About Us

The Black Curriculum LeicesterShire - The First Steps

Report by Carol Leeming MBE FRSA for The City Classroom


BEING, BECOMING, BELONGING

Two girls at computer

The City Classroom is the Leicester(shire) gateway to high quality arts and cultural learning.

As the Cultural Education Partnership for Leicester(shire), developed by a group of local arts organisations, it's ever growing membership is working collaboratively to produce, programme and provide access to inspiring creative experiences; raising standards and supporting children and young people's progression. It uses frameworks including Arts Award and Artsmark to support this development and enhance learning outcomes.

The City Classroom demonstrates that this is our place & we can experience and discover it in our own creative way.


Vision

The vision of The City Classroom is that every child and young person will thrive through a rich and adventurous cultural education.

Mission

The mission of The City Classroom is to raise the standards and level of provision of locally-based cultural education activity, and to enrich the cultural experience of every child and young person in Leicester and Leicestershire.

Summary

The City Classroom (TCC) brings together organisations, schools, artists and creatives to provide a co-ordinated, planned and strategic approach to providing cultural experiences for young people in our city and county.

The City Classroom focuses on place-based cultural education for children and young people in producing a joint programme of activity and marketing campaigns.

Plans and Focus:

  • In the first two years the target market for The City Classroom will be primary and SEN schools in Leicester and Leicestershire.
  • The aim is to extend the reach of the TCC programme to include 50% of the previously mentioned schools, with a focus on currently unengaged schools.
  • Development of web and social media resources will be a key task.
  • Implementation of the planned programme of activity.
  • Evaluation of the programme and its impact will be monitored and recorded.

Background

The City Classroom is Leicester(shires) Cultural Education Partnership and one of Leicester's responses to the Cultural Education Challenge. Launched in autumn 2015, the Cultural Education Challenge is a national call to arms to strengthen cultural education activities.

The goal is to increase cultural activity in schools and communities, resulting in an improvement in cultural education and social outcomes.

The City Classroom will have three main strands of activity:

1) An annual programme of cultural education activities produced and managed by the partners acting together.

2) Programmes of cultural education activity produced by partner and member organisations, individually and within their overall annual programmes of work, registered with The City Classroom brand.

3) The City Classroom brand itself, available for use by its members who provide cultural education activities which meet The City Classroom standards and objectives and support the campaign.

Priorities for projects include:

  • Partnerships with primary schools, SEN schools and alternative education in Leicester and Leicestershire
  • High quality creative arts activity in schools, co-delivered by artists, underpinned by Arts Council England's Quality Principles
  • Promoting and delivering Arts Award and supporting Artsmark in schools
  • Outcomes evaluation, data and evidence - making and sharing the case using collective impact studies and tools.

Statements, policies and terms.

Click the below links for The City Classroom documents.