​If you’re looking for unique ways to bring learning to life this year, then the free UNBOXED Learning Programme is for you.

The programme offers an opportunity for young people, aged 4–19, to become immersed in science, technology, engineering, the arts and maths (STEAM), through a range of remarkable projects across the UK and online learning experiences.

​unboxed2022.uk/learning-programme

AudioActive are pleased to announce that we’ll be running Holiday Activity and Food (HAF) music-making Sessions in Bexhill and Newhaven during the February half-term of 2022.
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Open to young people aged between 14 and 16 who receive free school meals during term time, professional artists will be leading the project that will provide free food, as well as an opportunity to rap, sing, produce and record music. The sessions will be free to attend and running between 15th and 17th February. The offer can also be accessed by those:

• Open to CAMHS or the Schools Mental Health Service
• Disabled, those with an EHCP or other SEND
• Young Carers or those with a disabled sibling
• Electively Home Educated
• Gypsy, Roma and Traveler families
• Those supported by Family Focus services
• Children in Need, Children on a CP plan or Looked After Children
• Those living in areas of high deprivation.

AudioActive will also provide all the equipment at the sessions, supplying everything an upcoming artist or a first-time music-maker might need. As always, our sessions are open to all skill levels and music of all genres. The free food on offer will be a balanced lunch courtesy of Bagelman and those who attend will learn about the role nutrition plays when it comes to being creative.

When are AudioActive's HAF Sessions?AudioActive HAF Bexhill: 15th, 16th and 17th February from 10.30am - 2.30pm at Sidley's Children Centre, 121 Ninfield Rd, Bexhill-on-Sea TN39 5BD

Sharing details of this upcoming webinar Exploring Arts Award Explore -

https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_NYlUm7eQQ_Cpv-LeuKz2hg?utm_campaign=Support%20webinars&utm_medium=email&_hsmi=176109265&_hsenc=p2ANqtz--3Ys9QEeyRWDeQ5jSn1eY8_erAvtlMQGI_QQGwBzR80b7qymsFGAZDsp7Qcy84DJXT39bx2bKcY-fB7BeRPizcIoOa8g&utm_content=176109265&utm_source=hs_email
 
taking place on Tuesday 23rd November at 4pm and delivered by Trinity.  Whether you are new to Arts Award and wondering how to deliver within your organisation, or an experienced adviser looking for fresh ideas, this webinar will look at the adaptability and benefits of Explore and enable you to gain insight and inspiration into the many different ways that Arts Award Explore can be delivered.


The session will last approximately an hour and will cover:

• Different models of Explore delivery
• Examples of Explore projects
• Tips for delivering and evidencing
• Helpful resources

 
Join our Sector Support Team and one of our Senior Moderators Fiona Howes to have all of your Explore questions answered.

Even if you can't attend at this time, please still register if you would like to receive a link to watch the recording.

To mark Artsmark Celebration Week in Artsmark's 20th Anniversary year, Arts Council England's Artsmark team are curating an online gallery for Artsmark20.

It will showcase and celebrate the amazing creative work of Artsmark settings' children and young people. A great opportunity to highlight the Artsmark growth that your CEP has contributed to.
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Artsmark settings can submit an artwork by one of their pupils or share the creative endeavours of a whole cohort. They can submit up to five images, or link to a video on YouTube or Vimeo, and must  ensure they have the consent of pupils’ parents or carers before submitting.

Full details of how to submit work are on the Artsmark website.

We are delighted that pupils from our local schools are taking part in a new professional music production with Barefoot Opera, a company driven by the power of music to inspire and connect us all.

Their new 'people's opera' - BLOOM BRITANNIA - will be unlike any opera you know, and tells the story of one extraordinary day in the life of a seaside town. With a live band, it brings together all kinds of musical influences and promises to be full of surprises.

We hope you will come along to support our students who will be singing alongside a professional cast and more than a hundred singers from across the generations here in Hastings and St. Leonards.

Three performances will take place from 22-24 October at St. Mary in the Castle. Tickets from £12 + (£5 for children under 12) from www.barefootopera.com or from Hastings Tourist Office (now located next to Hastings Station.)
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If you'd like to invite friends and family, please do share the link to the Facebook event: 
https://fb.me/e/1CcRKyTGS. 

We hope to see you there! 

Hastings Museum & Art Gallery are really pleased to share some news with you about an exciting project for children aged 6 – 9 that we have developed with the generous support of Arts Council England Lottery Project funding.
 
Midnight at the Museum is a free postal storytelling and activity subscription. Each week for six weeks, starting the week of 1 November 2021, children will get a pack through the post with a story and linked activities. The packs tell the imaginary stories of some of the objects in our collection – in each story an animal faces a challenge and overcomes it with the help of their friends. Children will also receive a wellbeing journal in week one, with journaling prompts in their activity pack. The project aims to build wellbeing and creativity through fun storytelling.
 
For more information go to midnightatthemuseum.co.uk
 

I wanted to alert you to new Discovery College arts programmes for Autumn 2021. The link below takes you to the new Discovery College website - co-designed with young people. 

https://www.sussexdiscoverycollege.org.uk/courses-you-can-join

Discovery College is for young people 12+ who are looking for support around better managing their mental health and is delivered by Sussex Partnership NHS Foundation Trust, CAMHS in partnership with arts organisations..

After a year of working exclusively online with young people, this term's courses are a mix of online, face-face and blended.

Starting in the next couple of weeks are:

Music Speaks with Lifesize Music starting 30 September and running for 10 weeks with the initial 5 sessions delivered on line
Street Art with Priority 1-54 running face to face from 5 October
PhotoClub with the De La Warr Pavilion starting 16 October with a mix of face -face and online
Creative Writing with East Sussex libraries starting 5 October face-face

These courses are planned to take place in Hastings, Bexhill, Eastbourne and Newhaven.

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For more information: ​https://arkalexandra.org/festival
https://www.headspincreative.com/schools-connect

We are pleased to announce that applications to audition for our Youth Opera: Pay the Piper are now open! A full chorus of local young people will premiere the show at Glyndebourne in February 2022. 

Pay the Piper is based on the story of The Pied Piper of Hamelin and is a collaborative piece written by our four Balancing the Score composers. Successful auditionees will perform as a chorus in the show, alongside professional singers and the Psappha ensemble to bring the show to life. Working with top opera professionals, rehearsals begin this summer and will include stagecraft, choreography and of course singing, to make sure they are ready for the performance of a lifetime. 

The auditions will be held face to face, in small COVID safe groups at venues across Sussex. Audition dates and venues are on our website now - click through below for full details and to apply now.

Audition dates:
Sunday 20 June - Ropetackle Arts Centre, Shoreham
Saturday 26 June - Denton Social Centre, Newhaven
Sunday 27 June - Battle Memorial Hall

Applications to audition close on Friday 4 June 2021

Find out how to apply here

Careers East Sussex, in collaboration with always possible, Culture Shift and Sussex STEM, is hosting an innovative online careers week this spring, with eight events to inspire and mobilise the future workforce.
 
Focusing on careers in STEM, creative & digital, construction and health social care, there will be an event in each sector aimed at 14-24 year olds, and another for adults who have been made unemployed or are looking to change career.
 
Participants will be supported with information on training, live vacancies, apprenticeships and an overview of their sector of interest – as well as signposted to careers advice at their school/college or from the National Careers Service.
 
There will be an infographic video about each sector, a panel made up of individuals who work in a range of roles in the sector and a live Q&A. A supporting resource pack will be available to attendees after the event.
Event recordings and supporting materials will be available on the Careers East Sussex website from June.
 
The events can be booked through the links on the Careers East Sussex website which will direct to EventBrite.
Confirmation of registration for the event and the Teams joining instructions/link will then be emailed to you.
 
Book your free place: https://careerseastsussex.co.uk/events/

Bookings are now open for Artsworks final CPDL event of this academic year on Arts Rich schools – what they are and how to become one.  This free CPDL event takes place via Zoom on 30th June 2021 between 3pm-5pm.

Arts-Rich Schools - What They Are and How To Become One Tickets, Wed 30 Jun 2021 at 15:00 | Eventbrite
 
Explore how raising the profile of arts and creativity can energise teaching and learning for the whole school community.  Drawing on the Royal Society of Arts’ (RSA’s) research into Arts-Rich Schools published in January 2020, this event will provide inspiration and practical tips to enable you to harness the transformative power of the arts, culture and creativity.  Samantha Cairns, Co-Director of the Cultural Learning Alliance led the Arts-Rich Schools research project and we are delighted that she will lead this CPDL session, reflecting on the key findings of what an arts-rich school looks like.  We will hear presentations from three different education settings in the South East who will outline their offer, their journey to becoming arts-rich and its benefits for pupils, staff and the wider school community. 
 
This event is suited to senior leaders, arts leaders and teachers of any subject or phase who aspire to develop an arts-rich offer in their practice and settings.  Places are free but limited.  Previous events in this series sold out, so please secure your place soon.
 
Many thanks to those of you who were able to attend our two previous DfE-funded CPDL events this academic year.  Summaries and presentations from these events are available on our website.  The October event discussed Pupil Wellbeing and reconnecting with learning through creativity and in March we heard from schools taking creative approaches to Transition.