Welcome to ChalleNGe Nottingham
ChalleNGe is a city-wide partnership of arts organisations, schools and young people. We collaborate to engage more children and young people in shaping arts, cultural and creative opportunities in schools and communities.
Join us in championing creativity for all children and young people in Nottingham.
Families - creative activities
Families - creative activities
Families - creative activities
Discover organisations and groups that offer creative activities for children and young people in the city. Why not try something new? There are arts groups, dance classes, youth theatre and music opportunities all year around - to name but a few!
Read the April/Easter holidays Newsletter to see a host of creative activities for children, young people and families!
Schools: Cultural Rucksack
Families - creative activities
Families - creative activities
Interested in bringing more creativity to your classroom, or wanting to develop new opportunities for your pupils? From teacher events and CPD to long-term partnerships, ChalleNGe brings you regular updates and boosts your creative connections. 2024/25 Wallplanner
Round-up of arts opportunities & network events: March 2025 Primary teachers newsletter and Secondary teachers newsletter.
Latest News & Opportunities
RSE Day 2025: Get involved!
Djembe Drumming with Sidiki Dembele
RSE Day 2025: Get involved!
Relationships and Sex Education (RSE) Day is Thursday 26 June, and this year’s theme is ‘Communicate’.
We are working in partnership with the Achieve Well Team and an artist to run an RSE day art project for schools in Nottingham City. Mural Artist, Millie Yarwood, will share skills with colleagues from schools at an art workshop on 29th April from 2pm to 4pm, at the Dryden Centre, Nottingham Trent University, book here.
Millie will also be creating a mural for the City in the Arboretum featuring the views of children on communication in healthy relationships. Make sure the views of your children help shape the mural design. Please click here for more information about this project. The mural will be unveiled on RSE Day!
Refugee Week 2025
Djembe Drumming with Sidiki Dembele
RSE Day 2025: Get involved!
Refugee Week 16-22 June 2025 (Register for A Day of Welcome from 20 March 2025)
A Day of Welcome is an annual day of solidarity and learning in schools that aims to build a culture of welcome and understanding for people seeking sanctuary.
It will kickstart Refugee Week by providing FREE live events, sharing books, art and stories as well as resources and activities for pupils of all ages.
Registration for A Day of Welcome is now open. Schools will receive a Teacher’s Guide, learning and resources including lesson plans KS1-KS4, free live events, and refugee education supporting schools to work effectively with families who have experienced forced displacement.
Online resources available from 24 April 2025
Djembe Drumming with Sidiki Dembele
Djembe Drumming with Sidiki Dembele
Djembe Drumming with Sidiki Dembele
Tues 13 May 2025, 1.15-3.15pm, Old Basford Primary, NG6 0GF
Whether you’re a music specialist or have never touched a djembe before, join world-renowned master drummer Sidiki Dembélé for a dynamic and inspiring drumming workshop designed just for educators.
This will be an interactive and fun 2 hours covering playing technique, cultural context, and classroom pieces. All you need to lead engaging rhythm sessions in school, with confidence and creativity.
Reawaken your inner musician! Suitable for Key Stage 1- 4
For Teachers:
Culturemeets online
A-Z Directory for schools
A-Z Directory for schools
We bring teachers and arts professionals together for a termly online network called CultureMeets. We begin with 5min presentations from arts organisations about their upcoming exhibitions, workshops and resources before a themed discussion. See all past Culturemeets here.
Watch the January culturemeets
and book to join us for the next ones!
Primary Thurs 24 April, 4-5pm
Secondary Tues 24 June, 4-5pm
A-Z Directory for schools
A-Z Directory for schools
A-Z Directory for schools
Nottingham's Cultural Rucksack encourages the development of high quality partnerships between arts, cultural and heritage providers and schools - embedding a range of rich and diverse experiences to bring your curriculum to life.
Nottingham's schools are signing up to become 'Cultural Rucksack schools' - supporting their pupils to feel connected and valued by their city. Find out more about becoming a CR school here.
Creativity Collaboratives
A-Z Directory for schools
Creativity Collaboratives
Nottingham's Creativity Collaboratives programme has involved 12 schools exploring and embedding approaches around 'Teaching for Creativity' over the last 3 years. Watch our Yr 3 FILM
Find out more about the Creative Practitioners and read our latest case studies.
See the Creativity Exchange website and Leading for Creative Thinking website for inspiration, links and resources.
City-wide collaborative projects
Art of Belonging
Child Friendly Nottingham
Celebrating Languages
Art of Belonging is a city-wide programme that seeks to welcome refugees and asylum seekers in Nottingham. The Art of Belonging Pledge has now been signed by 14 arts organisations and we have a growing network of creative practitioners who are being supported to facilitate sessions with new arrivals. From partnership projects with NEST (the Nottingham Education Sanctuary team) and arts venues, to the Refugee Roots regular creative programme and collaborations with Nottingham Playhouse, NAE and more - there are many ways you can support this work and get involved.
Celebrating Languages
Child Friendly Nottingham
Celebrating Languages
We're delighted to be working in partnership with schools, communities, arts partners and our two Universities to celebrate our diverse languages and dialects in Nottingham.
Thanks to funding from NTU, 8 partnership projects have been supported to explore new partnerships between arts organisations, schools and community groups to highlight and celebrate Languages within their work.
We are also excited to be the Community partner for a Co(l)laboratory and welcome Jack Benjamin as our PhD researcher.
Child Friendly Nottingham
Child Friendly Nottingham
Child Friendly Nottingham
Child Friendly Nottingham is a city-wide partnership programme to put children's rights into practice. Lots of organisations are supporting children and young people to have a meaningful say in local decisions, services and spaces. Training and resources from UNICEF are available for teams and organisations to get involved.
Over 9000 children and young people collaborated to choose 3 'badges' (areas to focus on) which are: Safe and Secure; Education & Learning and Healthy. 'Equal and included is the golden thread, linking all our work together.
RSE Day
Child Friendly Nottingham
Every year, we work in partnership with Catherine Kirk from Nottingham City Council on developing a collaborative schools project and resources for RSE day - a national celebration of RSE (Relationships and Sex Education). This year, the theme was 'Embracing Change' and we commissioned illustrator Hannah Sawtell to run schools workshops and design 6 postcards that were distributed to every school in the city. Check out the new website the Achieve Well Team, led by Catherine Kirk.
Connecting Notts, Youth Voices
Connecting Notts is a Young Creatives Network - that brings together 16-15 year olds from ChalleNGe arts and community Partners to regularly meet, influence and plan events for young people.
Facilitated by ChalleNGe and Upstart Projects (who also run Voice Mag) members of Connecting Notts meet monthly (usually Mondays from 5-7pm) and plan 4 events a year for young people across the city, to better connect, network and shape arts opportunities for young people.
Bulwell Arts Festival
We believe that art opportunities should be on every child's doorstep, in neighbourhoods, schools and parks - as well as within the fabulous arts venues of our city. So we have been delighted to work in close partnership with Bulwell Arts Festival (hosted by One Vision Partnership) and Bilborough Arts Festival over the years - supporting local creative activities in community centres, schools and libraries in the run up to their annual Art festivals. Huge congratulations to Nicola Curzon and the OVP team on a fabulous Bulwell Arts Festival 2024. We love working with you!
