Annual General Meeting 2018
This year’s Annual General Meeting was held at the House of Lords on 20 June 2018.
JM Barrie Awards 2018
ACA is delighted to announce that the 2018 JM Barrie Award will be presented to Stuart and Kadie Kanneh-Mason, in recognition of all parents who selflessly dedicate themselves to their children’s artistic education.
Stuart and Kadie are parents to chart-topping ‘cellist Sheku (2016 BBC Young Musician of the Year), as well as six more exciting young musicians: Mariatu, Jeneba, Konya, Isata, Braimah and Aminata.
This year’s Outstanding Contribution Award will be presented to Sticky Fingers Arts, in recognition of twenty years’ ground-breaking early-years arts provision in Northern Ireland.
The awards will be held in October at the Prince of Wales Theatre. Limited spaces are always available to members – if you would like to attend, click here to join for only £30/year.
ACA announces key issues threatening opportunities for children
Action for Children’s Arts (ACA) campaigns for children across the UK to have access to the arts. Today it has announced current areas of immediate risk, as identified by its members and patrons.
- As the UK faces its most significant changes and challenges in a generation, ACA considers it is essential that the voices of children should not be excluded from the national conversation. “Listening to Children” will for the first time be the focus for a celebratory event to be organised in association with the National Theatre this year.
“The government is squeezing creativity out of our children’s learning”
Rufus Norris, Artistic Director, The Royal National Theatre, writing in The Guardian newspaper
- The continuing threat of the imposition of the EBacc, if carried through, will lead to reduced arts opportunities for all children, and particularly those in deprived areas.
“The government insists that the arts and culture should be available in all schools, and quite rightly so! But by and large it is the private schools that offer this access, and consequently it is too often available only to the elite. This is unfair and unjust. All children should benefit from the richness of the arts in their school lives.”
ACA Patron Sir Tony Robinson
- Play is an essential part of learning in the Early Years. ACA aligns itself with the many signatories to the letter of concern sent in response to the Ofsted report Bold Beginnings, which threatens to narrow the reception curriculum to focus more heavily on literacy and mathematics, with overly formal teaching and less opportunity for play.
“Early Years are a crucial time within a human life for the development of emotional intelligence. Play, which develops imagination, is being lost in childhood because of the increasing pressure of early school assessment. We must remember it is every child’s right, every day, to have time to create, imagine and play.”
ACA Trustee, and BBC Children’s TV presenters, Chris Jarvis and Pui Fan Lee
- The continued threat to the future of libraries is of great concern to ACA. All children and families should have access to a range of literature and a place in which to explore it.
“We all of us want the best for our children, for them to grow strong in heart and spirit, body and mind. That so many children do not have the start in life they need to flourish, is society’s fault, our fault.
We need to give them, their parents and their teachers the tools to do the job. To close a library, to deny children opportunities for reading, for developing a love of literature, is to exclude children from their culture, their birthright, from fulfilment of their creative potential, and, most importantly, from the knowledge and understanding they will need to comprehend better the world about them, the lives of others, and themselves.
Without this empathy, without such knowledge and understanding, where are they? And where are we?”
ACA Patron, Sir Michael Morpurgo
- ACA notes with concern the reports of charges being introduced in schools for Music GCSE classes. Access to music and music tuition must remain part of the UK school curriculum and not become the preserve of the wealthy.
“It is a tragedy. All our children deserve access to the arts. The UK has traditionally been a world leader in culture – we should be supporting and encouraging the arts instead of jeopardising young people’s choices through these short-sighted cuts”.
ACA Patron, Julian Lloyd Webber
ACA believes that, in the context of current political policy, there is an urgent need to reinforce the importance of the arts as part of a broad and balanced education for all – not just for those who can afford it.
Notes for Editors
Click here to download this press release in .docx format
Contact for information: mimi.doulton@childrensarts.org.uk
www.childrensarts.org.uk
@childrensarts
Action for Children’s Arts is a national membership organisation embracing all those who believe that every child deserves access to artistic and creative activity. The charity is dedicated to the promotion, development and celebration of all creative and performing arts, for and with children.
ACA is proud that its membership ranges from individual artists, to National Portfolio Organisations, to parents and teachers – all championing the cause of giving every child access to the arts.
President: David Wood, OBE
Chair: Vicky Ireland, MBE
Patrons: David Almond, Jenny Agutter OBE, Sir Alan Ayckbourn CBE, Baroness Floella Benjamin OBE, David Bintley CBE, Malorie Blackman OBE, Sir Quentin Blake CBE, Sir Matthew Bourne OBE, Mrs Felicity Dahl, Dame Carol Ann Duffy CBE, Peter Duncan, Michael Foreman, Jamila Gavin, Anna Home OBE, Shirley Hughes CBE, Sir Nicholas Hytner, Terry Jones, Judith Kerr OBE, Julian Lloyd Webber, Joanna McGregor OBE, Michelle Magorian, Roger McGough CBE, Sir Michael Morpurgo, Nick Park CBE, Philip Pullman CBE, Lynne Reid Banks, Sir Ken Robinson, Sir Tony Robinson, Michael Rosen, Dame Jacqueline Wilson, Benjamin Zephaniah.
Listening to Children: call for submissions
Are you under 13? Are you concerned about your future? Got ideas you want to share? We want videos, art and poetry from YOU exploring the following ideas:
- What do like about life in the UK?
- What would you like to change?
- What are the important things in your life?
- What is the role of creativity in your life?
You can answer just one of these questions, or tackle all four! We want to know what you think about what is happening to your country right now.
Send your creation to mimi.doulton@childrensarts.org.uk with a submissions form attached. You can download the permission form by clicking here. Make sure you get a parent or guardian to sign it first!
Are you a teacher? Get your whole class to take part! Email mimi.doulton@childrensarts.org.uk if you need any ideas or further guidance.
Michael Morpurgo OBE receives a Knighthood
Our warmest congratulations to ACA patron and 2016 JM Barrie Award winner Michael Morpurgo OBE on his well-deserved Knighthood in the New Year’s Honours!
David Wood OBE receives 2017 JM Barrie Award
On 9th November 2017, much-loved children’s playwright David Wood OBE received the 2017 Action for Children’s Arts J.M. Barrie Award, in honour of his lifetime of unforgettable writing for children. The award was presented by six-year-old Sacha Lee-Khan in a ceremony hosted by Delfont Mackintosh Theatres.
Sir Cameron Mackintosh personally welcomed assembled guests, before a ceremony that included speeches from Maureen Lipman CBE and ACA patrons Philip Pullman CBE and Judith Kerr OBE.
The J.M. Barrie Award is awarded annually by Action for Children’s Arts to a children’s arts practitioner whose work, in the view of ACA trustees, will stand the test of time. Previous recipients have included: Sir Quentin Blake CBE (2008) Roger McGough CBE (2009) Shirley Hughes CBE (2010) Lyndie Wright (2011) Baroness Floella Benjamin OBE (2012) Lynne Reid Banks (2013) Bernard Cribbins OBE (2014) Dame Jacqueline Wilson (2015) and Michael Morpurgo OBE (2016).
2017 is a marvellous year to celebrate David Wood’s life and achievements, as it is his 50th year of writing plays for children. He is an actor, playwright, composer, author, writer, director, producer and magician, who directs most of his own plays and writes the music for his songs. We think J.M. Barrie would be delighted to know that David has received an honour in his name; an honour that celebrates a lifetime of work dedicated to children, which will stand the test of time. He is indeed, a true and worthy recipient.
Action for Children’s Arts also presented a range of awards for excellence in Children’s Arts including an Outstanding Contribution Award to TV composer Liz Kitchen and five Members’ Awards to Daphna Attias of Peut-Être Theatre; Hollie Coxon and Anthony Hope – The Sunderland Empire Theatre Creative Learning Team; Jude Merrill – outgoing artistic director of Travelling Light Theatre; Kate Prince from ZooNation and Gillian Rennie from Seven Stories.
Vicky Ireland MBE Acting Chair of ACA said, “Children are the future. The arts practitioners who specialise in entertaining and inspiring them and triggering their imaginations deserve – Action for Children’s Arts believes – public recognition. This is the 13th year of the J M Barrie Awards. We are proud to honour David Wood OBE, Liz Kitchen and our Members’ Award winners. They are all brightly-shining beacons in the vibrant world of children’s arts.”
A Time to Dream
Einstein said, “Imagination is more important than knowledge.”
How do today’s children discover themselves and the world when everything has to be calculated, tested and evaluated? Where is our next Isaac Newton, lying under a tree, seeing the apple drop, and that sudden imaginative leap of realisation that there was such a thing as gravity? Are children given the space and time to explore, ponder and even be bored?
Politicians pursue higher and higher attainment in education but downplay the arts: music and drama are non-existent in many schools. So where does imagination fit? We are urged to admire the Tiger mother and the high achievers of Singapore. As with the Olympics, we want to be top, top, top and bathe vicariously in the incredible achievements of the very few, thinking, “that could be me if I only work hard enough.” In India, with its expanding middle class, children feel they must now get to nearly 100% in their exams if they are to make it into the small number of “top” universities. I had a long conversation with a twelve year old boy on his way back to one of India’s most prestigious schools. I asked him how he liked school, and he said with deep contempt, “I’m sick of it.”
I loved seeing children sitting on the beach by the sea in a recent blog – but hoped that they weren’t then having to collate their experiences; over analyse, articulate and compile their thoughts, for the sole purpose of being marked and assessed. Inspiration is the sister word to Imagination. It may only be 1% of the creative process, but without it……so if those children were on the beach to be inspired, then hooray! That should be our model. Writing is about communication; a tool for every child to give voice to who they are: their ideas; their take on the world. They can tell their stories and communicate their excitement, aspirations, humour, and troubles. I often visit schools where teachers tell me proudly that they have given me their best pupils – and how talented so and so is, but I want to cry out – no – give me your “lowest achievers”; they are the ones who need to find their voice.
Children can be desperately lacking in confidence, with low self esteem, who feel their own lives have no value. So I would put the arts and creativity firmly at the heart of the curriculum. They open doors; bring surprises and, we know, impacts on all their other work. If we, as teachers, can reveal to children, especially those imprisoned within inner city classrooms surrounded by high, barbed-wire fences, that there is an extraordinary world out there, and that the voice of every single one of them is important – no matter how stammering or timid – then we will uncork all their potential, and they will discover it for themselves. Give our children time to dream.
This post was kindly contributed by ACA Patron, Jamila Gavin. It was originally written for Arvon Teachers as Writers.
Autumn Statement response
On 25 November 2015, Chancellor George Osborne delivered his autumn statement, announcing that funding for Arts Council England (ACE) will increase by around £10 million by 2019/2020. Other pledges included £150 million for The Science Museum, British Museum and Victoria and Albert Museum to replace storage facilities; £78 million towards The Factory, Manchester and £4 million for Birmingham Arts Hub.
ACE chair, Sir Peter Bazalgette has acknowledged the importance of campaigners within the arts sector in this victory. The expected cuts have been avoided through the collaboration of ACE and the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS), as well as through valuable nationwide campaigns such as What Next?’s arts4britain campaign.
Whilst cuts to local governments, changes to the education system and on-going devolution leave much work to do, this is a moment to celebrate the impact of a unified campaign to protect arts and culture in this country.