‘I fear that arts education will only be available to those who can afford it’

Teachers of creative subjects are currently facing huge challenges. A BBC report in January 2018 found that nine out of ten secondary schools that responded to their information request had cut back on creative subjects – whether timetabled lessons, numbers of staff or school facilities.

These subjects have also suffered when it comes to GCSE and A Level choices: thousands fewer students than last year have selected drama and music subjects according to Ofqual’s 2018 data, in comparison to rises of up to 34,000 for biology GCSEs. Schools are prioritising ‘core’ subjects at the expense of the arts.

For Deb Miles, a drama teacher who has been working with City Academy, Bristol Brunel Academy, Patchway Community College and John Cabot Academy to put on a youth theatre festival at Bristol Old Vic in early July, cuts to creative subjects represent deep losses. “I believe that creative subjects are vital for a rounded education,” Deb says. “They deliver transferable, employable skills that will serve young people for the rest of their lives.

Students in rehearsals for Young Blood Theatre Festival’s inaugural year

“Creative subjects are unique as they take students away from their traditional classroom desk into an environment which allows them to connect more deeply with the world around them: to question, investigate, challenge, explore, play, create, perform and evaluate.”

Founding Young Blood Theatre Festival is a “knee-jerk reaction to the cuts”. The problem is real and isn’t going away any time soon, Deb predicts: “The main fear for me is that arts education will only be available to those who can afford to pay for it. Our aim for the future is make this a free annual festival for all of Bristol’s schools that showcases the talents of young people in education and gives a public voice for the current climate in arts education.”

Martin Smith says Access Creative College is pushing back against the trend to invest in the creative subjects

For Martin Smith at Access Creative College, there is irony in schools being forced to cut back on the arts when the creative industries represent the fastest growing sector in the UK economy. The college is currently building a new £5m state-of-the-art site near Broadmead dedicated to creative training for young people as an alternative to GCSEs and A Levels.

“Perhaps the most important change which is needed is not financial,” Martin says. “It is for the government to stand up and support the creative industries by accepting that the role and training of artists is as important as supporting traditional trades. In the 1960s many of our most successful musicians and artists came through art schools, which encouraged creativity and freedom of expression. The danger is that there is no place for that kind of education in our current system.”

Professor Bambo Soyinka works to offer extra creative resources to primary schools

Encouraging an interest in the arts long before young people reach their GCSE choices is vitally important to Professor Bambo Soyinka, director of Paper Nations. “I was in school before the regime of continuous testing and assessment,” she says. “At my primary school there was one rule: complete three pieces of work before you play. I would do my work and then play in the woods behind the school, which was my space for dreaming and creating stories. It developed within me a love of both work and play.

“For me, this was a simple introduction to creativity and imagination, which only emphasises the importance for children to have space to dream and create and imagine.”

Paper Nations works in primary schools to offer creative writing in a separate space from literacy and handwriting, allowing children to develop their writing and take risks without the pressure of assessment. Their Dare to Write programme, a free pack of writing activities and accompanying workshops, has helped a group of pupils at Filton Avenue Primary School to write a play that was then staged, with huge positive impacts on the self-esteem of those involved.

“To give all young people a creative ambition is essential for the cultural future of this country,” theatre festival producer Deb Miles says, echoing the sentiments of many. “We need to invest in our young people now not take it away, to showcase the creative work that young people and their teachers do on a day to day basis, and show clearly why arts subjects are essential in our education system.”

Paper Nations launch their Dare to Write programme in August. Visit www.daretowrite.org to download free writing resources. For more information about Young Blood Theatre Festival, contact Deb via info@youngbloodtheatre.co.uk