Month: March 2020

Home-schooling during Covid19 week two – creative activities

Mimi Doulton 30th March 2020 Blog, Front Page No Comments
Home-schooling during Covid19 week two – creative activities

Home-schooling during Covid19 week two - creative activities

To support parents home-schooling their children during Covid-19, we will be sharing daily resources to help continue your children's creative education. If you enjoy a particular organisation's free activities, please consider making a donation directly to them so that they can continue doing their fantastic work out the other side of lockdown - small arts organisations are under huge strain right now and every penny helps. We are sharing stories of organisations in particular need over on our Twitter page.

Here is a list of our resources for week two:

Craft: Learn how to make a tambourine from... Macaroni! (If you can spare the pasta, that is). Check out Sound Connections' YouTube channel for more fun instrument-making activities.

Dance: Strictly star Oti Mabuse is running daily dance classes at 11.30am over on her Facebook page! We hear this week's theme is musicals... https://www.facebook.com/OtiMabuse/

Literature: ACA Critical Friend, author and illustrator James Mayhew has started #StoryTime4HomeTime, the perfect way to end your day! Follow the link to find out a little more, and make sure to subscribe to James' YouTube channel: https://www.jamesmayhew.co.uk/2020/03/storytime4hometime.html

Music: Why not try incorporating the Voices Foundation Virtual Singing Assembly into your daily lunchtime routine? https://www.pscp.tv/Voices_Found/1vAxRBddAPgxl

Another week of home-schooling done! And for some, it's the start of the Easter holidays... Why not wind down with some free meditation from Calm? https://blog.calm.com/take-a-deep-breath

Other things we've loved...

The egg, Theatre Royal Bath are sharing some fantastic family-friendly plays online, including I wish I was a mountain: https://vimeo.com/401349317

Usborne has launched a Play and Learn at Home digital hub, which includes all their e-books for a reduced price of 99p each: https://www.thebookseller.com/news/usborne-launches-play-and-learn-home-digital-hub-1198269

First News, the schools' newspaper, are making some of their editions available free online: https://subscribe.firstnews.co.uk/free-downloadable-issue/

We will continue to provide ideas for fun stay-at-home activities throughout the holidays, so watch this space!

JM Barrie Awards: in photos

Mimi Doulton 23rd March 2020 ACA News, Front Page No Comments
JM Barrie Awards: in photos

JM Barrie Awards: in photos

Congratulations to the winners of the 2019 JM Barrie Awards! Pictured above from Left to Right: Sir Philip Pullman CBE (winner of the JM Barrie Lifetime Achievement Award); Joseph Middleton, Kathleen Evans and Ewan Gilford (from Leeds Lieder, Members' Award winner); Amanda Craig (Members' Award winner); Josh Parsons and Yvonne Farquharson (from Breathe Magic, JM Barrie Outstanding Contribution Award winner); Matthew Sanders and Diana Schomberg (from Magic Lantern, Members' Award winner).

Thank you to the fantastic team of young people who helped make the awards happen. From Left to Right: Emmerson Sutton, our young presenter; Lilly Kurata (top right), our young pianist; and Albee and Noah Superville, our award presenters.

Members' Award Winners

Left top: Joseph Middleton, Kathleen Evans and Ewan Gilford (Leeds Lieder);

Left bottom: Diana Schomberg, James Mayhew and Matthew Sanders (Magic Lantern);

Right: Amanda Glover

Outstanding Contribution Award - Breathe Magic

Left: Breathe Arts Health Research Founder Yvonne Farquharson with ACA President David Wood OBE

Right top: Breathe Magic patron Jim Carter chats to Sir Philip Pullman

Right bottom: the full Breathe Magic Team

Home-schooling during Covid19 week one – creative activities

Mimi Doulton 23rd March 2020 Children's Arts News, Front Page No Comments
Home-schooling during Covid19 week one – creative activities

Home-schooling during Covid19 week one - creative activities

To support parents home-schooling their children during Covid-19, we will be sharing daily resources to help continue your children's creative education. Here is a list of our resources for week one:

Art - take the kids sketching at the Louvre's Egypt collection: https://www.louvre.fr/en/visites-en-ligne

Music - introduce them to the opera! We recommend starting with one of Rossini's comedies  La Cenerentola  (Cinderella) or  Il Barbiere di Seviglia: https://operavision.eu/en/library/óperas

Museums and Galleries - follow the hashtag #MuseumFromHome for lots of fun facts from museum curators, or do a virtual museum tour of the British Museum via Streetview: https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@51.5191587,-0.1260849,2a,75y,53.35h,90.1t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1shtObAXybDUe7n9XEKHUiFQ!2e0!7i13312!8i6656?hl=en

Dance - Check out Dance Syndrome’s free online dance classes. Suitable for mixed abilities and mixed age groups: https://dancesyndrome.co.uk/online-dance-sessions/

Here are a few more ideas shared by our members...

Theatre - why not download the Theatr Na Nog app for free learning resources in English and Welsh?

Literature - Children's Laureate Cressida Cowell is reading a chapter of How to Train your Dragon on YouTube every day! Perfect for a wet lunchtime: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DyUNZa7_Gjo

March Newsletter

Mimi Doulton 16th March 2020 ACA News, Front Page No Comments
March Newsletter

March Newsletter

We had a great time with members, Trustees, Patrons, Critical Friends and other industry professionals at our New Years' Drinks, hosted by SAMA Bankside!

The Arts Backpack UK - February Update

  • Pilots are on schedule to commence in Fife and Leicester from September 2020. We will be working with 7 schools in Fife, in partnership with Youth Music Theatre Scotland; and 4 schools in Leicester, in partnership with Spark Arts.
  • Planning is underway for a London pilot later in the 2020/21 academic year, in partnership with For Good, the charity associated with Wicked.
  • We have received over 200 responses to our children's survey, which was issued via First News in January. Our researchers Keda and Yasemin will be compiling this data to inform their research and evaluation processes.
  • We have received the first instalment of funding from Fife Council.

Chair's report

  • Congratulations to our patron Floella on becoming a Dame!
  • It was with great sadness that we heard of the death of our much loved patron, Terry Jones, an exceptional writer, and a unique creative spirit.
  • Vicky attended the Writer’s Guild GB Awards, and the Writer’s Guild GB Olwen Wymark Theatre Encouragement Awards 2020.
  • A group of TYA Theatre makers attended a meeting with representatives from Action for Children’s Arts, Theatre Education Forum, Theatre for Young Audiences England and Assitej UK with Anne Applebaum, Director of Children and Young People, Arts Council England. You can find full notes of this meeting below.
  • The Government are working hard to support Music Education and are calling for a music consultation. https://consult.education.gov.uk/curriculum-implementation-unit/music-education-call-for-evidence/ Maybe other art forms for children and young people should also strive to make their case heard by Government?