Education Secretary Michael Gove today published a document detailing the range of government-backed cultural education opportunities open to all young people in England.

The government is spending £292 million to 2015 on cultural education so young people can benefit from excellent cultural and music activities.

The BFI Film Academy, the National Youth Dance Company and the Shakespeare Schools Festival are among the programmes being funded by the Department for Education.

Education Secretary Michael Gove said:

"No education can be complete without the arts and creativity playing a central role in a child’s life.

"Successful schools put culture at the heart of their curriculum. I want all schools to be able to emulate, indeed surpass, those which are currently outstanding.

"I hope schools will be excited by these opportunities and will use them to offer all children a cultural education that will engage and inspire them to take part in cultural activity throughout their lives."

Culture Minister Ed Vaizey said:

"Cultural education - a summary of programmes and opportunities - is part of our strategy to ensure that every child has the chance to experience a wide variety of high quality cultural experiences. It shows the breadth of programmes in place to help schools deliver that ambition, but I hope that it also inspires schools and cultural organisations to work more closely together, to find new and exciting ways to engage children in the cultural activities.

"We know experiences like these are important not only for ensuring the continued success of our creative industries but also for individuals’ development, and that these experiences remain with them for the rest of their lives.

Darren Henley, managing director of Classic FM, who conducted an independent review on cultural education for the government, said:

"Ensuring that children gain an excellent cultural education really does matter, so this new government publication which responds to one of the recommendations in my independent review is an exciting step forward. The ‘Cultural education’ document is both aspirational and pragmatic. It affirms the importance of the contribution that cultural education subjects make in developing the next generation of well-rounded and culturally enriched young people.

HM Chief Inspector Sir Michael Wilshaw said:

"The effective teaching of art, music, drama and other creative subjects is important in ensuring students experience a rich and balanced curriculum. This is something our inspectors pay close attention to when they visit schools. These initiatives, aimed at enhancing the quality of provision in these subjects, are therefore to be welcomed.

To find out more about the cultural education opportunities listed in the document, see the Department website.
To read the policy paper, click here. You can also access this document through IFACCA's publication listing.

https://www.gov.uk/government/news/huge-range-of-cultural-opportunities-for-all-young-people