Finding opportunities in uncertain times

I find it hard to get my head around the fact that we’re fast approaching the three-year ​‘anniversary’ of Covid’s onset. Those of us within cultural organisations that work with schools are highly conscious of its ongoing impact; we’re also reflecting on how its long tail is affecting our own sector.

When the pandemic took hold, the prolonged inability of arts organisations and artists to engage face-to-face with audiences caused a massive financial tremor, resulting in budgets being cut to the bone and widespread staff reductions, which included learning and participation teams. For freelance arts and education practitioners, the work simply dried up; it forced many to leave the sector and they’ve not returned. This has had a knock-on effect. The freelance community is in many respects the beating heart of our practice. There’s now a need to actively address the loss of expertise and experience by training, nurturing and supporting new artists to work in a field that requires specialist skills and understanding.

Following the pandemic, we’ve had the aftershock of an economic downturn and spiralling inflation. This has contributed to a situation in which, from the perspective of my organisation Into Film, fundraising for learning activity is becoming ever more competitive and income generation ever more challenging, as local authorities’, trusts’ and schools’ budgets come under increasing pressure.

We’ve also seen signs of increasing confidence to take pupils back out on visits to cultural events and venues. Into Film runs a UK-wide film festival, primarily for a schools audience, which has seen a marked increase in bookings this autumn, compared with last.

The seismic change of the last two and a half years has brought new discoveries and opportunities, and the chance for us to reflect on our core purpose and approaches. Along with everyone else, we were forced to move Into Film’s programme entirely online back in 2020. We learned a lot and saw more clearly than we had before the benefits of online engagement and interaction with educators, as well as where you need to have real people together in a real room. ​‘Hybrid’ approaches are now integral to the work of many organisations, and we continue to explore what good practice looks like, not least within the TDF programme of course. There also appears to have been something of a shift in thinking regarding how schools and cultural organisations can, and should, work together: more focus on collaboration and co-design of activity; less on the ​‘supply’ approach in which arts organisations devise projects and then deliver them to schools.

To understate the obvious, it doesn’t look like the coming years will be easy. The funding climate is decidedly uncertain at a point when the budgets of both schools and arts organisations are already running on empty. With the revolving door at the DfE almost coming off its hinges in recent months, there’s uncertainty about England’s future education policy, and the place of arts and creativity. (In other UK nations, the new Curriculum for Wales provides particular cause for optimism, with its progressive vision for the integral place of the arts in teaching and learning.)

Again in England, a government White Paper published earlier this year included the intention to develop a Cultural Education Plan. With a different administration now in place, we’re wondering how, or whether, the plan will move forward. We also wait to see the implications for children and young people of Arts Council England’s new investment portfolio.

So the ground beneath us feels distinctly unstable right now. At the same time the case for the place of the arts in pupils’ lives and learning feels like it’s never been stronger; that’s what will drive us all to advocate the case, address the challenges and seek out new opportunities.