Future Creative Impact Report 2013

Impact Report

2013

Future Creative CIC Tel: 01304 370310 Email: [email protected] www.future-creative.org

Maximising potential • Empowering communities • Transforming lives

“Our pupils will

treasure their

Future Creative

experience for

a lifetime.”

(Bill McGroy,

Headteacher)

mailto:[email protected]

Future Creative CIC

www.future-creative.org

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Future Creative CIC is a social enterprise organisation which provides

creative learning, professional development and community engagement

programmes in the education, cultural, public and youth sectors.

We believe that everyone has the innate human ability to use and enjoy

creative skills in their lives and the right to hone their potential through

education, professional training and community development in order to

transform their lives and the world around them for the better.

Future Creative CIC


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NEET young people who went on

to re-enter employment or training

after working with us

communities revolutionised by

youth-led projects through Future

Creative’s NCS programmes

practitioners we trained who increased in

confidence in their early years practice

Esme Chilton Chief Executive/Creative Director

At Future Creative we care passionately

about transforming life chances for

children, young people and their

communities through our education and

training programmes. In this Impact

Report, we are thrilled to share the

positive differences we have made this

year to the lives of thousands of children

and adults nationwide.

We have a unique team delivering our

work, a combination of education

specialists and creative professionals

who all passionately believe that creative

learning has the power to enable

everyone to look at learning with a fresh

eye; make new connections; solve

problems with an open mind; find new

approaches to the challenges; learn from

mistakes and use their imagination to find

positive outcomes.

We are delighted to have worked with a

diverse range of participants and clients

during the year. I hope you will take away

a sense of excitement after reading more.

A key part of our ethos is the building of

strong and effective relationships across

the education and community

sectors...why not get in touch and see the

difference we can make for you in 2014?

Want to keep up with our latest

news? Find us on

2013 at a glance

Transforming lives

4694

Improving life chances

80%

Promoting social action

40

Impacting the early years

97%

lives of children and adults

impacted by Future Creative

Future Creative CIC Tel: 01304 370310 Email: [email protected] www.future-creative.org


Future Creative CIC


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Winner of Best Social Action Project

One of our Summer NCS teams chose

to bring modern day slavery into the

light, by raising awareness and funds to

combat this shocking problem that still

exists in the 21st century.

They tackled a 24 mile sponsored walk.

The team then snapped and exhibited

1 photo every day for 27 days to

represent the 27 million people

estimated to be suffering from human

trafficking across the world. For the

finale, they performed a flash mob

dance on their local high street – with

choreography and music recording

done by the team.

Their charity spoke very highly of them

and they in turn spoke passionately

and with true understanding about their

cause.

“It was really inspiring to meet a

group like this coming together...it

gives us hope and confidence for the

future.” (Nick Hollinghurst,

Deputy Mayor, Tring)

2013 saw Future

Creative introduce the

life-changing National

Citizen Service (NCS)

programme into areas of

Suffolk and Hertfordshire.

NCS is a fantastic opportunity open

to all 16 & 17 year olds in England and

Northern Ireland, that helps build skills for

work and life, whilst taking on new

challenges and meeting new friends.

Action-packed outdoor residential

away from home filled with activities

and team building challenges.

Back at home, pick a cause to fight for

and run a social action project to make

a difference in the local community.

They may raise awareness, money or

both!

Certificate signed by the Prime

Minster, presented at a huge

graduation party with family and

friends.

“NCS is not something you want

to pass you by. You gain so much

from it such as speaking

techniques, self confidence, as

well as friends you will have for

life. It was great value for the

family and allowed me to have the

best experience of my life.”

(Leigh, Hemel Hempstead)

“I was a bit apprehensive at

first, but I’m so glad I took

part! I feel like I’ve achieved a

lot rather than just staying at

home. The days away are

really fun, and planning the

social action project really

helps you get experience for

the future.”

(Claudia, Bury St Edmunds)

Maximising potential

Need to find out

more? If you’re

interested, you can

sign up today!

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“I have noticed such a difference in

my daughter – she has made lots of

new friends and blossomed. The

course is well worth doing as not

only do the students gain lots of

experience in a wide range of

activities but they are helped so

much with confidence and looked

after. They have a graduation and

receive a certificate that can be

used as reference on applications.”

(Parent, Aylesbury)

“The programme has been a

game changer in terms of his

emotional health and

resilience.”

(Teacher, Hertford)

“NCS has really improved my

confidence. It also has made me a

lot more comfortable in an adult

working environment with

meetings and interviews.”

(Natasha, Ipswich)

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Future Creative’s

Kent-based

employability and

skills programme

inspires and

equips NEET young people aged 14 to 24 to

re-enter education, employment or training.

We help young people to maximise their

potential and to understand and develop

their own personal abilities and life skills

through creative working and learning

alongside artists, writers, actors, and

musicians.

80% of participating

young people have

re-entered work or

education.

73 young people

achieved their

bronze Arts Award

Skills gained • Planning & budgeting • Marketing yourself • Researching

careers & pathways • Time-keeping •

Confidence building, body language and

communication skills •Leadership and

management of people and resources •

CV development • Managing creative

content •Marketing & promotion

“Future Steps has changed my life.

I have gained the confidence to

apply to Canterbury College and I

am fitter, healthier and happier

with myself.”

Michael

Listen here to the song

that some of our young

people wrote and

performed.

I have improved my people skills,

my CV writing skills and my team

work skills. I am happy I joined.’

Grace

"...without having come to Future

Steps I wouldn’t have dreamed I

could be working, more confident

in myself and be so happy."

Tom

"Working with Future Steps is

rewarding and inspiring. This

unique approach to learning work

and life skills, allows the young

people to achieve their potential."

Tony, Mentor

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“My confidence has grown because we have met

new people and I felt comfortable around them...

I also have now got a decent CV and have a job.”

Demi

“My confidence has got so much better because this is

the first thing I have done on my own since I have had

my daughter...I have managed to take big steps in life'.”

Chloe

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Did you know? 75% of brain

connections are established in the first

6 years of a child’s life. Yet every year,

more than 200 million children

worldwide under five years old fail to

reach their full cognitive and social

potential.

As we all know, the formative years are a

pivotal part of a person’s life. Future

Creative is passionate about empowering

early years practitioners to enable young

children to be creative and critical thinkers,

through training and consultancy

programmes that we deliver across the

country.

Using our extensive early years knowledge

and experience, Future Creative delivers

training courses and consultancy

programmes to help early years settings to

maximise the learning and development

opportunities they provide for the young

children in their care.

"Future Creative has helped me to equip

children to become more confident and

secure in their journey through life."

(Suzzane Buck, Abracadabra Nursery,

West Sussex)

Transforming education Sensory Play • Involving

Parents • Funded two-year-olds

• Boys and Girls • Outdoor play

• Creativity • Mathematics •

Key Person • Observation,

Assessment and Planning •

Team Building • Literacy

Communication and Language

• Supporting Transitions •

Handling Enquiries • Literacy

• Child Development • Enabling

Environments • Leadership

and Management • Ofsted •

Characteristics of Effective

Learning • Challenging

Conversations • Physical

Development • Safeguarding •

Positive Relationships •

Flexigons • Foundation Stage •

Unique Child • Development

Matters • Quality Interactions

• Brain connections • Natural

resources • Self-reflection •

Lifelong learning • Diversity •

Embedding the EYFS • Arts •

Managing behaviour • Equality

• Storytelling • Physical

Development • Best practice •

Play • Emotional environments

• Sustained shared thinking •

Outdoor Matters • Family life •

Continuous provision • Nature

Active learning • Explorations

• Learning and Development •

Number of counties

we visited to train

local practitioners. 10

97% Practitioners we

trained enjoyed our

courses and found

them useful

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"The interactive course broadened

my knowledge of the EYFS in a

creative way, with thought-provoking

discussion."

(Abigail Wilkinson, Development

Officer, Isle of Wight Council)

"Very clear and easy to follow.

Lots of ideas for making better

use of my outdoor space."

(Cynthia Williams, Nursery

manager, Little Eagles

Daycare, Nottingham)

"Reinforced my opinion that children

should be allowed to resolve their

differences and their voices and

choices should be heard!"

(Linda Walton, Senior Early Years

Practitioner, The Gateway

Children's Centre, Bradford)

"Future Creative’s training gave

me confidence to have those

challenging conversations with

parents."

(Erica Davin, Childminder,

Bracknell)

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This year, we continued to build on our

legacy of generating and sustaining creative

learning opportunities in primary and

secondary schools.

Future Creative delivers innovative creative

cross-curricular learning programmes within

state education, alongside CPD and training

programmes for teachers and senior

managers.

We enable students across all ages and

abilities to engage creatively with their

learning environment by giving schools

access to our talented team of creative

practitioners and education consultants. Our

involvement raises attainment, develops

potential and improves educational

standards in primary and secondary schools

across the country.

"Our partnership with Future

Creative has far exceeded our

vision. The children have had a

wonderful experience, and this is

only phase 1!"

(Elizabeth Willis, Headteacher,

St Simon's RC Primary School)

"An excellent experience for

us...we've been given easy,

accessible and practical ideas for

new arts and media activities."

(Sally-Ann Phillips, Teacher,

Chalkhill Education Centre)

z

Transforming education Boosting Literacy and Maths

at Bromstone Primary School,

Kent

Future Creative was invited to work with

a targeted group of Year 6 children, with

the aim of getting them engaged and

exciting with core curriculum subjects.

Through discussing the pupils’ interests,

it was decided the focus of the project

would be Manston Airport, a small

airport just a few miles from their school.

The children visited the airport and

attached World War 2 museum, and

worked with one of Future Creative’s

professional film-makers to put their

investigation on camera.

Pupils also explored their use of literacy

in meaningful ways, by working with a

journalist to write and print their very

own school newspaper.

"Our relationship with Future

Creative is an amazing use of our

pupil premium money. The school

wanted to offer children something a

little different which would give them

something over and above what we

can provide in school.

Working with actual pilots and

making a video and newspaper

certainly fitted the bill. Children

were enthused and motivated. This

was reflected in very strong progress

measures from their attainment in

Key Stage 1. We would highly

recommend the process!"

(Nigel Utton, Headteacher)

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“Some of our most reluctant boy

writers who took part arrived at

school the next day with a pad

and pen ready to write...this was

previously unheard of!

“Working with Future Creative

has given our pupils the

confidence to overcome previous

emotional barriers which would

have prevented them from

engaging in task-based activities

especially our weekly Big Write

sessions.

“The children are keen to share

their ideas, and enjoy the class

expanding and improving on

them in guided writing. Future

Creative has given these

children a platform for success!”

(Laura Long, Literacy Co-ordinator,

Dame Janet Primary School, Kent)

During 2013, Future Creative was

commissioned by Medway Council to

deliver a Cyber Youth Connection cross-

border project; enabling young people

aged 11-19 to gain new skills and

experiences. During the projects, young

people are learning about French

language and culture, whilst taking part in

fun skill-based workshops.

“Our young people have really

enjoyed the Future Creative

projects. They are thoroughly

engaged with the activities and

are bringing their friends along.

The parents think it is excellent

and are really impressed with

what they’ve seen.”

(Angela Cox, Youth Development

Worker, Medway Council)

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Future Creative’s track record continues as

we use creative practice to encourage local

outreach, inter-generational connections,

and tolerance and understanding between

disparate communities.

We often use an exploration of an area’s

history and cultural heritage as a common

focal point to bring communities together.

“There is a real need for this type

of engagement, which surpassed

our expectations.

With the help of Future Creative,

we felt finally able to realise an

excellent idea that has real

potential to be a sustainable

contribution to our service

delivery.”

Fishbourne Roman Palace

Empowering Communities

Collecting stories and

uncovering hidden histories in

the Kings Hill community

Future Creative was appointed by Kings

Hill developer Liberty Property Trust UK

and Futurecity to run a series of creative

workshops to involve local people in the

wayfinding trail for the neighbourhood.

A team of Future Creative’s practitoners

worked with the local community to create

a series of artworks forming a wayfinding

trail, linking the existing retail areas in

Liberty Square. The trail features stories

and poems gathered through workshops

with local residents, the staff from Kings

Hill businesses, veterans and school

children. The wayfinding artworks

highlight routes, signpost facilities and

increase the area’s connectivity, adding

visual features and helping navigation.

- Encourage a sense of ownership and

pride amongst the community of the

area’s local history and narrative.

"Thank you for your visit and for

creating such an enjoyable time

for the children and staff!"

(Mr Fowler, Year 5 teacher,

Kings Hill Primary School, Kent)

The Kings Hill project has its

very own website, full of poems,

photos and other contributions

from the community.

www.kings-hill-wayfinding.org/

Becoming a Social

Enterprise Qualification

(SEQ) mentor

The SEQ is a progression ladder of UK

QCF Level qualifications which accredit

and and encourage anyone interested in

working for positive social change.

Future Creative trains teachers, lecturers,

youth and community workers to become

SEQ mentors, enabling them to mentor

others to try out their business ideas in

the real world.

http://kings-hill-wayfinding.org/

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Inter-generational celebrations

of the Diamond Jubilee in Kent

Future Creative partnered with residents

of AmicusHorizon in Kent and their

families. We captured true stories of their

memories of the Queen’s Coronation in

1953 as well as general day-to-day life in

the early 1950s. We also gave young

people a voice by spending time at local

primary schools. The pupils wrote some

highly imaginative stories to celebrate the

Queen’s Diamond Jubilee in 2012.

Doris Crane (who was 27 at the time of

the Coronation) shares her memories

from that day:

“Times were hard for my family. I

remember getting a letter from the

school because her daughter was not

wearing the correct blouse. She could

not afford to buy the correct one. So

the party was great for the community

– it lifted their spirits. There was lots

of singing, eating and laughing.”

Sydnee, Nathan, Elli and Bethany wrote

their story to portray how they would like

to celebrate last year’s Diamond Jubilee:

“...We could be out in no time, and go to

the bakery across the road. Ellie,

Nathan and Sydnee could buy

chocolate gateaux, while Beth made

the marshmallows! YEY! They had the

plan that might work, it was worth a

try. The band had come and

everything was ready. They came

outside and started partying. Next,

they ate and drank and had a great

day!”

In 2013, Future Creative was delighted to

continue the legacy of community

cohesion in the area, by publishing a

completed book of intergenerational

memories for residents to keep.

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Refugee Week 2013

Future Creative is the South East hub

provider for Platforma, an arts and

refugee network that brings together

groups and artists of any background or

political status.

This year, we have continued to develop

and mainstream refugee related arts, by

strengthen networks amongst refugee

artists and creative practitioners.

During Refugee Week, we provided

performance opportunities to our network

of artists, including a sold out event in

Brighton Dome Studio Theatre. Over 200

people discovered and celebrated refugee

stories and experiences within our local

and (inter)national history & heritage.

Exploring child development

with parents in Thanet

Future Creative worked with Children’s

Centres in East Kent to give parents the

essential skills and confidence to support

their children’s learning and development.

We took parents on a sensory journey,

enabling them to discover different ways

of helping their children to explore their

world, according to the different stages of

their development.

Parents gained their own deeper

understanding of child development,

allowing them to incorporate effective

activities and processes into everyday life

to ensure their children grow into active

and willing learners!

68% of parents showed an

improvement in their child

development knowledge.

“Sensory Journey has taught me a lot

about how my child learns and how his

brain works. It’s been a real eye-

opener and very enjoyable.”

(Parent, Ramsgate)

65% of parents reported an increase

in their children’s readiness to start

school.

"I am looking forward to doing lots of

new activities with my daughter that

I've learnt." (Parent, Margate)

Got a few minutes? Watch the

full Sensory Journey story

by scanning this code.

See how we enabled museums

and archives in the South East

to deliver the Arts Award.

Future Creative is an Arts Award training

and support agency in the South East.

We continue to enable adults to support

the local young people to gain

qualifications through the arts and

community activities. In 2013, we’ve seen:

200 Arts Award advisers trained

180 young people get their Arts

Award with us

85% of adults who took part in our

additional support visits now feel

more confident in their own

delivery of the Arts Award with

young people in their area.

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Future Creative is delighted to work in

partnership with a variety of stakeholders,

from individual schools to national

Government departments.

Whether we are equipping a local early

years workforce or raising the aspirations of

young people not in education or training,

we continue to deliver the best results for

communities with the support of our clients

across the country.

Thanks to our supporters

...and many more!

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What’s next? Future Creative continues to operate as a

social enterprise not-for-profit organisation.

We rely on funding from a variety of

stakeholders across the education, public,

community and business sectors.

Despite many facing challenging economic

times in the education, community and

public sectors, we are delighted with what

Future Creative has achieved this year.

Thanks to the support from various

funders, we have improved the lives of

thousands of children, young people and

adults across the country.

In 2014, we remain committed to

transforming and enhancing the learning

and lives of children, young people and

their communities. If you are involved in

education, community or public sector

organisations, we are keen to hear from

you to discuss how we can support you in

the coming year.

If have read anything that interests you

and you would like to find out more

about commissioning Future Creative

or working in partnership with us,

please get in touch:

Julie Larner

NCS Programme Manager

[email protected]

Faye Rye

Education & Communities Manager

[email protected]

Gail Ryder Richardson

Early Years Manager

[email protected]


We will continue to give young people

access to unique opportunities to

improve confidence and life skills,

through the National Citizenship

Service (NCS). In Suffolk and

Hertfordshire, we plan to reach

hundreds more young people in 2014.

Transforming education

Future Creative has plans in the

pipeline to visit more areas of the

country to upskill and empower the

early years workforce.

We are going across the Channel,

bridging the language and friendship

gap between groups of English and

French young people. Working in

partnership with Medway Council, we

will be using the common influences of

cuisine and technology.

We are also looking forward to

revealing our much-anticipated

Preventing Extremism film and PSHE

resource, in partnership with

Redbridge Council, created by a team

of young people who are learning

more and more about the dangers of

extremism behaviour in the capital.

Empowering communities

Future Creative will be extending its

reach in the coming year by working

with housing organisations to bring

local groups of people together and

improve community life.




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Creative Minds Nursery

Future Creative was delighted to launch

Creative Minds in April 2013, our flagship

early years setting, based in Deal in Kent.

Creative Minds Nursery is an extension of

Future Creative’s ethos in the early years,

that every young child should have access to

high-quality learning and development

opportunities. Our children enjoy daily

learning and play opportunities that are

shaped around important aspects of child

development, and sensory and holistic play.

We know that a stimulating learning

environment equips all children with

experiences that will support their inquisitive

minds, ensuring they have many

opportunities to explore, question and reflect.

To find out more, please visit the website

www.creativemindsnursery.co.uk

Documents

Future Creative Impact Report 2013