LEAN held it's 2025 annual Arts Education Conference and AGM at Lewisham Youth Theatre! A brilliant evening on 5th February 2025 which included:
- An update on the progress of Lewishams Cultural Strategy
- A chance to input into the Cultural Education Partnership's new Strategic Plan
- A choice of workshops exploring the delivery of key outcomes for young people
Posted: 12/02/2025
Last year we asked the question: how do we work together improve children & young people’s access to cultural opportunies in the borough?
This year we start to answer this and invite anyone with an interest in young people’s creative learning to comment on the strategic action plan developed by the Cultural Education Partnership Steering group over this year.
Workshops on the night:
1) Embedding Youth Voice.
We are delighted to be joind by Lewisham Youth Theatre who will be leading this workshop .
Run by two members of LYT’s Youth Steering Group, this practical workshop shares what they have learnt about embedding youth social action in organisations across Lewisham & Greenwich over the last three years. Pooling working experience from 7 organisations, this workshop is a whistle stop tour of best practice, with lots of practical advice to take away and apply to future youth-led work.
2) Arts for Social Impact: Working in partnership to drive positive change
Led by the brilliant Natalie Clarke (Senior Producer) – London Bubble Theatre
Using case studies this workshop will explore how creative activity (in this case theatre) can support schools and statutory services (Youth Justice, Family Help, Care Experienced) to deliver wider social impact goals.
3) Building new opportunities for creative work experience for young people: How a ‘group’ model can provide a meaningful alternative
Finding work experience in the Creative Industries is notoriously difficult unless you have ‘family contact’ and small creative organisations rarely have capacity to sustain a year 10 pupil over a full week .
Sharon Trotter, LEAN Director explores how a facilitated ‘group’ work experience can address this by offering increased support for the young people and enable small organisations to contribute in a manageable way. She will draw on case study examples such as LEAN’s 2024 Army of Creatives Programme.
4) Using Artsmark to help embed arts, culture, and creativity in the curriculum
Tara Page PhD, SFHEA, Professor of Pedagogy and Praxis Centre for Arts and Learning
Department of Educational Studies Goldsmiths will look at ArtsMark and the role that Goldsmiths University plays in the scheme and the support it can give. We will also be looking at case studies from local schools. Goldsmiths has brought its expertise in teacher education, creativity, arts and culture to enrich the Artsmark programme through professional development and support. It has encouraged schools to become agents of change in their communities.
AGM Documents:
Annual Report 23-24
2025 Nominations
Thank you to our hosts Lewisham Youth Theatre, our workshop leads and everyone who came along!
