Updates from Creating Change 

18 June 2014

Creating Change is a network for organisations involved in creative participatory group work with children and young people at risk. It was established by Ovalhouse in early 2013 and funded by Paul Hamlyn Foundation. Creating Change has a core group of organisations that act as a steering group for the network and who represent different art forms and regions across the UK.

News

Creating Change completed pilot phase 2 of the Arts Council, NFER, and Shared Intelligence's Quality Principles for Children and Young people. Creating Change aimed to explore the relevance and importance of the Quality Principles to organisations in the network; how they are applied strategically and in delivery of work with at risk young people and how the principles are evidenced in practice. Several Creating Change core organisations held roundtable events, where they invited relevant local organisations to discuss the importance of the quality principles in relation to targeted work with children and young people. Each roundtable group considered how they are applied in practice, and how they know they are working.

Plans are underway for our Creating Change conference in December 2014. This conference will bring together academics and arts organisations to link research with practice. It will consider how our sectors can jointly influence policy and work together so that the most disadvantaged of our children can make the most of their lives. We have a great line up of speakers from academic, arts and local authority sectors. More information will be sent out next month.

Opportunities

Using the Arts with Juvenile and Young Offenders, 25 June 2014, 9.45 am- 4 pm in Plymouth. Run by Artswork.

This popular one-day workshop explores the benefits of using creative activities with young offenders, both within the community and the secure estate. Developed in partnership with SOFT TOUCH this course will examine practical issues, such as those encountered in secure units and personal issues, such as motivation and the development of the young people. The course will use a mixture of training techniques to help educate and inform.

Researching children's everyday lives: socio-cultural contexts, 1st - 3rd July 2014 in Sheffield. Run by Centre for the Study of Childhood and Youth.

This conference will explore the idea of the 'everyday' as a key component of children's lives, past and present and cross culturally. To do this means moving away from a 'problem' focus on children and childhood by recognising that what counts as the mundane and every day for different children can be radically diverse in different times and places.

Full and Half Mask Workshop with Trestle, 5 July 2014, 2-5pm in London. Run by London Drama and Trestle

This afternoon workshop will introduce you to Trestle's current use of half masks as well as their traditional full masks and the physical theatre that naturally flows from either kind. It is guaranteed to be stimulating, educational - and funny.

Joining up the dots on children's participation in public life, 22 September 2014 in Brighton. Run by CIRCY, University of Sussex.

Theoretical and methodological challenges with Dr Sevasti-Melissa Nolas, Lecturer in Social Work and Social Care, University of Sussex.

Resources

Addressing the Dynamic, Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance

Trinity Laban (Learning and Participation teams) designed Addressing the Dynamic as an enquiry-based research project focused on the role and skills of arts project managers (PMs). Personnel from Trinity Laban perceived that the role of project managers in building effective relationships with participatory artists is often overlooked but can be imperative to the success of arts participatory work. Addressing the Dynamic therefore asked the question:

What skills do project managers need and what do artists want from project managers to ensure the facilitation of high quality participatory arts projects?

PERMANENT AND FIXED PERIOD EXCLUSIONS FROM SCHOOLS AND EXCLUSION APPEALS IN ENGLAND, Department for Education

This Statistical First Release (SFR) provides information about permanent and fixed period exclusions from state-funded primary, state-funded secondary and special schools during 2011/12 as reported in the School Census, together with exclusion appeals for maintained schools in England.

A Brief Learning Framework for Artist Pedagogues, NBC and CCE

The National Children's Bureau (NCB) project manager Helen Chambers and Professor Pat Petrie, Director of the Centre for Understanding Social Pedagogy at the Institute of Education developed a draft learning framework, for artists who work with looked after children, based on learning with three high quality arts organisations (Chambers & Petrie 20091). NCB and CCE offer this abbreviated form of the document.

The geography of youth unemployment: a route map for change, The Work Foundation

In this report we investigate how young people's employment prospects vary in different parts of the country, why tailored local approaches are necessary, and what the role of local partners should be in tackling youth unemployment. There is a distinctive geographic pattern to youth unemployment in the UK. For example, in cities such as Middlesbrough, Barnsley and Glasgow the youth unemployment rate is more than twice that of cities such as Southampton, York and Reading (above 25% in the former, and below 13% in the latter three.

If you would like to share resources and opportunities with Creating Change please do this via their website or send to lara.stavrinou@ovalhouse.com

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