.
A condition of our involvement in any project is that the school has signed up for Artsmark. This quality standard embeds the arts and cultural practice within the school culture and ensures that projects have a legacy, which is why it is important to us.
- Arts Award is a unique set of qualifications designed to support children and young people to develop their skills and interests in the arts, building their knowledge as they progress through the levels. Arts Award’s flexible framework means young people can work across a wide range of arts, cultural and heritage activities and projects, including creative and technical roles.
- Digital Badging - Artswork use digital badging and some organisations are working to develop their own cultural badging programmes. "Whether you are a young person or an adult, digital badges give you an easy, visual way to showcase your skills and achievements to potential employers, clients or education institutions. A digital badge can be displayed across platforms like a CV, blog, ePortfolio, web page, email signature or social media platforms such as LinkedIn" - Artswork
Find cultural practitioners who have experience working in Surrey schools using our Resources tab. Many local authorities in Surrey have dedicated officers for arts and culture who may be able to signpost you to local artists and organisations. Arts Partnerships Surrey is a strategic alliance of 9 local authorities working together to deliver an offering of arts for Surrey that addresses social, economic, learning and health needs. Get in touch with them and see if your Local Authority has an arts officer who can support you in your planning.
You will likely need to draw in external funding. Visit the Surrey Culture website to find out about local funding opportunities. Once you have secured funding from a local source, Arts Council England funding is more likely to be successful.
Surrey Careers Hub
Surrey Careers Hub is a partnership between Surrey County Council and The Careers & Enterprise Company (CEC). The CEC is the national body for careers education in England, supporting schools and colleges to deliver modern, 21st century careers education. World-class careers education follows the eight Gatsby Benchmarks of good careers guidance. Amongst other things, the benchmarks highlight that young people need:
- Multiple and meaningful encounters and experiences with employers, colleges, and apprenticeship providers
- Curriculum learning that links to jobs and relevant skills
By connecting education institutions, employers, further and higher education providers, universities and independent training providers, the Careers Hub’s funded work, events and projects enable young people to make informed choices about their best next steps.
Contact the team on [email protected] to find out how you can help young people in Surrey plan their best next steps.
Top Tips
If you already have an idea for an arts programme in your school, clarify your aims and success criteria. For example, do you want your children/young people to engage with cultural learning because of its powerful intrinsic value? Or do you want to address particular broader issues such as mental health, low aspiration, and anti-bullying? Or do you want to try and improve attainment in a core curriculum area like numeracy or literacy? Having clarified your aims, consider what outcomes you want. What will success look like and how will you measure it?
Consider collaborating with other schools on a joint programme. It could be neighbouring or feeder schools, or schools that share your context, such as higher numbers of Pupil or Service Premium pupils, rural isolation, SEND, etc.
Think about how you might fund a programme. You will almost certainly need to draw in external funding. Are there local philanthropic trusts who may be approachable? Culture Box Surrey has successfully drawn in funding from Arts Council England (ACE) and other sources for programmes in our schools, but match funding is almost always required and most funding of this type is directed at collaborative school clusters, not individual schools. It’s also worth noting that Artsmark registration is usually a requirement for ACE funding for schools. Visit the Surrey Culture website to see more funding sources.