An Arts Award Discover project set up by Barking and Dagenham’s Cultural Education Partnership, Inspiring Futures, was the largest in the country in the 2021/22 financial year, with a huge cohort of 1,664 young people achieving the award.

Inspiring Futures teamed up with local organisation Green Shoes, which delivers high-quality arts projects in the community, to run the initiative across eight secondary schools in the borough. The main aim was to help Year 7 pupils settle into their new schools and engage them in arts and culture.

The Arts Award Discover is an introductory award, which forms part of a suite of qualifications for young people, managed by the international exam board and independent education charity Trinity College London in association with Arts Council England. 

To achieve the award, pupils create an individual arts log of their experiences, including participating in arts activities, researching artists and their work and sharing their arts discoveries. 

And there’s no shortage of opportunities for children and young people to experience arts and culture in the east London borough from the moment they begin their education. 

It’s wonderful to see so many of our young people getting the opportunities to express themselves and unlock their potential through art.

A dance project involving 60 Early Years Foundation Stage settings has seen Inspiring Futures partner with the Dance Network Association. And for work with secondary schools, the partnership has teamed up with international hip hop dance company Far From the Norm, whose Artistic Director, Botis Seva, started his creative journey in Dagenham. 

An annual Inspire Festival celebrates artwork from children and young people across the borough. Last year’s event showcased hundreds of submissions from schools despite being held virtually.

And the council’s Cultural Education Partnership also supports schools to enrich their art curriculum by providing a variety of Continuous Professional Development (CPD) opportunities for teachers. It overcame the challenges presented by the pandemic to welcome 150 teachers to a popular slow conference last year through a mix of virtual and face to face sessions.

The Partnership also secured £145,000 from the Paul Hamlyn Fund to run a two-year training programme for seven of the borough’s primary schools, working with 19 teachers and 10 artists.

Councillor Evelyn Carpenter, Cabinet Member for Educational Attainment and School Improvement, said: “It’s wonderful to see so many of our young people getting the opportunities to express themselves and unlock their potential through art.

“I’d like to thank our Inspiring Futures team for their hard work in making this possible.”