East Midlands Ready to Get Creative Following Mass Arts Award Advisor Training
There was a fantastic day of inspiration, innovation and qualifications with Arts Award Training at Mansfield Central Library earlier this month as over 50 members of staff from soundLINCS, Nottinghamshire Music Hub and the Nottinghamshire Youth Justice Service came together for one of the largest Arts Award Training sessions ever held!
Throughout the day, groups received training in delivering the Discover and Explore Awards and the next level awards of Bronze and Silver. As well as giving an introduction to how the awards are structured and moderated, the day explored effective ways to encourage participation in arts and cultural activities which inspire young people to collect a portfolio of their learning that they can share with friends and family.
The groups then collaborated to gain an understanding of their different approaches to working with and engaging young people. This led to an exploration of how to combine their existing skills, backgrounds and newly acquired qualifications to help give young people in Nottinghamshire and the wider East Midlands the best possible musical offer and start achieving Arts Awards! Nottingham Trent University also gave a short talk to launch their research project and introduce how they would be studying music as an intervention strategy for young people involved with the Youth Justice Service.
Currently celebrating its 10th birthday, Arts Award is a range of unique qualifications that support anyone up to 25 to grow as artists and arts leaders, inspiring them to connect with and take part in the wider arts world through taking challenges in an art form – from music to model-making and fashion to filming.
The training was organised by soundLINCS as part of their Youth Music FundC musical inclusion programme, which is taking place throughout Nottinghamshire, Leicestershire and Lincolnshire over the next 3 years. The project delivers music workshops and training with Children in Challenging Circumstances across 5 diverse strands; looked after children, youth justice services, paediatric services, young parents and children with special educational needs, including those who are hearing impaired.
soundLINCS’ CEO Nikki-Kate Heyes MBE, said: “The day was a fantastic success. It was great to see the music sector, formal and informal, joining with the Youth Justice Service and sharing knowledge and ideas. Training events like this really help to develop our Inquiring Minds Process, working with partners including academic establishments, non-music sector organisations and Music Education Hubs to start to effect real change. We hope to answer the burning questions in the arts through discussion, research, feedback and practical delivery like today.”
The event was made possible through collaborative work & support from The Mighty Creatives, Trinity College, Nottinghamshire Music Hub, Nottinghamshire Youth Justice Service, soundLINCS and Youth Music whose partnerships & resources were pooled to enable best value for the training.