I have been delivering Silver Arts Award with a group of young people from
TramShed Inclusive Theatre Company, via Zoom, since November 2020 and the Wednesday evening Arts Award session has rapidly become one of my favourite parts of the week. The young cohort is made up of lovely individuals, each one keen, committed, brave and curious. It’s a privilege to watch them navigate their Arts Challenges, learn about careers in the inclusive arts, share triumphs and obstacles and much more, all while also living through a global pandemic!
The structure of the Arts Award qualification, always highly inclusive, has proved extremely flexible, resilient and easily transferable to online delivery and facilitation. We have warm-ups each week, often chosen and led by the young people themselves; discussions take place in breakout rooms and documents, videos and weblinks are screenshared, as are communal whiteboards for whole group planning and reviewing. One of my favourite sessions to date was when my TramShed colleagues all came into our session and, in separate breakout rooms, were interviewed by the Arts Award candidates about careers in the inclusive arts. The atmosphere was lovely and a great deal was shared and learned by all.