Celebrating arts, culture and creativity for young people, in and out of school
We are incredibly excited to be hosting The Northern Cultural Education Awards 2024.
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.
It will culminate in an Awards Ceremony and networking event on Friday 24th May 2024 at The Edge Arena in Wigan.
As three-time organiser of the North West Cultural Education Awards, Curious Minds has this year invited nominations from across the whole of Northern 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 Award Shortlists
After a detailed and thorough judging process, we are delighted to announce the category finalists for the Northern Cultural Education Awards 2024.
Thank you to everyone who shared our call out and submitted entries during the nominations window. Your enthusiasm has been overwhelming and we were delighted to receive more than 150 entries. The quality of these entries has been extremely high, reviewing and scoring them all to produce these shortlists was no easy task for our judging panels.If you or your organisation is named as a finalist below - congratulations! You should receive an email from us confirming this, with guidance about any further information we need from you at this stage.
Here are the finalists...
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.
- Ascent College
- Formby High School
- Fred Longworth High School
- Luminate Education Group
- Mill Hill School, Northallerton - Imaginosity
- St John’s Primary School, Cliviger
- The Hollins High School
- Wistaston Academy
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.
- Create Rochdale
- darts (Doncaster Community Arts), Cast Theatre and City of Doncaster Council's Early Years Inclusion Team
- Ellesmere Port Cultural Learning Exchange
- Fusion (Barnsley's Cultural Education Partnership) and Eldon High Street Heritage Action Zone
- Leeds Heritage Theatres and LEPP Creative Legacy Project
- Selby High Street Heritage Action Zone Cultural Consortium
- Tees Valley Museums Consortium (Preston Park Museum, Museum of Hartlepool and Hartlepool Art Gallery) with Children North East and Tees Valley Creative Education Partnership
- Wardrobes – ARCADE (Bridlington), KIT Theatre, East Riding Libraries and Bridlington Spa
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.
- Anna Wijnhoven
- Charly Ward
- Georgina Raynor
- Holly Woodman
- Kyle McKenzie
- Parisa Pirzadeh
- Rebecca Kingston
- Toni-Louise Carter
The Hearts and Minds Award
A project that has used targeted creative or cultural activity to positively impact children and young people's health and wellbeing.
- Blackpool Grand Theatre
- Blue Cabin
- Concerteenies
- darts (Doncaster Community Arts)
- EdShift
- More Music and Ludus Dance
- Mortal Fools
- TIN Arts
The Young Arts Activism Award
It’s not just about the adults! This award will celebrate a group of young people or an individual who have led creative action to drive a difference in the world around them.
- Emergence Boys Dance Group (via NAPA: The Northern Academy of Performing Arts)
- Off the Curriculum Project (via Common Wealth Theatre Company)
- R&D Creative Writers (via Respect & Dignity Arts)
- Stand Out Young Producers (via Blaze Arts)
- The Fell We Climb Project (via Anti Racist Cumbria)
- The Young Producers (via Tees Valley Museums)
- Wakefield: Where We Are… project (via Wakefield Museum and Castles)
- Youth Engagement Forum (via National Museums Liverpool)
The Grassroots Awards: Fearless Freelancer
Recognising an individual committed to working creatively with children and young people despite the socio-economic challenges inherent in a freelance career.
- Abigail James
- Mark Hill
- Polly Ives
- Rob Keeley
- Sarah Gough
- Ursula Hurst
- Vicky Tyrrell
The Grassroots Awards: 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.
- A Place for Us CIC
- AmaSing
- Blue Moose Dance Company
- dot-art Services CIC
- OmniMusic
- Skills 4 All
- Unity Arts
- Wirral MakeFest
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 the Changemaker Award is chosen by the CEO and Chair of Curious Minds.
They will be announced at the Awards Ceremony on Friday 24th May!
Huge congratulations to all of the nominees and finalists!
The overall winner in each category will be announced at our big celebration event - incorporating Wonderland and the Award Ceremony - on the afternoon of Friday 24th May.
Don't forget to book your tickets at the link below to secure your place!
The Awards Ceremony & Wonderland
Join us for an exciting afternoon celebrating all things cultural education!.
A high profile celebration event for the Northern Cultural Education Awards 2024 will take place on Friday 24th May, 1:00pm to 6:00pm, at The Edge Arena in Wigan The event will bring together teachers, cultural organisations, freelancers, artists and policy-makers from across the North, to celebrate their involvement in the sector and recognise those working in the most creative and innovative ways.The afternoon will include the Awards Ceremony - shining a light on best practice and applauding those individuals who go above and beyond in their work to bring the benefits of great arts and culture to the region’s children and young people. It will include plenty of opportunities to reconnect and build your networks, as well as Wonderland - an inspiring creative space that will showcase the region’s rich and diverse cultural offer for young people and creative educators.
Showcase Your Work in Wonderland
Apply to be a stallholder
We are offering a limited number of arts and cultural organisations the opportunity to share and demonstrate the power of their work within this space, creatively engaging with the audience around the main Awards Ceremony.We want this to be different to a traditional marketplace. It is an opportunity to showcase what your organisation can do, but also encourage guests to (re-)connect with their own creativity and celebrate participating in the arts.
We're keen to hear from organisations with innovative ideas about how their table/space would be dressed and demonstrations or activities offered, to contribute to an inspiring and exciting atmosphere.
Wonderland will be open from approximately 1-2pm, ahead of the Awards Ceremony, and then from 4-6:30pm after the Ceremony.
Book Your Tickets Now!
The Northern Cultural Education Awards is for everyone, regardless of whether you’ve been shortlisted this year. We want to bring people together 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.Tickets cost just £15 per person, or £5 for under-18s. Accompanying support workers and carers are free.
Access Information
BSL Interpreted
The Awards Ceremony will be BSL interpreted. An interpreter will stand in a visible position and interpret the spoken and heard elements.
Ease of Access
The Edge is a single floor venue, accessible throughout. Do let us know any access needs when booking so we can make your visit as comfortable as possible.
Frequently Asked Questions
1When can I submit nominations?/When is the deadline?
Award nominations will open on Monday 15th January 2024. The deadline for submissions is midnight on Sunday 3rd March 2024. No late entries will be accepted.
2What does it cost to nominate?
There is no cost to make an awards nomination, it is completely free!
However, please be aware that there will be a nominal fee for attendance at the Awards Ceremony, which will take place on the afternoon of Friday 24th May 2024. Individual tickets will cost £15.
The event will be a fantastic opportunity to celebrate, network and enjoy the company of people working in a similar field. We’d encourage everyone to attend.
However, please be aware that there will be a nominal fee for attendance at the Awards Ceremony, which will take place on the afternoon of Friday 24th May 2024. Individual tickets will cost £15.
The event will be a fantastic opportunity to celebrate, network and enjoy the company of people working in a similar field. We’d encourage everyone to attend.
3Can I nominate myself/my project?
Yes, absolutely! You can nominate for yourself or for somebody else (with their permission). There is only one category for which we ask you not to nominate yourself, which is the Changemaker Award.
4Can I nominate the same person/project in several categories?
Of course! There’s no need to restrict yourself to just one category but it’s important to remember that you must complete a nomination form for each separate category.
5How do a submit a nomination?
Each of the award categories has a separate online nomination form. Links to these forms are provided on this page of our website.
We recommend that you read our Guidance for Applicants document, which includes the nomination form questions for each category, as well as the assessment criteria by which it will be shortlisted and judged.
We would encourage you to use this information to pre-prepare your nomination. It isn’t possible to save the online form mid-way through completion.
We would encourage you to use this information to pre-prepare your nomination. It isn’t possible to save the online form mid-way through completion.
6I have access needs which mean I will struggle to complete an online form. Are there other options?
Yes. We’re very keen to ensure you’re able to submit nominations using an alternative format (such as video or audio) if you need to. Please contact us via events@curiousminds.org.uk to discuss how we can help.
7When will you announce shortlisted finalists?
Shortlisted finalists will be announced on or shortly after 5th April 2024 on our website and social media channels. All submissions will receive an email to confirm if your nomination has been shortlisted or not.
It’s worth being aware that we will ask shortlisted finalists to provide us with some existing photos, videos or audio clips related to their project/nomination. Nothing too onerous, and we will provide further guidance if this applies to you.
It’s worth being aware that we will ask shortlisted finalists to provide us with some existing photos, videos or audio clips related to their project/nomination. Nothing too onerous, and we will provide further guidance if this applies to you.
8How will the categories be judged?
For each category (with the exception of the Changemaker Award) we will be convening a judging panel of three. Two of these people will be external to and independent of Curious Minds. The panel will read all nominations for the category and will score them with reference to the published assessment criteria.
The Change Maker Award winner will be chosen by the CEO and Chair of Curious Minds.
The Change Maker Award winner will be chosen by the CEO and Chair of Curious Minds.
9Who can I contact if I have questions that aren’t answered on this page or in the guidance document?
Got an outstanding question? That’s fine. If you’ve read through this document fully and also looked at the nomination form but still need clarity, email us at events@curiousminds.org.uk. We are here to help!
