Early years arts and culture in Yorkshire and the Humber State of the region report for CapeUK, 26th January 2017 Written by Ben Sandbrook with Ruth Churchill Dower Introduction and brief 1 Introduction and brief Summary 2 CapeUK, the Arts Council Bridge Organisation for Yorkshire and Research findings: regional overview 2 the Humber, commissioned Ben Sandbrook (World Pencil) and Overall observations 2 Ruth Churchill Dower (Earlyarts) to research and produce a Recommendations 3 ‘State of the Region’ report on arts and culture in the early Approach to the research 4 years. This report looks broadly at the arts and cultural Research participation 4 opportunities for young children, aged 0-5, their families and communities, as take place in and through early years settings Early years arts and culture – a national overview 6 and arts and cultural organisations. Both of these categories Early years arts and culture in Yorkshire and the are broad, encompassing Primary schools, nurseries and Humber 11 grandparents in the former – libraries, arts venues, museums and freelance artists in the latter – and many more. Current know-how and capacity 14 Early years settings: in-house capacity for arts and culture 16 Early years setting: visits to and from outside organisations 18 Arts and cultural organisations: early years activity 22 Developing skills and know-how 27 Needs 30 Barriers 32 Networking know-how and resources 35 Strategic focus 36 Early Years Arts and Culture in Yorkshire and the Humber, written by Ben Sandbrook (World Pencil Ltd) with Ruth Churchill Dower (Earlyarts Ltd). © CapeUK 2017 1 Summary Research findings: regional overview Across the region, however, we have encountered organisations, such as NYMAZ and Leeds Artforms with their Looking at the region in terms of national statistics (e.g. Ofsted early years networks, who have built up a more comprehensive Early Years performance data, arts funding levels) it sits, on picture of parts of the region, giving a sense of shape to the average, in the middle in a national picture. Of course, taking a extent of patchiness and challenge. broad, regional perspective will average out extremes and, on a more local level, ‘hidden deprivation’ is common in places such as Sheffield, Hull, York and Harrogate. Looking specifically at early years arts and culture, there is Overall observations some truly innovative, excellent and effective practice and Looking across the region, we would make the following opportunity being developed across the region. underlying observations: • In arts and cultural organisations, there is strong practice The funding landscape (particularly from local authority and continued development around creating arts and funding) for early years arts and culture is not as strong as it was cultural experiences for EY children. But this isn’t the case 10 years ago, and early years provision has suffered perhaps everywhere. Better regional networking of know-how, disproportionately within the education, or children’s services, people, and reasons why EY is significant could reap great sector. dividends. • Despite the difficulties of funding, early years, arts and But the legacy of these more generous times (e.g. of the cultural leaders who believe in and understand early years Creative Partnerships programme) can still be seen, as can the arts and culture seem to find a way to make it happen. So outcomes of more recent developments: where there is influencing leaders and instigators by helping them to understanding, skills, capacity, commitment and supportive experience first-hand the impacts should precipitate action leadership, early years settings and arts and cultural at scale. organisations are finding ways to continue and develop their creative practice and opportunities for young children and • There is a need to support early years, arts and cultural families. organisations to develop their understanding of young children’s creative development, their ideas, their own Yet, as research projects such as this so often find, this strength experiences of arts and culture and how these can be of practice is, it seems, patchy and inconsistent. But it is difficult developed and supported. to quantify this patchiness: in the absence of something akin to • There appears to be a strong need to work more closely an Arts Award for early years settings, or dedicated with particular communities who are less engaged in arts Ofsted/DfE/Local authority data, it’s not possible to build a and culture, particularly in more deprived and challenged data-driven picture of strong or weak practice and provision of communities. This work should aim to be long-term and opportunities; it’s difficult not to end up hearing from the sustained and needs to consider carefully whether it is locations of strong practice that their practice is strong, and not rooted in trying to bring communities ‘in’ to arts and really to hear as much from other areas. cultural experiences or to co-create such experiences ‘with’ them. As nobody has a clear regional or sub-regional remit to understand strengths and weaknesses of practice in early years arts and culture, there aren’t clear solutions to this problem, although Arts Council England are now asking Bridge Organisations to build this picture to a degree, hence this report. In the past, where local authorities’ early years/children’s services and cultural departments have been well connected they have handled this remit collectively. But in most cases these authorities have had their resources heavily reduced, staff re-positioned, and agendas narrowed, so that this can no longer be the case. Early Years Arts and Culture in Yorkshire and the Humber. © CapeUK 2017 2 Recommendations Based on our analysis of the findings from this research, existing 4. Professional co-learning: Arts/cultural organisations and knowledge of this and other UK regions, and built on research early years settings should work together in co-learning participants’ recommendations, as outlined in the final section partnerships to share and develop their skills and (Strategic focus, page 36), we would make the following understanding of children’s creativity and how most recommendations: effectively to nurture it. The Bridge Organisation could convene a partnership bid to develop and roll this out as a 1. Championing: Arts/cultural and early years organisations CPD programme, based on action research and co-working, across the region. This CPD should incorporate the body of across the region who are already committed to early years expertise that is being built up across the region in arts and culture should take it upon themselves to work together to champion this most powerful of agendas: understanding and curating creative spaces and experiences for young children, and also in how arts and reaching organisations who don’t understand the potential cultural work can work towards Early Years Pupil of arts and culture on young children’s life and learning, or how they could practically realize it. The Bridge Premium agendas. Initial teacher education (ITE) providers should be included in the partnership. Organisation could have a central role in facilitating this. An emphasis on ‘seeing is believing’ would be recommended: 5. Engaging with local need: Arts/cultural organisations often evidence-based argument is effective only after the working in early years should work with settings, and initial, personal, seed of persuasion has been sown. specialist agencies, to develop a strong understanding of 2. Self-profiling tool: The Bridge Organisation should work the needs and opportunities in their localities and how their with early years settings, arts/cultural organisations, Arts work could have greatest impact. The in-depth know-how about engaging with families and communities that has Council England, universities, early years standard setting been developed by a few organisations in the region should bodies and others to develop a tool for early years settings to evaluate, celebrate and profile their practice relating to be very widely promoted. early years arts and culture, perhaps akin to an Artsmark for 6. Purposeful local partnerships: Arts/cultural early years. This tool should also help to signpost and raise organisations, early years settings, local authorities and awareness of local strengths and opportunities. others, with the facilitative support of the Bridge 3. Celebratory networking: The Bridge Organisation should Organisation, should continue to be open-minded and resourceful about realizing opportunities for win—win local work with early years settings, arts/cultural organisations partnerships as a way to make the most of scarce resources and others to test and develop a regular programme of celebratory networking events around early years arts and and specialist expertise, centered around a common shared purpose, both in addition to and as part of the culture, such as family arts festivals and professional sharing days, carefully considering the needs and Cultural Education Partnerships. aspirations of target audiences, and partnering with existing initiatives and festivals. Early Years Arts and Culture in Yorkshire and the Humber. © CapeUK 2017 3 Approach to the research Our approach, as requested by CapeUK, included three strands: 1. An online survey, distributed to a wide variety of organisations and individuals in early years and primary education, and arts and culture. 76 responses were received with a roughly 60:40 split between arts and cultural organisations