Specialist Leaders in Cultural Education (SLiCE)

Last week we spent two days at Edge Hill University with 12  lead teachers from different teaching school alliances across the North West. We will be working together over the next year to develop lead teachers’ role as a Specialist Leader in Cultural Education (SLICE), supporting them to link creative partners with schools across their alliances and beyond.

The Specialist Leaders in Cultural Education Programme (SLICE) was devised in response to Darren Henley’s recommendations in his review of Cultural Education. Curious Minds are embarking on a two year programme of investment and activity funded by the Department for Education to put in to practice recommendations from the report. This involves Teaching School Alliances playing a key role in increasing access to and raising the standard of cultural education for children and young people in the North West.
The SLICE programme is one such  initiative

At the induction we provided the  SLICE’s with the context and landscape of the cultural sector in the North West; they met a range of  national portfolio organisations including 20 Stories High, Blackburn Museum and Manchester City Galleries and were presented with the challenges of working with schools from an NPO perspective.  Our work going forwards with them with feature the following activity:

• Raising awareness, promoting and championing the value of creativity and culture in schools
• Partnering with learning teams in a cultural organisation on a peer-mentor basis-  including work shadowing and shaping school/education offers so they are appropriately aligned to school need.
• Offering guidance for trainees and peers on the use of cultural partners to deliver the curriculum
• Undertaking a piece of action research on the value of culture for learning
• Staying abreast of the cultural offer to schools in their local region and sharing it
• Identifying other cultural champions in the alliance, nominating them for further opportunities with Curious Minds and the cultural sector.
• Being a peer support and advocate for Artsmark and Arts Award

As part of this role, SLICE’s will be given the opportunity to have the activity accredited on a masters pathway in Cultural Education by Edge Hill University , developed by Curious Minds.  We believe this presents an exciting opportunity to build the capacity of schools to integrate arts, culture and creativity more strategically in the delivery of formal and extracurricular learning.

If you are interested in finding out more, please contact Jude Bird jude.bird@curiousminds.org.uk