School .v. Community - what's in a setting?

Here at High Peak Community Arts we now have a number of long-running youth projects which have grown over time from pilots and partnerships.  In particular our in-school programme, Music Arts Pod, and community programme, Tall Tales, have been running since 2015 and 2014 respectively.  So we are at a good point to stand back from the fine detail of delivery and individual outcomes and make comparisons over structure, setting and benefits.

My first love as a community arts producer will always be out-of-school, multi-age, open delivery.  This has led me to question the role of community arts in schools, where the structure of year group and timetable puts so many limitations on delivery.  On the one hand we get to meet selected cohorts of pupils who stand to gain the most, but on the other we have to match our methods to the outcome-driven culture of expectation and discipline which schools rely on.  We also come into a group on what is an undeniably negative premise – Many of these pupils start the programme with the sense that school ‘doesn’t know what to do with me’ and they are a problem to be sorted out.

Delivering a creative programme in school time works best when we communicate routinely with pastoral staff, recording progress and difficulties and drawing teachers into the young people’s journey.  This balance is always under threat as school capacity is increasingly stretched and allies move on or change job roles.  In recent years different schools have diverged in opinion over external deliverers on site, with some very positive about what we can add in value, and others now more keen to keep pupils in lessons at all times.  This also reflects schools’ ability to provide match funding or even cover teachers and transport for off site trips.

It is clear from Music Arts Pod that an externally provided creative project can be significant in a young person’s educational journey.  Once a week it can be a chance to take ‘time out’ and re-imagine what they want from education and to study on their own terms.  For the schools, they get the chance to see a different side to pupils who may be in a rut or a negative cycle of school relationships.  As a community arts organisation it is also a chance for us to make connections with some pupils who wouldn’t choose out of school activity, but may find an interest or talent that they could take further through our other projects.

Our community programme, Tall Tales, stands in contrast as an example of what I see as ‘true’ community arts.  We start with an open invitation to anyone age 8+ to come and take part and we aim to build membership from the widest cross section of the community possible.  All backgrounds, abilities and ages are welcome and we want to carry on working with the same young people for as long as they want to take part – in some cases 6 years plus or even until they become young volunteers and help to support their peers.  We target our recruitment at those who would normally have least access to the arts, by setting evening workshops in economically deprived estates and by sending publicity to Multi Agency Teams and running tasters in primary schools.

The question is, does the community approach have a greater impact on young people than in-school activity?  Firstly, there is only a very small proportion of participants from Music Arts Pod who cross over into Tall Tales, so we are working with different young people.  However our Tall Tales membership includes many who are not achieving well academically and speak negatively of their school experiences, but who seem to relax on our projects and engage with whatever activity is on offer.  There is something in the culture of working with us which motivates them to face challenges and put in the effort to achieve results.  Comments include “I wanted to drop out and I didn’t think I could do it, but in the end I enjoyed it – I enjoyed knowing I was doing it for the team. It was a buzz”.  We can’t replicate that buzz in a school environment, because out of school the group are all involved in setting the ground rules and the goals for the end product, and they are all there by choice.  If they don’t want to take part and keep to the agreed ground rules they can leave.

We also notice a change in engagement between the evening workshops and the holiday time summer school.  In the evenings they are rung out by school.  They are interested and engaged, but for short spells and they need plenty of down time.  They are also often preoccupied by events in the day which are emotionally draining, limiting the energy they can give.  By contrast in holiday times most of them can’t get enough – some work through breaks and lunch and are constantly asking for more jobs to do.  They even keep the workers going when we are exhausted.

The impact also goes beyond the immediate participants, as we work with local partners, parents and venues to host a final public show, striving for the highest quality possible with the greatest ownership by the young people.  How else would we create an intergalactic travel show, where the presenters get arrested and jailed on a prison planet, and are eventually saved by the courageous Space Horses?

Of course, being out of school means we have no control over people going on holiday or dropping out, but on the upside we can work with a wide age range, with siblings and we continue to develop individuals over a long period.  The project has formed a mutually supportive membership base, who all understand the purpose and benefits of taking part.  Young people develop at their own pace and it shows that arts participation can’t work it’s magic on cue in a few short weeks.