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The Prince's Foundation for Children and the Arts
We are currently receiving funding from The Prince's Foundation for Children and the Arts to deliver a unique arts programme involving professional artists and over 600 children in a 3-year programme with schools and arts venues in Pennine Lancashire.
The Start programme has been coordinated by us since September 2009 with the prime objective of developing sustainable relationships between children, education providers and two cultural organisations in Pennine Lancashire - Mid Pennine Arts and Burnley Mechanics Theatre.
To date, Start has received an outstanding response from the children, teachers and participating artists. The programme focuses on children aged 5 to 11 years in 10 schools, giving them the chance to experience a wide range of media at live events and in sessions covering dance, music, film, and printmaking. By engaging the children in a variety of creative activities at a range of locations, the programme aims to give them a new outlook on their immediate environment, cultural and social heritage.
The key element of the Start programme is based on combining practical teaching with taking the children out of the classroom and into new arts locations. This process enables the children to link live events with activities in class and to breakdown pre-conceived ideas of arts venues, something which is proving to be a real success for both children and teachers.
In addition, the artists give a series of teacher-training workshops to provide practical tips and techniques when back in the classroom and also to encourage and build the teachers' confidence levels. These are proving to be extremely valuable to the teachers, reinforcing the programme's aims to maintain a coordinated approach to enhancing the impact on children's learning, as well as raising pupil's awareness of the area's cultural and social heritage.
For further information about the Start programme please call David on 01282 421 968 or email david@midpenninearts.org.uk
