Following the success of the previous years, and following on from the Cultural Education Unlocked Awards in 2020, Curious Minds are delighted to bring you The Northern Cultural Education Awards 2024; celebrating arts, culture and creativity for young people, in and out of school.

This Awards programme aims to shine a light on best practice, innovation and activism in the field of creative and cultural education, wherever it is happening across the North of England.

Our mission is to celebrate the incredible, passionate people – teachers, artists and creative practitioners, youth and social workers, health and wellbeing specialists and community volunteers – who are working so hard for children and young people.

The event will be a prestigious celebration, bringing together teachers, cultural organisations, artists and influencers from across the North, to recognise and celebrate those working in the most creative and innovative ways.

We invite you to explore our creative space – ‘Wonderland’ – that will showcase the region’s rich and diverse cultural offering for schools. This will then be followed by the Awards Ceremony, which will shine a light on best practice and those individuals who have gone above and beyond in their work to bring the benefits of great arts and culture to the region’s children and young people.

Winners of the following categories will be announced on the day:

The Innovation and Leadership in Education Award
A trailblazing school or education setting which has embedded the arts, creativity and culture to deliver transformational outcomes for pupils, staff and/or community.

The Inspirational Local Partnership Award
To recognise the best in cross-sector partnership working. This award will celebrate a group of organisations that has worked collectively to improve access to arts, culture and creativity for the children and young people in their local area.

The Heart and Minds Award
A project that has used targeted creative or cultural activity to positively impact children and young people’s health and wellbeing.

The One-to-Watch Award
Focusing on the next generation of leaders in cultural education. This award will recognise someone taking their first steps into a career that champions high-quality arts and culture for children and young people.

The Young Arts Activism Award
It’s not just about the adults! This award will celebrate a group of young people individual who have led creative action to drive a difference in the world around them.

The Grassroots Award(s)
This category is all about appreciating the professionalism, skill and commitment that exists with the army of freelance and grassroots creatives on which our sector relies. Depending on the number of nominations received, we hope to split this award into:

Fearless Freelancer – an individual committed to working creatively with children and young people despite the socio-economic challenges inherent in a freelance career.
Small but Mighty – a small grassroots organisation, whose work within the community it serves has contributed to the cultural and creative life of children and families.

The Changemaker Award
An individual whose work, over many years, has made a significant positive change to the field of arts and culture by, with and for children and young people. The recipient of this award will be chosen by the CEO and Chair of Curious Minds.