Education

EDUCATION

Sally helped me formulate my ideas and see the big picture of what my project will look like. She has been a great support and very efficient point of contact.
Year 6 teacher, Gorsey Bank Primary School

Liverpool's Resonate Music Hub

Following on from recent work mapping how music organisations are working with schools across their educational provision for Curious Minds, this work developed and piloted a new scheme for music practitioners and schools across Liverpool, on behalf of the Resonate Music Hub. The training and development package forms part of a programme helping teachers become music leaders in school. It helps identify and improve opportunities for schools to work with music partners which can then be strategically understood, formally identified and celebrated as part of an application for Arts Council England's Artsmark.

Artsmark Research & Consultancy

Working as one of a team of consultants for Curious Minds, helping schools feel more ready and able to apply for Arts Council England's Artsmark award. This involved talking with headteachers throughout Lancashire and Merseyside about better understanding the value of the award internally and externally, and being able and confident in applying for the award. By identifying perceived or actual barriers from schools, and feeding this back to Curious Minds, the team hoped to find ways to help schools be ready to articulate, celebrate and share their achievements in the arts more clearly, and where gaps in their provision are identified, to help them address this strategically.

Artsmark Assessment & Moderation

In 2012 Sally visited 16 primary and secondary schools as an Artsmark validator to assess arts provision for pupils and staff, across art, dance, drama, music, creative writing and many other arts and media specialisms. It was a pleasure to see the quality of arts education on offer in schools, and very reassuring to see some really innovate work taking place. Sally is also a Moderator and Trainer for Artsmark, helping ensure the robustness and quality of the application process; moderating 70 applications this year. One of Sally's favourite roles of the year, this helps her keep up to date with what is really going on in schools, see some wonderful work, and meet the most passionate teachers and pupils enjoying the arts in education.

Children's Art Day

As part of Flow Associates Sally worked with colleagues on developing an award programme for London schools as part of Children's Art Day. The awards focussed on the creative application or interpretation of drawing, working with an artist, and encouraging the outdoors or buildings as a theme. The awards were commissioned by the Mayor of London with Engage.

Artsmark Teacher Consultation

Sally worked with Arts Council England to research the support teachers needs when applying for new version of the scheme (launched 2011); made recommendations about communities of practice, training and network support, online and in person.

Building Schools for the Future

Arts Council England NW, Manchester City Council and Creative Partnerships contracted Sally to conduct some early consultation around the aspirations of three schools about to become part of the BSF first round of school rebuilds. The brief specifically asked for opportunities for staff and students to think about ways of working with creative practitioners (eg artists, designers, architects) to collaborate on creating the new school.
Final recommendations were categorised around:
* creative consultation with students
* professional development for staff
* opportunities to use activity to contribute to raising attainment
* profile raising for schools, staff and students involved

Earlyarts

Contracted as Evaluation Consultant for Little Acorns, a part of Liverpool Capital of Culture, Sally explored a programme aiming to identify good practice in artists of all types, working in early years settings across Merseyside. The project invited the artists, staff and children to find ways of exploring the central themes of Liverpool, community, heritage, identity and family.

Sally also worked as Evaluation Consultant for a programme of creative interventions in children's centres and schools across the NW borough of St Helens. The project was co-ordinated by local authority children's services as part of their wider Give Us a Shout strategy to improve communication in children under 5 throughout the borough. The project involved a range of artists and therapists working across eight settings over a full school year.

Both projects linked to the Earlyarts national networking programme created and run by Isaacs UK.

The project management has run prefectly. It's been smooth and flexible and met all the unit requirements we aimed to achieve.
Head of Media Studies; Parrs Wood High School

Trinity College London Arts Programmes

Providing advice and support about schools and arts & culture organisations to the Arts Programmes academic and sector suppor teams at Trinity College London, on the Artsmark and Arts Award schemes. This included supporting the professional development of the team in better understanding the needs and reality of education settings and arts / cultural organisations on a day to day basis; helping develop the relationships between schools and arts organisations; advising schools, youth and arts / culture groups on how their work is relevant to the Artsmark and Arts Award criteria, and support the ongoing ambitions and development of the arts in their work, settings and environment. The role also involved supporting the development of the national panel of Arts Programmes advisors, validators and trainers, offering specialist resources, guidance and feedback to help keep maintain and continually develop the panel's practice in working in relevant, supportive and high quality ways.

Creative & Media Diploma

Sally managed two projects for Ideas Foundation, working with year 10 students fulfiling a unit of the Creative & Media Diploma. The bespoke projects worked with schools, creative industry professionals, colleges and universities, and museums and galleries to complete live briefs set by clients. Project One asked a group of 14 year olds to create an ambient marketing campaign for a film festival; project two invited another group to make two short films exploring the past, present and future of Manchester's relationship with the TV industry. Sally brought in a range of professional experts in advertising, marketing, design, film, TV and broadcasting, working with them to ensure their involvement was both age appropriate, curriculum linked, enjoyable and challenging. Both briefs were live and resulted in real creative and promotional outcomes.

Creative Partnerships & Built Environment

Manchester Metropolitan University's Centre for Urban Education contracted Sally as a Creative Agent to oversee six Enquiry projects with primary schools across Greater Manchester. The six schools (including two special schools) are working through action research projects which explore the question "How can play and the built environment facilitate creative curriculum development?". Sally works as critical friend to the schools, supporting and challenging them through their projects; brokering between schools and artists, designers, film makers and pedagogs; managing the budgets; facilitating the evaluation and ensuring pupils are involved as both conconstructors and participants of the projects.

.Tate Liverpool

Tate Liverpool commissioned Sally to create a Masters degree level module exploring the role of the contemporary art collection and artist in facilitating learning and social development in areas of urban regeneration. The module was part of Tate's University Network consortium programme, and part of a specific partnership with Manchester Metropolitan's Urban Education masters degree. The module included the regeneration context; resources, policies and planning; artist and community collaborative practice; experiential learning and art; working with community stakeholders; case studies of working with young people and developing local employment skills.

Find Your Talent

As part of the national Find Your Talent programme, working with Liverpool pathfinders through Royal Philharmonic Orchestra: Evaluating Key Stage 3 pupils' understanding of live music within their Merseyside localities; the progression of their learning throughout the project; and measuring their change in opinions of the music national curriculum. Also evaluating the project's capacity to impact on teaching staff's knowledge of how and where to commission live music for schools, and interpret live music as a resource for school based learning.

MyArtSpace

Digital design company The Sea commissioned Sally to act as Education Consultant to the development of their government funded and partnerned Culture Online project, MyArtSpace (now called OOKL). MyArtSpace allowed pupils to use mobile phones in museums to collect images, information and tags about a wide choice of exhibits. Selections were then immediately stored to an individualised storeroom from which pupils could select and curate their own exhibitions based on their learning, and telling any story the pupil chose to create. Sally advised The Sea on the recruitment of partner museums and galleries, educationally appropriate develoment of the service, and developed associated resource packs, lesson plans and teacher professional development; and worked with teachers to evaluate the programme.

Artsmark up to 2010

In 2010 at the close of the Artsmark scheme, Arts Council England presented Sally with an Award for Commitment to the Arts in recognition of her contribution to Artsmark. Sally was one of Arts Council England's independent national project team for Artsmark, a three tier award system acknowleding the depth and breadth of arts provision in primary, secondary and special schools and PRU units. The national team advised Arts Council England on appropriate changes to the scheme on an annual basis, and mark each Artsmark award application. Sally also visited and talked to schools applying for the award in her additional role as validator.

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