We're excited to announce that we are seeking new Trustees to join the board and help steer the charity into the future. You can click here to download a job description.
Should you be interested in joining the Board, please do get in touch. Send your submission including a letter of interest and relevant CV to: katy.stocker@
Deadline for submissions: 1 September
Interviews (via Zoom): w/c 19 September
Please share with contacts you think might be interested, thank you. We hope to hear from you!
ACA was pleased to be invited to a Young V&A Online Symposium which explained the exciting plans that the are happening to transform the Museum of Childhood into a brand new space, opening next year.
The event brought together stakeholders and experts from the creative, culture and education industries, to discuss ways of supporting young creativity and enable future generations to thrive.
We wish them tremendous luck in all they are undertaking and hope to be involved in future plans.
We’re delighted to share that ACA Chair Vicky Ireland will be a speaker for ‘The Art of… Young People’s Theatre’ session, as part of the Children’s Media Conference 2022.
Taking place 5 – 7 July live in Sheffield and online, ACA members get a special discounted rate of £360+VAT. That’s a saving of £120+VAT on the full rate of £480+VAT. For the Virtual only conference, you can pay the discounted rate of £130+VAT - a saving of £45+VAT on the full ticket price. ACA members should check the latest newsletter for more details on getting their discount!
With over 700 delegates, there’s no better place to better engage with kids’ content and the kids’ audience.
We were overjoyed to learn that a member of ACA’s Young Voices panel, Emmerson Sutton, has been selected by his music education hub in Lewisham and the London Symphony Orchestra to take part in a special orchestral performance project at LSO St Luke’s. This celebrates the tenth anniversary of the ‘LSO On Track’ performance at the 2012 Olympic Opening Ceremony.
Emmerson will rehearse alongside the London Symphony Orchestra musicians to prepare a performance of a brand new composition by composer Ayanna Witter-Johnson, and an arrangement of composer Edward Elgar’s ‘Nimrod’ which was originally written for and performed at the 2012 Olympic Opening Ceremony in Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, Stratford.
Emmerson will be playing as part of an orchestra of young musicians from around London, alongside LSO musicians and past participants from the 2012 performance who are now working in the profession.
A limited audience will be invited to the performance at LSO St Luke’s on Sunday 17 July, and the performance will also be filmed and screened at the Olympic Park as part of the legacy celebrations at the end of July. Young musicians and their parents, family and friends are invited to attend the screening in the Olympic Park - exact date to be confirm shortly.
Congratulations Emmerson!
ACA was thrilled to be present at BAFTA on 13 June where Place2Be’s very touching ‘Wellbeing in Schools Awards’ were presented - a ceremony so carefully and kindly produced where a lot of brilliant human beings were celebrated. Bravo to them all!
We were also very touched when the outgoing Chief Executive of BAFTA, Amanda Berry said how nice it was to present awards, but also how good to receive them. She went on to mention our JM Barrie ‘Outstanding Contribution to Children’s Arts Award’ 2021, which went jointly to Place2Be and BAFTA Kids, for their brilliant collaborative work during lockdown with Primary schools across the UK. Then to see the ACA logo flash up on the BAFTA screen was very exciting!
A big shout-out also for the wonderful Lisa Prime, Head of BAFTA Kids, who helped us create our award.
Watch out for news of The JM Barrie Awards 2022 winging it's way very soon.
Children’s book ‘Writes of Passage: Words to Read Before You Turn 13’ is an inspiring collection of over 100 pieces of writing, thoughtfully annotated by Children’s Books Editor at the Sunday Times, Nicolette Jones.
Including poems, prose, letters, speeches and song lyrics from iconic authors, actors, activists and more, ‘Writes of Passage’ is an accessible and powerful collection of words that matter.
Published by Nosy Crow, a multi‑award‑winning, independent children’s publishing company making child‑focused, parent‑friendly children’s books for ages 0‑12.
The BBC Proms are back! Running 15 July – 10 September 2022, this eight-week long celebration aims to bring the best in classical music to the widest possible audience.
We are overjoyed that the Proms are keeping in mind young audiences and families. In their words ‘we believe that music is for all ages – and we know that when it comes to singing, dancing and generally making themselves heard, our youngest audience members are already star performers!’
A calendar of these event, including ‘CBeebies Prom: Ocean Adventure’, can be found on their website.
Forty years ago, the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation UK Branch published 'The Arts in Schools: Principles, practice and provision'. This seminal report was hugely influential with Local Authorities, which then managed the country’s schools. It paved the way for the arts to be included in England’s first National Curriculum in 1988 and inspired many professional arts organisations to engage with the education sector for the first time.
Forty years later we do not have the sustained and equitable practice and provision that The Arts in Schools envisioned. On the 40th anniversary of the 1982 report, children and young people’s charity A New Direction will convene a new conversation on the value of the arts for young people in and beyond schools by examining the current state of play, what we have learnt and lost over the intervening decades, and what a new set of recommendations could look like.
Find out more and get involved.