News and publications

As Travelling Light Theatre Company’s Teacher Development Fund programme enters its final months, programme lead Lizzy Stephens reflects on the learning to date and shares the company’s plans to embed the work across the participating schools.

Professor Tanya Ovenden-Hope, Provost and Professor of Education at Plymouth Marjon University and Advisory Board Member for our Teacher Development Fund (TDF), shares some of her research into ​‘educationally isolated’ schools and explores the impact of TDF within such settings.

Holly Donagh, Director of Strategic Learning, Insight and Influence, discusses the vital role infrastructure organisations play in strengthening the sectors in which we work, and their potential to drive diversity, equity and inclusion.

Holly Donagh, Director of Strategic Learning, Insight and Influence, reflects on our experience to date and shares our learning which might be useful for others embarking on this work.

Gem Thornton, Creative Learning Manager from Grimm & Co, reflects on their Teacher Development Fund learning journey alongside ten Astrea Trust primary schools in Rotherham, Doncaster and Sheffield. Their project, Chapter & Verse, aimed to support teachers to develop and embed multi-disciplinary arts approaches to teaching and learning, including immersive drama, music, poetry and storytelling.

Young at Art, based in Northern Ireland, reflects on their Creative Teacher programme, supported by the Teacher Development Fund. This project extends their existing professional development practice supporting teachers to use arts and drama based approaches across the curriculum.

Programme lead, Kathy Coates-Mohammed shares insights from this place-based project exploring how Kirklees’ textile heritage can be integrated into the curriculum. Supported through the Teacher Development Fund, the project sees five schools across the area team up with Hatch Projects, Kirklees Art Associate Learning Partners and the University of Huddersfield. Together they aim to build more creative approaches to learning and to create a place-based curriculum.

Jo Reil, project lead for Wise About Words, provides an insight into their learning journey as they move into the second year of the programme, supported by the Teacher Development Fund. A partnership between Norwich Theatre and eight primary schools from the Wensum Trust, Wise About Words focuses on helping teachers to develop the skills and confidence to embed drama-based approaches in the classroom and across the curriculum.

As we quickly approach the three year anniversary of Covid’s onset, Paul Reeve, CEO of Into Film and TDF Advisory Group Member, reflects on the pandemic’s ongoing impact and how its long tail is affecting the arts and education sectors.