Introducing Good Practice Centres

 Each year Arts Award centres apply to be selected as Good Practice Centres. Chosen from across all sectors, these centres bring a breadth of experience of delivering Arts Award successfully. In the blog this week we’re introducing the Good Practice Centres for 2015-2016!

What is a Good Practice Centre?

Good Practice Centres share their practice and advocate for Arts Award in their communities, inspiring others to start running the award or to develop their existing practice. They take part in a range of activities throughout the year to do this.

This is the fifth year that we’ve been highlighting the exciting activity of Good Practice Centres by celebrating their achievements and profiling their successes. Each of our Good Practice Centres have successfully delivered Arts Award previously, and are keen to support others to do the same!

Introducing the centres

There are 18 Good Practice Centres in total, and you can find the full list at http://www.artsaward.org.uk/goodpractice. They come from a range of sectors: formal education; arts and cultural; and youth and community. As a group they can offer a good variety of practical experience delivering Arts Award at all levels in very different environments. We have case studies available for each of our 2015-2016 Good Practice Centres which will tell you more about their Arts Award provision – these can be downloaded by clicking onto each centre’s name on the Good Practice Centre list.

Alongside the 18 Good Practice Centres, this year for the first time, we’ve also selected Good Practice Mentors. Mentors are previous Good Practice Centres chosen to support this year’s group. The 2015-2016 Good Practice Mentors are:

• Eastside Educational Trust (GPC 2013-2014)
• EOTAS1 Northumberland (GPC 2014-2015)
• Holy Trinity Academy (previously Blessed Robert Johnson Catholic College) (GPC 2014-2015)
• Moving Together (GPC 2013-2014)
• Ormiston Sudbury Academy (GPC 2014-2015)
• Sheppey Matters (GPC 2013-2014)
• The Lowry (GPC 2014-2015)
• University of Cambridge Museums Fitzwilliam Museum (GPC 2013-2014)
• The Valley School (GPC 2014-2015)

What will Good Practice Centres do?

By becoming Good Practice Centres, each of the selected centres have committed to sharing their expertise in a variety of ways. The first of those is a case study to feature on our website. These case studies highlight specific aspects of their delivery which may inspire your own practice. Many also share stories from young people who have benefitted from Arts Award, showing what a difference that the arts have made in their lives.

As part of their work promoting and advocating for Arts Award, Good Practice Centres will be active locally. They might be featured in local press and media, or they could contact your centre offering opportunities to get involved with Arts Award. Look out for news of Good Practice Centres’ promotional activities taking place near you – or contact your local centre directly to find out what they have planned and how you can get involved.

You’ll also hear from some of the Good Practice Centres on the blog! They’ll be writing a couple of posts each, focusing on different aspects of Arts Award in their organisation. Through these blogs you’ll have up to date insight from centres currently delivering Arts Award on areas which are relevant to their sector.

Top tips from previous years

Of course, being the fifth year of Good Practice Centres means that we’ve got plenty of guidance already available! Why not take a look on the Good Practice Centre site, where you can find links to case studies from our previous centres?

There’s also a bank of resources written by Good Practice centres which offer advice on different aspects of delivery. From delivering Arts Award in a youth work setting to a framework for using Arts Award in extra-curricular school activities, there’s something aimed at all levels and sectors. If you’re looking for guidance from advisers and centres who work in a similar area as you, this is a great place to start!