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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

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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