Arts & Culture

Why are Arts and Culture important to Tees Valley?

‘Involvement with arts and culture is crucial to imagination, self-expression and creativity in young people. It also develops the skills that fuel the success of the UK’s creative industries, and that will result in the next generation of creative talent across the country.’ Arts Council England (2022)

At Tees Valley Education, our purpose for Arts and Culture is to cultivate passionate, imaginative, and inquisitive individuals. We aim to help them view and experience the world through a creative lens, encouraging them to enjoy and explore both historical and contemporary art and music from a diverse range of cultures around the globe.

Music and Performance at TVEd is shaped by the belief that music is a universal language that embodies one of the highest forms of creativity. We aim to provide a high quality music education that engages and inspires our pupils to develop a love of music, develops their musical talents as musicians, increase their self-confidence and sense of achievement. We want our pupils to critically engage with music, compose, listen, sing and perform with the very best music can offer.

Art and Design at TVEd is sculpted on a foundational belief that art allows pupils to become confident independent artists who are creative and express themselves. Through exposure to diverse cultural heritage and artist led approach, pupils will foster a love of art and understand how art contributes to the creativity and wealth of our nation.

How do we support and champion Arts and Culture?

In all our academies, we support our students to aspire through their learning experiences to standards of excellence intellectually, practically, and aesthetically. The curriculum we provide is rich in skills and knowledge. Through our curriculum, we aim to provide students with an experience that is exciting and to ensure that our students combine practical skills with creative thinking, developing highly valuable and transferrable skills for future careers and life.  We aim to provide a cultural education that enhances aspiration and ambition, develops communication and teamwork skills, and strengthens both creative and critical thinking. Additionally, we focus on building discipline and confidence in young people. It can enrich teaching and learning across the curriculum, encourage parental engagement with pupils’ learning, open up career pathways and has a profound effect on the ethos of our schools.

At Tees Valley Education, we are heavily invested in music, performing arts, creative arts and real-life experiences both within each school and across the Trust pursuing opportunities for the children and staff to experience, learn from and be immersed in the arts. We provide weekly specialist music tuition so that children and staff have the opportunity to learn. As a Trust, we have collaborated with the Paul Hamlyn Foundation to work with artists to extend the breadth and depth of artistic opportunity available for the Trust and other schools who participated.

The TVEd choir have sung in local, regional and national events for over 10 years. Our choir is accessed by all children who want to share their voice – boys, girls, KS1 and KS2, mainstream, special needs, and across cultures, ethnicities and languages. It truly unites us as a Trust, the communities we serve and the audiences we perform for at local churches, town halls, performance centers, and theatres. We have performed in the smallest church in Scotland, universities, concert halls in Sheffield and London, as well as Middlesbrough Town Hall, The Sage Gateshead and at The Royal Festival Hall in London. This enabled our children and their families to experience iconic regional and national venues.

Our Commitment

Here are some examples of our commitment to individuals and groups in our schools and across Tees Valley:

What Arts and Culture at Tees Valley mean to the children 

“The build-up and the performance was lots of fun. I felt lucky to have the opportunity to be a part of it.” – Jensen

“Young Voices was certainly something I will always remember in my life.” – Romie

What Arts and Culture at Tees Valley Education mean to the staff

“Music has allowed our children to improve their confidence. This could present itself as the look on their faces when they have performed with the choir, the pride they have when they perform in front of their peers or the excitement that comes when they pick up a new instrument for the first time.”

“Young Voices is such a wonderful day for all involved. The children enjoy eating lunch in a real restaurant and being able to spend time with children from various year groups in a non-school setting. It is lovely to see the older children supporting our younger children over lunch. The concert itself is an experience unlike any other. Working with professionals shows our children the meaning of work ethic and striving for your goals, and it broadens our pupils’ musical knowledge as they sing songs like Carmina Burana and The Beatles. Overall, being part of the final concert is such a fun experience and one that the children always talk about for years to come.”

What Arts and Culture at Tees Valley Education mean to the parents and community

“The after school clubs and activities the trust offer have helped my child gain confidence and maintain strong friendships with pupils throughout the school.” 

“When my daughter came to Pennyman she had selective mutism linked to the anxieties she faced at her previous school. During her time spent at Pennyman I was able to watch her confidence grow and her personality blossom. By the time she reached her year six class she was empowered so much so that she was cast as “Nala” a lead role in the Year six Performance of the Lion King. This opportunities for her to grow and develop has definitely contributed to her self-belief and self-worth. She is now studying at university for her dream job as a midwife.”