Partnering culture with education

Strategic commissioning is a project jointly funded by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) and the Department for Children, Schools and Families (DCSF). It aims to:

• increase demand from schools for museum and archive education
• increase supply of museum and archive education activities
• widen access for teachers to museum and archive education.

This section of the website keeps you up to date with programme progress. The most recent developments are the creation of a self assessment framework linked to the Every Child Matters agenda and information on the Teaching Outside the Classroom programme. You can find out more below.

MLA self assessment framework: working with children and young people

Every Child Matters: Change for Children (www.everychildmatters.gov.uk) is the new cross-government approach to the wellbeing of children and young people. Organisations working with children and young people need to work in new ways help all children to: be healthy; stay safe; enjoy and achieve; make a positive contribution; achieve economic wellbeing. To help achieve this the Every Child Matters agenda has identified a set of six areas of expertise that everyone working with children and young people should be able to demonstrate. These include skills in effective communication, multi-agency working and sharing information.

To help museum, library and archive staff assess and then develop the skills, knowledge and understanding they need to work with children and young people, MLA Partnership has developed a self assessment framework that is mapped directly against the Every Child Matters areas of expertise. The framework can be used by anyone working directly with children, young people and families in a museum, gallery, library or archive. It can be used as an induction tool and an ongoing element of Continual Professional Development (CPD).

MLA self assessment framework: working with children and young people (PDF 277 KB)

This version can be printed out and written onto by hand.

MLA self assessment framework: working with children and young people (Word 1.17MB)

This version can be saved to your PC and typed into as a Word document.

School participation database

Developed over the past few months, the database is now live (www.mlaschools.org.uk). The aim is to give a national overview of school participation in archive and museum learning activities as well as provide a planning tool for individual venues.

After entering their data, museums and archives can use the database to:

• create reports that demonstrate outputs related to their education work
• understand how schools currently work with venues
• identify and target local schools that currently do not take part in activities
• access up to date socio-economic information about local schools
• provide information to support planning.

Contact your MLA Regional Agency for more information and to get a password for access to the database.

Teaching Outside the Classroom

MLA is a key partner in the Teaching Outside the Classroom programme, which was launched by Children’s Minister, Kevin Brennan, on 4 March 2008. The programme encourages providers of teacher training to offer their students placements in a diverse range of educational settings, such as museums and galleries. The placements will complement existing teaching practice in schools, developing teachers’ knowledge and skills about how to work with partners to bring teaching outside the classroom.

The programme offers a comprehensive package of support, including bespoke guidance, for providers and settings who wish to develop inspiring, creative placements for student teachers.

Go to www.teachingoutsidetheclassroom.com for more information and to register your interest in the programme.

Strategic commissioning 2006-07: evaluation

In 2006-07 the Strategic Commissioning programme had a direct impact on over 20,000 young people and more than 2,000 teachers and cultural sector staff. This evaluation report demonstrates the positive impact that museum and archive education has on pupil’s attainment, behaviour, attitude and skills and the value that both teachers and pupils put on museum and archive education.

Strategic Commissioning 2006-07: full evaluation report (PDF 232KB)

Strategic Commissioning 2006-07: executive summary only (PDF 32KB)

Strategic Commissioning 2006-07: case studies only (PDF 144KB)

Strategic commissioning 2007-08: evaluation

The work undertaken during the current year is being evaluated to measure the impact of the programme against Every Child Matters outcomes. Results will be available in summer 2008. Come back to this page for more details.

Contact nicky.morgan@mla.gov.uk with queries about this area of work.