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:
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:
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?
Cardiff Art Gallery at the National Museum Cardiff
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
At the heart of historic Washington village this picturesque stone manor house and its gardens provide a tranquil oasis, reflecting gentry life following the turbulence of the English Civil War.
The building incorporates parts of the original medieval home of George Washington's direct ancestors, and it is from here that the family took their surname of 'Washington'.
Gifted to you by Sir Charles Philips Trevelyan, Socialist MP and ‘illogical Englishman’, our 13,000-acre estate has something for everyone.
The eclectic collection at Arlington Court tells the story of a family who lived on the estate for more than 600-years. Discover for yourself the museum-like hoard amassed by Miss Rosalie Chichester, during her 84-years living at Arlington.
This extraordinary building with the appearance of a dolls' house nestles in a beautiful valley on the Berkshire Downs, surrounded by woodland.
It was built by an Earl, William Craven, as a house fit for the queen he loved, Queen Elizabeth of Bohemia in 1662.
This half-timbered Jacobean farmhouse, transformed by the de Rothschilds towards the end of the 19th century, now houses an exceptional collection of paintings, fine furniture and superb oriental porcelain.
The extensive gardens are an attractive mix of formal and natural, with specimen trees and shrubs and some unusual features.
The Gothic-styled late Victorian listed building was beautifully restored by The Old Belmont School Preservation Trust and today it is a hive of activity offering classes, conference facilities, a coffee shop and CS Lewis exhibition.
This unique sixteen-sided house was described by Lucinda Lambton as having 'a magical strangeness that one might dream of only as a child'.
It was built for two spinster cousins, Jane and Mary Parminter, on their return from a grand tour of Europe in the late 18th century. It contains many objects and mementoes of their travels.
The hand-carved fretwork interior of this modest, early 19th-century, terraced house is enthralling and inspiring.
Our only in-house conservation treatment facility, the Textile Conservation Studio was founded in 1976 at Blickling Hall in Norfolk. Since 2002, the Textile Conservation Studio has been based in a specially converted, award-winning building on the Blickling estate.
Norbury Manor, former seat of the Fitzherbert family, is just a short drive from Sudbury Hall and Kedleston Hall near Derby. The hall is a very rare example of a medieval hall built on the first floor, once forming part of the private apartments of the Fitzherbert family.
Explore the contrasting sides of this house: the neat, professional, spacious business rooms and the cluttered, cramped living quarters of the renowned portrait photographer Edward Chambré Hardman and his wife Margaret. They lived and worked here for 40 years, keeping everything and changing nothing.
The Buscot and Coleshill Estates are traditional estates on the edge of Oxfordshire and Wiltshire. They are made up of 7,000 acres, three villages, 850 acres of woodlands and 12 let farms.
We offer free visits to NT education group members, free teacher visits, an education officer to assist with planning, education volunteers and a covered area for picnics and lunches.
Built in 1535 by prominent courtier of Henry VIII, Sir Ralph Sadleir, Sutton House retains much of the atmosphere of a Tudor home despite some alterations by later occupants, including a succession of merchants, Huguenot silkweavers, and squatters. Discover oak-panelled rooms, original carved fireplaces and a charming courtyard.
A glorious slice of natural coastline in Purbeck featuring a four-mile stretch of golden, sandy beach, with gently shelving bathing waters and views of Old Harry Rocks and the Isle of Wight.
Ideal for water sports and includes the most popular naturist beach in Britain. The heathland behind the beach is a haven for native wildlife and features all six British reptiles.
A normally sedate trip made grand with their free children's activity packs, full of ideas to discover wildlife and nature in the gardens.
Stowe Landscape Gardens offer great children's activity packs, full of ideas to discover wildlife and nature in the gardens and help keep their interest going.
Built as a summer home by Arts and Crafts architect-designer Ernest Gimson for his brother Sydney, Stoneywell zigzags from its rocky outcrop, amid rhododendrons and heather. Every turn conjures childhood memories of holiday excitement, dashing down the winding steps –– one way to the fort, the other to the woods beyond.
James and Margaret Beale chose an idyllic location with views across the Sussex countryside for their rural retreat. Designed by Philip Webb, the house is one of the finest examples of Arts and Crafts workmanship, with Morris & Co. interiors creating a warm and welcoming atmosphere. The house is dressed for a weekend stay in 1925, so you can imagine you are a guest of the family.
The Tate organisation is one of the foremost providers of art galleries and experiences for young people in the UK today.
We have four galleries:
Experience the beguiling spirit of this inimitable 17th-century 'Plantation' home, with its walled gardens and parkland, full of tempting waymarked paths. There are ten generations of Lenox-Conyngham family tales to enthrall you, as well as numerous portraits and much furniture to admire and not forgetting Ireland's most-documented ghost: Olivia.
Speke Hall is a rare Tudor timber-framed manor house in a most unusual setting on the banks of the River Mersey. Restored and brought back to life in the 19th century, it is a unique and beautiful mixture of Tudor simplicity and Victorian Arts and Crafts' aesthetics.
This imposing house stands proud at the gateway to the Lake District.
Its rich and beautiful garden includes a pond, lake, a national collection of hardy ferns and a superb limestone rock garden.
Tredegar House is one of the architectural wonders of Wales and one of the most significant late 17th-century houses in the whole of the British Isles.
Situated within 90 acres of beautiful gardens and parkland, this delightful red brick house provides an ideal setting for a fantastic day out.
Totnes Fashions and Textiles Museum houses the Devonshire Collection of Period Costume, which contains clothing for men, women and children from the eighteenth century to the twentyfirst century.
A themed exhibition, which is changed annually, is displayed in the most intact Tudor Merchant's House in Totnes.
Come and enjoy Spetchley, one of Britain's best kept secrets! Just three miles east of the beautiful cathedral city of Worcester and surrounded by glorious countryside, is the beautiful and romantic garden of Spetchley Park.
The newly refurbished Harborough Museum is home to the Hallaton Treasure, discovered in 2000 and one of the most important Iron Age finds in Britain.
The museum celebrates Market Harborough’s long history as a centre of trade and industry in the heart of the Welland Valley at the crossroads between Leicestershire and Northamptonshire.
The Bushcraft Company offer residential school trips with a difference, taking students into the wild and giving them real back-to-nature experiences they will never forget.
A 15-year-old boy fell 60ft over the edge of a cliff whilst on a geography school trip, miraculously only suffering minor injuries.