Following the recent announcement that the Arts Council of Wales and Welsh Government are to extend Creative learning through the arts – an action plan for Wales for a further two years, our Creative leaning team are delighted to share details about the next stage of the programme and its response to Covid-19.

As schools work diligently to adapt to new ways of interacting with their learners, we too continue to explore how we can support schools in realising the continuation of learning and put the arts and creativity at the heart of education. 

Our aim is to provide creative, engaging and arts-focused online learning tools to support teachers and pupils in both school and home settings.

We will continue to deliver three key strands of our programme:

  • Lead Creative Schools
  • Experiencing the arts
  • Professional learning

Our work will include the commissioning of artists from a range of arts disciplines to deliver online masterclasses and workshops and to continue to lead creative learning experiences. Our team will also be delivering online creative learning workshops and seminars and we will continue to see the arts sector support schools as they develop creative approaches to teaching and learning.

What will we do?

Support schools and teachers to develop creative approaches to learning through a re-imagined Lead Creative Schools Scheme. The new offer will provide opportunities for teachers and pupils to explore creative skills and approaches to all areas of learning. We will draw on the skills and knowledge of existing Creative Professionals to support this work. In addition to this, our Creative learning team will be developing online professional learning sessions for teachers to support them in both their planning for the immediate future and Curriculum for Wales 2022.

We will collate and curate a collection of digital performances, exhibitions, readings and other arts and cultural activities to provide more learners across Wales with the opportunity for cultural enrichment experiences. This will reflect the experiences that learners can benefit from our Go and See fund. We will be inviting partners, organisations and individuals to submit content for this resource.

To support teachers working within the Expressive Arts Areas of Learning and Experience, we will be commissioning creative professionals to develop online masterclasses which will introduce learners of all year groups to new practical techniques.

We will be releasing details of these opportunities to schools, artists and organisations across Wales from Tuesday 28 April.

For further information please sign up to the Creative learning bulletin or contact creative.learning@arts.wales