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FAQ

Click to hide: Schools FAQ   :   Artists FAQ

How much should an Artist be paid?

Arts Council England is not currently able to offer guidelines on rates of pay for artists.
The daily fee that an Artist will charge will vary. When you are agreeing a fee you should take into account:

  • Whether there is a nationally recognised minimum rate as set by an entertainment union or appropriate employers’ body
  • Length of project - is the session a one-off or a longer programme?
  • Duration of sessions - are they half days (2 hours minimum) or full days?
  • Consideration of travel and material costs - will you negotiate an all inclusive fee or will you have a separate materials and travel budget?
  • Any planning time agreed - joint planning between the school and artist will involve all partners from the beginning of the project and might bring new ideas to the table
  • Evaluation - will you require the Artists’ input? What form will this take? - questionnaire, interview etc.

For more information, see the links below:
www.businesslink.gov.uk
www.artscouncil.org.uk/publications

Where can I find an Artist?

The Forge holds a database of artists in the region who specialise in participatory arts projects.
The database includes artists working across the following art forms:

Ceramics • Circus/street theatre • Craft • Dance • Drama • Glass • Graffiti • Music • Painting/drawing • Photography/new media • Printing • Puppetry • Sculpture • Storytelling • Textiles • Writing

Once you have considered the art form which your project will focus on we can send you a list of artists that you might like to contact to discuss your project with.
Please email or call us on 01207 284 515.

You might also like to check with colleagues to find out what type of artists they have been working with or even advertise locally.

What should I look for when recruiting an Artist?

Finding the right Artist to work in school should be subject to good recruitment checks.
Those suggested before employment would be:

  • Checking that the Artist(s) has (or is willing to complete) an Enhanced Disclosure form through the Criminal Records Bureau
  • The Artist(s) has Public Liability Insurance cover to the value of £5,000,000 for the duration of the project
  • You’re able to review a current CV which gives information about relevant previous arts education work and details of two referees that you can contact

You might like to interview potential artists devising some questions to find out about the type of work he/she does, why arts education work is important to them and to discuss the project to make sure their ideas are what you are interested in. Prior to short listing and interview, you might like to think about having an external representative on your panel e.g. arts development officer, a funder, arts education specialist.

Although the Artist you choose will have much experience of working in arts education, it’s important to remember that they bring different skills to that of teaching staff and won’t be experienced or responsible for the pastoral care of the children/young people. Therefore, a teacher should be present at all times the Artist is in the classroom.

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Where can my school get funding?

Identifying funding to enable you to run projects can often take time and require a good strategy. It’s a good idea to develop a brief proposal outlining what your project’s aims and objectives are together with plans about how you plan to deliver your programme and what it will cost.

Also worth considering is how the project will contribute to the school development plan and overarching arts policy.

There are various options for funding that you may like to consider:

  • Trusts and Foundations: read the guidelines carefully. Many trusts and foundations have a specific focus for their funding. Some are happy to either have a conversation or receive a synopsis of your proposal so they can advise if your application is eligible prior to you making a full application
  • Sponsorship: develop a strategic programme of events, perhaps developed and led by the PTA, School Council etc. which can involve local business and the community in raising funds
  • Your Local Authority: your local authority might have an Officer specialising in advising on funding opportunities
  • Extended school partnerships: working across clusters, your extended school partnership will have a central point of co-ordination who may be able to advise on developing projects across the cluster, particularly those which involve the wider community
  • Lottery funding: projects may be eligible for funding through Lottery funding distributors such as Arts Council England, Awards for All and the Heritage Lottery Fund. It’s worth contacting an officer in the relevant organisation prior to making an application
  • Arts Development Officers: may offer advice or have some funding available that can support your project
  • The Forge: Connections members have access to a small grant scheme as part of their membership.


Most organisations that distribute funding will expect to see that your project has attracted match funding.

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What preparation do I need to do before the Artist comes into school?

The project proposal will help you to identify:

  • Where the project fits within your overarching arts policy
  • The aims and objectives of your project
  • What the project will cost
  • Where funding will be achieved from
  • How you plan to recruit your artist
  • Who the participant group benefiting from the project will be

Once you have recruited your artist, you will need to negotiate a contract which both parties will sign before agreeing practicalities.

Working with your artist you will need to consider:

  • Dates and times: both for project meetings and practical work
  • Workshop planning: activity that will be undertaken. Is the project process led or is there mutual agreement that a work of art - presentation, sculpture etc. will be produced at the end? Who will supply equipment and materials?
  • The participant group: How many? What age? Ability/experience of the group?
  • Monitoring and evaluation: how will the project be measured against the aims and objectives? How will you know that the project has been successful?
  • Funding: Discuss the Artist’s fee and any materials/travel budgets
  • Staffing: What will be the role of the teacher and artist during the project? Is there a need for supply cover?
  • Best practice: Has time been allocated for CRB applications? what considerations need to be given to risk assessment and health and safety?
  • Communication: To other members of staff in school, parents, governors and local media


The London School Arts Service (LONSAS) provides an overview of setting up an arts education project which you may find useful. Please see the link to their website: www.lonsas.org.uk

The Artists & Learning Information and Support Service (ALISS) offer a website giving guidance on sample contracts, setting up projects and evaluation. Please see the website: www.aliss.org.uk

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What is Artsmark?

Artsmark is a national award scheme by Arts Council England that recognises schools with a high level of provision in the arts. The award scheme is open to all schools in England - primary, secondary, special schools and pupil referral units, both maintained and independent.

Providing a benchmark for arts provision the scheme encourages schools to consider the opportunities offered in art, dance, drama and music. Artsmark schools show their commitment to the wider development of young people and teachers and raise the profile of the arts in the school and local community.

The scheme aims to:

  • encourage schools to increase the range, quantity and type of arts that are provided to children
  • raise the profile of arts education

Artsmark also:

  • recognises, promotes and spreads good practice in providing arts education
  • encourages schools to evaluate how their arts curriculum is delivered
  • motivates schools, artists and arts organisations to work together
  • highlights the need for teachers to have access to continuing professional development opportunities in the arts
  • encourages teachers to share their skills and knowledge in the arts with colleagues at other schools

Across The Forge’s region (County Durham and Sunderland), there are currently over 20% of schools in receipt of the Artsmark award - already showing a fantastic arts provision across these areas.

The Forge organises seminars (normally held in early September) which can help familiarise you with the application form and supporting documents to help you ascertain whether your school is in a position to make an application.
Please email for further information on the seminars or see the Artsmark website www.artsmark.org.uk for further information on the scheme.

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How can we audit our arts provision in school?

You will need to audit your existing arts provision in school:

  • Before planning an Artsmark application
  • To develop your arts curriculum
  • To inform your arts policy and assist with future planning

The aim of the audit should be to identify:

  • What you are already doing
  • Where you can make any improvements in existing provision
  • Where any gaps in provision are

The audit should ideally cover:

  • Arts work taking place within the curriculum
  • Arts work taking place in out-of-hours provision
  • Art forms
  • Who is delivering the arts work
  • Artists/cultural organisations
  • Teaching staff
  • Volunteers/parents etc.
  • What training is available for staff
  • What facilities and resources are available to deliver arts programmes

Ideally, a team should be appointed to undertake the audit and should have the backing of the whole school. Consider how you will involve Governors, parents and children, the time scale over which your audit will take place and how your audit will be presented - it will need to be a working document and a written report might not be the most appropriate way of sharing your findings!

For detailed guidance on auditing the arts in school, please see the RSA publication, A guide to auditing the arts in school, which you can access via www.qca.org.uk/artsalive/steps_to_success/rsaguide.pdf

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What should I include when writing an overarching Arts policy?

Many schools already have policies for each art form and an overarching arts policy does not have to completely replace these.

If your school is applying for Artsmark, you will be asked as part of the application to provide copies of your overarching Arts policy. Alternatively, if you have just completed your Arts Audit, the next logical step would be to action the findings to form your Arts policy aims and objectives.

The QCA ArtsAlive! www.qca.org.uk/artsalive provides guidance on writing an arts policy. The website suggests that “an arts policy usually includes:

  • a definition of the arts as understood by the school
  • a mission statement explaining why the school provides the arts
  • no more than four key aims
  • a limited number of specific objectives that will achieve each aim
  • measurable targets for each objective, as part of an action plan”

Your arts policy does not have to be long, up to two sides of A4 should be enough to get your message across, and the policy should complement other working documents. It’s important to get your policy endorsed by the Board of Governors together with a date for reviewing and updating if necessary.

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Drama is not delivered as a separate subject in school, how can I measure the quality of drama provision when it is delivered across other subjects?

Many schools, especially primary schools, do not have the capacity to offer drama as a separate curriculum subject and offer the provision through other subjects.

It is important to ensure that you have clear aims and objectives for the drama provision in place so that you can monitor the activity you are providing and ensure there are plans for progression in place for all pupils.

Drama in schools: second edition, published by Arts Council England in 2003 provides guidance on the role of drama within the curriculum together with information on providing opportunities for ensuring pupil progression across all key stages.

There is also a really useful wall chart that offers useful level descriptors across all the key stages that is available free of charge. You can find more detail on this and download the publication through the Arts Council England website:
www.artscouncil.org.uk/publications/

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What are Arts Council England, North East’s children and young people and the arts strategy?

With the implementation of new Government policies including Every Child Matters and Youth Matters, Arts Council England North East has been working to develop a framework to support the contribution that the arts can make to Government aims and objectives.

The resulting following three documents developed or commissioned by Arts Council England, North East should be read in conjunction with each other (each document can be downloaded from Arts Council England’s website).


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Where can I get Public Liability Insurance and why do I need it?

It is recommended that self-employed people check their situation with regard to Public Liability Insurance. If you are visiting and working in other organisations, you should consider taking out Public Liability Insurance to cover you should you cause any injury or damage during the course of your work. As with other types of insurance, the cost and cover may vary, so make sure you shop around for the best deal for you.

As part of a contractual arrangement, some organisations may ask to see evidence of Public Liability Insurance cover prior to employing you. The standard cover required is now £5,000,000.

Please see the link to the Business Link website for further information and finding insurance quotes:
http://www.businesslink.gov.uk/bdotg/action/detail?r.s=sl&type=RESOURCES&itemId=1074301656

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What is the Disclosure service and what does it mean?

Keeping Arts Safe published by Arts Council England provides the following information on the Disclosure service:

“provides a regulated ‘onestop’ service for England and Wales, offering access to records held by the police, together with those held by the Department of Health (DH) and the Department for Education and Skills (DfES). It enables organisations to make more thorough recruitment checks, particularly for positions that involve regular contact with children and vulnerable adults”

The Disclosure service can currently provide two levels of Disclosure:

  • Standard: appropriate for anyone with direct, supervised contact with children, young people or vulnerable adults
  • Enhanced: appropriate for anyone with intensive access to children, young people or vulnerable adults

Both Disclosure checks will provide information on criminal records (both spent and unspent), the List 99, Protection of Children Act and Protection of Vulnerable Adults lists. The Enhanced Disclosure will also provide details of any current investigations.

Prior to recruitment, employing organisations are likely to request confirmation that Artists are in possession of a current Disclosure certificate (current has not been defined and will vary from organisation to organisation), or agree to complete the process.

Individuals can not apply directly for their Disclosure check and will need to go through a Registered Body, who they will receive the application form from, and have to provide evidence of identity to. A list of Registered Bodies is included on the Disclosure website. Once a check has been processed, the applicant and the Registered Body will receive written confirmation.

A Disclosure check is one part of good employment practice and is not designed to replace:

  • Seeking references
  • Risk assessment
  • Relevant experience
  • Interviews etc.

Arts Council England’s publication keeping arts safe provides guidance for artists and arts organisations on safeguarding children, young people and vulnerable adults:
www.artscouncil.org.uk/publications/publication_detail.php?sid=9&id=489&page=3

The Criminal Records Bureau (who run the Disclosure service) website
www.disclosure.gov.uk

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How much should an Artist be paid?

Arts Council England is not currently able to offer guidelines on rates of pay for artists.

The daily fee that you might charge will vary. When you are agreeing a fee you should take into account:

  • Whether there is a nationally recognised minimum rate as set by an entertainment union or appropriate employers’ body
  • Length of project - is the session a one-off or a longer programme?
  • Duration of sessions - are they half days (2 hours minimum) or full days?
  • Consideration to travel and material costs - will you negotiate an all inclusive fee or will you have a separate materials and travel budget?
  • Any planning time agreed - joint planning between the school and artist will involve all partners from the beginning of the project and might bring new ideas to the table
  • Evaluation - Agree how you will contribute. What form will this take? - questionnaire, interview etc.

For more information, see the links below:
www.businesslink.gov.uk
www.artscouncil.org.uk/publications

BACK TO TOP

Where can I get funding to work with schools?

Identifying funding to enable you to run projects can often take time and require a good strategy. It’s a good idea to develop a brief proposal outlining what your project’s aims and objectives are together with plans about how you plan to deliver your programme and what it will cost.

Also worth considering is how the project will contribute to your practice as an artist and the aims and objectives of your partners.

There are various options for funding that you may like to consider:

  • Trusts and Foundations: read the guidelines carefully. Many trusts and foundations have a specific focus for their funding. Some are happy to either have a conversation or receive a synopsis of your proposal so they can advise if your application is eligible prior to you making a full application
  • Sponsorship: develop a strategic programme of events, perhaps developed and led by the PTA, School Council etc. which can involve local business and the community in raising funds
  • The Local Authority in which your project will take place: your local authority might have an Officer specialising in advising on funding opportunities
  • Extended school partnerships: working across clusters, extended school partnerships will have a central point of co-ordination who may be able to advise on developing projects across the cluster, particularly those which involve the wider community
  • Lottery funding: projects may be eligible for funding through Lottery funding distributors such as Arts Council England, Awards for All and the Heritage Lottery Fund. It’s worth contacting an officer in the relevant organisation prior to making an application
  • Arts Development Officers: may offer advice or have some funding available that can support projects
  • The Forge: Sparks, the Small Grant Scheme can fund projects across County Durham and registration with the Connect scheme for Sunderland school during 2006/7 can provide access to a staff training fund.


Most organisations that distribute funding will expect to see that your project has attracted match funding.

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What preparation do I need to do before going to work in school?

The project proposal will help all partners to identify:

  • Where the project fits within the schools overarching arts policy
  • The aims and objectives of the project
  • What the project will cost
  • Where funding will be achieved from
  • Who the participant group benefiting from the project will be

You will need to negotiate a contract which both parties will sign before agreeing practicalities.

Working with the school you will need to consider:

  • Dates and times: both for project meetings and practical work
  • Workshop planning: activity that will be undertaken. Is the project process led or is there mutual agreement that a work of art - presentation, sculpture etc. will be produced at the end? Who will supply equipment and materials?
  • The participant group: How many? What age? Ability/experience of the group?
  • Monitoring and evaluation: how will the project be measured against the aims and objectives? How will all partners know that the project has been successful?
  • Funding: Agreement of the fee and any materials/travel budgets
  • Staffing: What will be the role of the teacher and artist during the project? Is there a need for supply cover?
  • Best practice: Has time been allocated for CRB applications? what considerations need to be given to risk assessment and health and safety?
  • Communication: To other members of staff in school, parents, governors and local media

The London School Arts Service (LONSAS) provides an overview of setting up an arts education project which you may find useful. Please see the link to their website:
www.lonsas.org.uk

The Artists & Learning Information and Support Service (ALISS) offer a website giving guidance on sample contracts, setting up projects and evaluation.
Please see the website:
www.aliss.org.uk

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How do I get experience to work in schools?

There are several ways you might consider to gain the necessary experience to enable you to work effectively with groups of young people. Those include:

  • Shadowing: either an individual artist or a placement with an organisation will enable to observe how artists plan for workshops, which kind of strategies they use to direct activity and what processes/procedures they have in place for ensuring best practice
  • NCSP: Becoming a member with NCSP will enable you to complete a training needs analysis and have access to information about training that might be relevant to you including mentoring opportunities etc.
  • Arts Council England, North East’s Education Forum: provides a regular source of information and advice via email as well as networking meetings about what is current in Arts Education practice

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Email:

Tel: 01207 284 515