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

LEGOLAND® Discovery Center Tokyo - it's like you've just jumped into the biggest box of LEGO®bricks ever!

Madame Tussauds is the best place to visit for groups of ALL ages!

If you’re looking for inspiration to give your pupils a day out they’ll never forget, then Madame Tussauds Sydney is the ideal excursion destination!  

LEGOLAND® Malaysia Resort brings together a LEGOLAND Park, Water Park and Hotel in one LEGO® themed location. It is a family holiday destination with more than 70 hands-on rides, slides, shows and attractions.

Exeter’s world-class museum has stunning new displays and galleries, fabulous exhibitions and modern amenities. Its spectacular Victorian building links the modern commercial city centre bustle on Queen Street with the city’s historic past.

Edinburgh Castle is a historic fortress which dominates the skyline of the city of Edinburgh, Scotland from its position on the Castle Rock.

Discover Highhlights:

The new Library of Birmingham is a stunning building both inside and out. Here you can:

Madame Tussauds is THE place for your group, school trip or tour!

LEGOLAND® Discovery Centre Oberhausen – it's like you've just jumped into the biggest box of LEGO® bricks ever!

Acres of landscape garden bordered by historic parkland and woodland.

LEGOLAND® Discovery Center Westchester – Westchester’s premier LEGO® attraction for kids!

Our nature reserves: a unique resource for outdoor learning. Woodland, flower-rich meadows, hills, wild heathland and wetlands ringing with bird calls: our nature reserves are found throughout Shropshire and, together, total 750 hectares. They protect rare and threatened habitats but can also be a gateway for children to experience the natural world.

Palladian mansion and world-famous landscape garden

When Stourhead first opened in the 1740s, a magazine described it as ‘a living work of art’. The world-famous landscape garden has at its centrepiece a magnificent lake reflecting classical temples, mystical grottoes, and rare and exotic trees, and offers a day of fresh air and discovery.

The Royal Burgh of Culross is a unique survival, a town that time has passed by. It is the most complete example in Scotland today of a Burgh of the 17th and 18th centuries. The Town House was built in 1626 and was the administrative centre of Culross with a tollbooth and witches' prison. The old buildings and cobbled streets create a fascinating time warp for visitors.

Located on the South Bank, London County Hall is not only one of the city's most iconic landmarks but is also fast becoming a key hub for entertainment, culture, the creative industries, education and sustainability in the capital. 

Notre-Dame de Paris, also known as Notre-Dame Cathedral or simply Notre-Dame, is a historic Catholic cathedral on the eastern half of the Île de la Cité in the fourth arrondissement of Paris, France.

Discover over 750 years of history, including Britain's tallest spire, the world's best preserved original Magna Carta (1215) and Europe's oldest working clock, on a tour with one of our volunteer guides. Built between 1220 and 1258, in one architectural style, Salisbury is Britain's finest 13th century Gothic Cathedral.

Creative fun in the countryside

​​​​​​In the heart of Pollok Country Park, this award-winning building houses a unique collection in a beautiful woodland setting. The Burrell Collection is one of the greatest ever created by one person, comprising over 8,000 objects.

A charming small museum with collections of agricultural and domestic tools from Lynton and Exmoor. Also maritime, railway, and natural history. Unique pictures of the Lynmouth Flood, and a Victorian dolls' house. 

Housed in Lynton's oldest surviving domestic dwelling, it even includes its own ghost!

Natural History

Step back to the 1770s at poet William Wordsworth’s childhood home

Wordsworth House and Garden, in the Cumbrian town of Cockermouth, is the birthplace and childhood home of romantic poet William and his sister Dorothy.

It is presented as it would have been when they lived here with their parents, three brothers and servants in the 1770s.

Located on the site of a 17th century fort, Malone House was built in the 1820s for William Wallace Legge, a rich Belfast merchant who had inherited the surrounding land. A keen landscaper, he designed and planted most of the estate's grounds, which remain relatively unchanged today. 

Heather-clad moors of Kinder to the gritstone tors of Derwent Edge

The wild Pennine moorlands are of international importance for their populations of breeding birds and mosaic of habitats.

Belvoir Castle stands high on a hill overlooking 16,000 acres of woodland and farmland. Visitors from all over the world are welcomed here to events in the park, weddings, our world famous pheasant and partridge Belvoir Shoot, tours of the Castle and its art collection and our recently renovated gardens. Whatever draws you to Belvoir will enable you to share the magic of this estate.

We welcome thousands of children from schools across the world to the Cathedral every year. Many hundreds visit during our annual schools’ festivals: Church Schools Festival, Infant Schools Festival, Secondary Schools Festival and Special Schools Festival and we offer schools’ tours and trails throughout the academic year.

Byland Abbey is the perfect place to stop on a family day out, or if you’re walking or cycling in the North York Moors National Park.

Once one of the greatest monasteries in England, Byland Abbey inspired the design of church buildings throughout the North. 

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