In times of austerity, how can arts organisations respond to the new cultural and educational landscape? Justin Coe looks at how New Writing South is negotiating these changes.
Artists working in education
It is becoming harder for many artists and arts professionals to remain working in their chosen field. I have spent the last four years supporting my young family as a freelance performance poet.
But in truth, this would not have been fully possible without my work as a Creative Practitioner and Creative Agent for Creative Partnerships (CP).
A £38.1 million-a-year national programme, CP was one of the biggest ever government funded investment in creativity in schools. Its demise has not only impacted on schools, but has also made it more difficult for many creative artists who work in education.
Developing a sustainable organisation
For the last five months, I have been covering a maternity leave post as Creative Learning Manager for New Writing South, a writing development agency for the south east.
The positive impact professional writers make on young people is worth the investment.
In temporarily escaping my own worries about financial survival, I found an organisation that was already adapting to the changing conditions in the cultural and educational sectors.
Although one of the Arts Council’s National Portfolio Organisations, New Writing South, in line with many other funded bodies, has had to take serious steps to ensure that its work in developing and supporting new writing is sustainable.
This is especially the case with Creative Learning, which prioritises engagement with young people, and uses over a third of the organisation’s resources.
Engaging schools in creative work
Historically, many of New Writing South’s previous projects in schools have come about through relationships with local authority or government agencies that have acted as a broker between schools and arts companies.
Many of these no longer have the resources to fund new collaborations, if indeed (as in the case of Creative Partnerships) they exist at all. We expect that the new Bridge organisations will fill some of this gap.
However, for the most part, where there is finance to programme creative writing projects, it appears to be increasingly in the hands of the schools themselves.
Making the case for writers in schools
Even for a funded organisation with a solid reputation, it can be a frustrating business to gain access to the decision-makers in schools.
The obvious answer would seem to be to focus on building and developing more relationships with individual schools.
Part of this work is convincing heads and teaching staff that the positive impacts professional writers make on young people is worth their investment.
There is plenty of evidence in our favour, especially about the way in which working with writers can help pupils to enjoy writing and engage with their learning.
Sue Horner’s report on writers in schools 'Magic Dust That Lasts' concluded that “where work with pupils is sustained over a period of time, there can be a rise in standards achieved in national educational measures such as tests and examinations”.
The National Foundation of Educational Research found that young people who took part in Creative Partnership projects gained an average of 2.5 grades progress in GCSE.
Making Creative Learning accessible
Even for a funded organisation with a solid reputation, it can be a frustrating business to gain access to the decision makers in schools.
To give us the best chance of success, we will be launching a new company website, which will prominently feature Creative Learning.
It will include free teacher resources and individual school-friendly profiles for all of the very experienced and skilled professional writers on the team.
Our writers will be easy to book online for one-day visits. We hope that as a result of developing relationships with schools through increased bookings, we will be better placed than ever to able to build on our strong record of successful long-term projects and residencies.
Meanwhile, providing teacher INSETS, offering taster performances and becoming a Welcome Centre for Arts Award have already helped us to build links with teachers in our immediate locality.
Working with young writers
Our work with young people is not restricted to working within schools. The Young Writer Squads project engages teams of enthusiastic young writers (aged 13-17 years) on Saturdays in creative venues in four towns and cities in our region.
There is a huge appetite for writer visits and creative projects amongst many teachers and young people.
Funding from the Esmée Fairbairn Foundation will help us to further expand the scheme to three more towns over the next three years.
This will also help to ensure that Creative Learning as a whole has a sustainable presence in the organisation.
Another new innovation is the creation of a web site solely for young writers. Just Words offers a safe online platform for thousands of young people to develop their writing skills and share work with their peers across the country.
Championing writers
In the post-CP era, it is left to those writing organisations that still remain to continue to make the case for writers in schools and to champion good practice.
Any schemes that are able to channel the goodwill of volunteers to improve literacy skills are impressive.
But if the government is serious in engaging young people in reading and writing and improving literacy targets, we need to remind them that the success of projects involving professional writers, especially when working alongside teachers, is already proved.
New Writing South is both passionate and determined that there remains a role for professional writers in schools and that they are sufficiently well supported and rewarded.
The future for writers in education
The economic climate has grown even harsher in the five months since I have been at New Writing South.
But when I leave and return to being a solo practitioner, I will do so knowing that there is still a huge appetite for writer visits and creative projects amongst many teachers and young people.
Many schools are still able to finance writing projects if they choose to prioritise them or are adventurous in seeking out funding opportunities.
And after reading the reports, totting up the stats and typing up the evaluations, I am more convinced than ever of the positive differences that working with professional writers can make in young people’s lives.
Supporting new writers
Who’s coming to the theatre?
What does the future hold?
