Art

Art

Culture enriches lives, and participation in creative and cultural activities can have a significant impact on young people, by developing their appreciation, their skills and helping them to learn.

This has been shown repeatedly in international studies, and has also been backed up by recent evaluations of major programmes such as Creative Partnerships and Museums’ Strategic Commissioning. What these evaluations have shown is that culture and the arts can help young people achieve all of the Every Child Matters outcomes.

Cultural activities also gives young people the chance to develop important life skills such as creativity.

As well as being valuable and enjoyable in its own right, participation in cultural activities also gives young people the chance to develop important life skills such as creativity, confidence, self-discipline, effective communication and the ability to work in teams. These skills are particularly important in a world of rapid technological and social change where the cultural and creative industries are increasingly important to our economic future.

That is why a commitment was made in the Children’s Plan to work towards a position where all children and young people — no matter where they live or what their background — have the chance to participate in at least five hours of high-quality culture per week, in and out of school. The Find Your Talent programme looks at different ways of offering young people a range of cultural experiences.

The aim is to give young people the chance to develop as:

  • informed spectators (through attending top quality theatre and dance performances, world class exhibitions, galleries, museums and heritage sites)
  • participants and creators (through learning a musical instrument, playing and singing in ensembles, taking part in theatre and dance performances, producing artwork, making films and media art, or curating an exhibition).

Arts and cultural activities are also an important stimulus to develop young people’s creativity. Learning Outside the Classroom activities which give children and young people the opportunity to work on real-life challenges; handle risk; develop their capacity to think imaginatively and creatively; define and explore complex problems; use and adapt multiple resources both within their community and beyond in order to experiment and devise solutions to these problems — all of these experiences nurture the mix of thinking, imagining, facing the unknown and making things happen which are the ingredients of creativity.

School Art and Design courses provide students with a wide range of creative, exciting and stimulating opportunities to explore their artistic interests and design skills in ways that are personally relevant.

All schools aim to develop students’ ability to engage in practical ways with the processes of Art and Design. And at examination level all courses build on students’ innate creative skills through learning and doing in order to develop imaginative ways of working. They aim to enhance students’ knowledge and understanding of media, materials and technologies in historical and contemporary contexts, societies and cultures.

The educational visits that can enhance the learning experiences outside the classroom obviously include art galleries and studios, but there are now many opportunities to have hands-on experiences in a variety of skills, including sculpture, wood carving, furniture making, weaving, jewelry making, and pottery.

The BBC offer a fabulous section of their website called Your Paintings. It boasts a superb schools section which grew out of a Your Painitings Masterpieces in Schools event that took place across the country. The event gave thousands of UK school children the opportunity to experience great art close-up when a masterpiece visited their schools for the day. To support the project the BBC have curated a host of online resources including: slideshows of paintings with ideas for use in the classroom; profiles of careers in the art world; and a guide to artistic styles and movements. These cover many areas of the curriculum including History, Music, Geography, English and Drama as well as Art.

Main organisations:

Arts Council

Engage

National Society for Education in Art and Design

National Foundation for Educational Research

Inclusion: NASEN, and the Royal Academy of Arts runs regular sensory workshops for SEN students.

Thought of visiting?

The National Gallery

National Portrait Gallery

Royal Academy of Arts

Tate Modern

The Tate, St Ives

Victoria and Albert Museum

Birmingham Art Gallery

Cardiff Art Gallery at the National Museum Cardiff

The Eden Project, Cornwall

Keith Harding’s World of Mechanical Music, Gloucester

Sir Richard Arkwright’s Cromford Mill, Derbyshire

Snibston Discovery Park, Coalville, Leicestershire

Centre for Alternative Technology, Machynlleth

The National Stone Centre, Wirksworth

Articles about Art, Education and Trips on SchoolTripsAdvisor

Find out about the National Portrait Gallery's exhibition: Real Tudors: Kings & Queens Rediscovered

Read Turner Prize-winning artist Grayson Perry's thoughts on Art Education, published recently in the TES.

Venues for this Curriculum

Arbury Hall, originally built on the ruins of a 12th century Augustinian Priory, now stands in the midst of beautiful 18th century landscaped gardens and surrounded by over 100 acres of lakes and parkland, and has been the home of the Newdegate family for over 400 years.

Bring the kids and get creating, in a super pottery studio and cafe with many activity options and a milkshake menu!

A place of great theatre and drama

Seaton Delaval may have been one of the architect Sir John Vanbrugh’s smallest country houses; but it was home to the larger than life Delaval family.

The house and surrounding landscape were in keeping with the style expected in Georgian society, yet behind the formality lies a story of theatrical mischief.  

The Axe Valley and Seaton museum has many varied collections concentrating on the history and events of the local area, with many photographs, from Victorian times, of Seaton, Beer and Axmouth.

World famous chapel containing Stanley Spencer's visionary paintings

This modest red-brick building tucked away in a quiet corner of Hampshire houses an unexpected treasure – an epic series of large-scale murals, by the acclaimed war artist Sir Stanley Spencer.

A magnificent Georgian mansion and tranquil garden lie at the heart of this historic parkland

Saltram stands high above the River Plym in a rolling and wooded landscaped park that now provides precious green space on the outskirts of Plymouth. The House with its magnificent decoration and original contents was largely created between the 1740’s and 1820’s by three generations of the Parker family.

The family chapel of the Roman Catholic Bodenham family. The originally simple medieval building has a fine Elizabethan timber roof, a rebuilt 18th century tower, and striking Victorian interior decoration and furnishings by the Pugins.

Make and paint your own ceramic creations, with help from friendly, experienced staff.

You can have lots of fun painting your own designs onto pottery, making it personal to you and your family creating a unique gift for you to use everyday or to keep as a treasured memento.

Hereford Museum and Art Gallery, housed in a spectacular Victorian gothic building, has been exhibiting artefacts and works of fine and decorative art connected with the local area since 1874. Although the exterior of the building has changed very little the museum and gallery have kept up with the times.

Visiting the Station in steam will provide a unique and unforgettable learning environment

Historic Victorian industrial building with many rare original engines and boilers. Children’s trail to follow, plus a Visitor Centre and mini museum to explore. Steaming Days held throughout the year.

Claymills Victorian Pumping Station will transport you and the kids more than 120 years into the past, when steam powered engines were being used in all aspects of Victorian life.

Two million years of human history
One million artefacts
Countless astonishing stories

Archaeology and Anthropology are ways of knowing people past and present.

One of Britain's finest galleries - a beautiful and unique house with a distinctive collection of 20th century art, and a gallery exhibiting contemporary and modern art.

Admission Free.

Find out What's On HERE.

School Visits

Find out more HERE.

The Fitzwilliam Museum is the art and antiquities museum of the University of Cambridge, located on Trumpington Street in central Cambridge, England. It receives around 470,000 visitors annually.

Our collections include:

Classworks is a performing arts organisation committed to working with young people and the wider community. Drawing on a range of expertise and our extensive costume collection we produce projects and performances involving participants in every aspect of the creative process within a professional, safe and supportive environment.

Our ceramics painting studio is just the place to enjoy creative time with your family. It's a fantastic environment for children and adults to express their creative talent and to produce something completely unique to treasure forever. Booking recommended during weekends and children's holidays

This former Northampton to Market Harborough Railway is now a car free ‘linear’ park surrounded by beautiful scenery and rich in natural and historical heritage. It provides a 14 mile long walking, cycling and in parts horse riding route. The stone surfaced path follows the old railway track bed and is suitable for both hybrid style and mountain bikes.

Housed within the enormous Earlswood Lakes Craft Centre this is a child friendly pottery craft studio who will assist you in your artistic creations! Pottery painting, decopatch and baby prints.

Landguard Fort is the site of the last opposed seaborne invasion of England in 1667 and the first land battle of the Royal Marines. The current fort was built in the 18th century, and modified in the 19th century with substantial additional 19th-20th century outside batteries. 

The historic racing town of Newmarket in Suffolk is home to the National Horseracing museum, housed in the buildings that were once known as the Subscription Rooms which were a focal point of Newmarket and consequently are steeped in history

Retired jockeys and trainers staff the museum, dedicated to horse racing history.

The Sainsbury Centre is a world-class art gallery at the University of East Anglia (UEA). Admission is free to the permanent collections, which feature outstanding world and modern European art. There are also special exhibitions changing every few months. 

NWT Ranworth Broad is a fantastic place to bring your children, suiting smaller groups especially well. Situated only 20 minutes outside Norwich, Ranworth contains a wide range of habitats and a fantastic variety of wildlife, all to be seen from 750m of boardwalk. Find our floating visitor centre, nestled in reeds, with amazing views out across the open water at the end.

Explore NWT Holme Dunes (5 miles from Hunstanton) with your group. There are a range of coastal habitats including sand dunes, freshwater pools, grazing marsh and saltmarsh and much of the site consists of natural habitats maintained largely by coastal processes.

Looking for inspiration to give your pupils a day out they’ll never forget? Where you can guarantee they will come face to face with the world’s most famous faces, meet the Royal Family, live out their musical fantasy, beat Beckham at his own game or test their IQ against Einstein? At Madame Tussauds – where else!

Welcome to the Museum of Wimbledon.

Whether you live in the area or just have an interest in our rich local history, we would like to introduce you to a wealth of resources available at your fingertips.

Pages

Login/Sign Up

Latest News

Schoolboy Falls From 60ft Cliff on School Trip

A 15-year-old boy fell 60ft over the edge of a cliff whilst on a geography school trip, miraculously only suffering minor injuries.