Craft School Material World (Crafts Council)
Elnaz Yazdani is working as an artist delivering CPD on this project.
The climate emergency is at the top of the agenda for children and young people, so Crafts Council has partnered with The Eden Project to challenge learners to use craft and making to explore the impact of climate change on everyday life.
Together with The Eden Project we’ve shaped a creative brief for learners focussed on three themes: Renewable Materials, Creative Mending, and Reclaim and Reuse. This programme of work will be introduced in September 2023 to a number of schools , although the schools/educators, you will work with will not join the programme until September 2024. The CPDL sessions you deliver will prepare them to join the programme.
Here is an outline of the programme that is currently running nationally :-children and young people will work in their schools to make 3D work in response to the themes. Work will be submitted to Crafts Council in April 2024, with winners for each Key Stage selected by our independent judging panel. An online celebration for all participants will be held in June 2024, including make-along workshops, maker Q&As and a prize giving.
This programme will be repeated in the academic year 2024/25 - when Kirklees will join the programme.
Craft School: Material World is underpinned by Make First, Crafts Council's craft education pedagogy. Make First puts materials into the hands of children and young people at the earliest opportunity, empowering them to decide the direction of their work and develop their voices as craftspeople. We hope the challenge will inspire a lifelong love of making and give an insight into creative progression routes and craft careers.
Support for teachers is at the heart of Craft School--the programme offers a toolkit of resources to help teachers deliver the challenge with their learners, as well as three online teacher training sessions and monthly online catch-ups with the Crafts
Council's team and our network of craft educators. Teachers will also be celebrated through a teacher award at the close of the programme.
Outreach Programme
Craft School is open to all schools nationwide, but we have identified some geographical areas where we would like to increase participation. We would also like to boost partition from schools with higher levels of pupil premium funding.
The Craft School Outreach programme will offer additional training and support for teachers to prepare and support them through the delivery of Craft School—working with approximately twelve teachers from six schools in each region (Blackburn,Kirklees and Torbay) over two academic years. The programme will be offered to schools free of charge and will aim to:
- Increase teacher confidence and skills delivering practical craft activity
- Introduce and build confidence with Crafts Council’s Make First pedagogy
- Provide support, guidance and inspiration as teachers deliver Craft School with their learners for the first time; work with them to explore the application of Make First in their settings
- Build a local network to support craft education by building relationships between schools
