Resources for Teachers at Nottingham City Schools

Nottingham’s secondary Schools Poetry and Monologue Festival.

Pupils can  enter as a performer, a writer or both, there are categories from Year 7 through to Year 13. There are helpful guides form professional poets, actors and directors to guide pupils through the process. To find out more please email kstark@bluecoat.uk.com

Deadline for entries 18th June 2021.

All ages: The Sky Mirror at Nottingham Playhouse turns 20 years old this year.  That’s 20 years of turning the universe upside down and giving an   alternate perspective on the world. To   celebrate, Nottingham Playhouse and Nottingham City of Literature   are launching a competition for all budding writers. They would like to   see poetry, non-fiction and short stories inspired by the Sky Mirror.   There are fantastic prizes including theatre tickets and book tokens.  Deadline Tuesday 8th June.  

Visit the website for more information.

Ages 11-18. Nottingham Music Hub, together with Young Hustlers and the Young Creative Awards, introduce Noise from the Lockdown Generation, a celebration of, and support network for, original music made at home by   young people during lockdown. The project is for young people aged 11-18, living or studying in Nottingham City.  Whatever your pupil's level of experience and genre of music, they would love to help  to take their music to the next level  with masterclasses from Rob Green, Trekkah Benjamin and Natalie Duncan.. Visit the website for more information. 

Primary and Secondary: Natalie Braber, Professor of Linguistics from Nottingham Trent   University, has received Arts Council funding for a project which aims   to engage school children with local language and dialect. Supported by local   artist, Hannah Sawtell and poet, Andrew Graves, they will be running workshops with local schools in July. This project aims to have an empowering   and inspiring effect on young participants, using dialect to engage with   poetry and illustration. The work produced will tour 6 Nottinghamshire   Inspire libraries. To find out more please email. 

Primary and Secondary: NAE are so eager to see school students back in the galleries that they are offering four free workshops for four classes from different schools, on a first come, first served basis. 

To guarantee Covid-safe practice these will take place on Mondays when the gallery is closed to the general public. 

To find out more or to book please email NAE. 

Ages 7-11. Until Friday 25 June. Free.
Dance4’s Centre for Advanced Training (CAT) is   offering free dance workshops to secondary schools across the East Midlands.   This is an opportunity for schools to host a workshop for students that show   potential in dance and who may have the desire to become a professional dance   artist. Workshops are aimed at years 7 to 11. They offer both face-to-face   sessions and virtual sessions over Zoom. To arrange a workshop visit the   Dance 4 website or email or phone 0115 924 2016. 

 7 March – 6 June. Free. Suitable for 9yrs+  A Digital Resource
We are all familiar with photos of the Holocaust, but who took these images? Using cutting-edge technologies, a mixed-reality experience enables students to enter an immersive, virtual environment to explore Nazi photography. Themes of the show link to current themes such as, Black Lives Matter and Fake News. Resources are available for a fully digital experience, which can be accessed by students learning from home.  For more information contact Lakeside. 

18 May – 5 Sept, Lakeside Arts
A solo show by Nottingham-born artist who in the ‘80s/90s was part of the generation of artists that included Damien Hirst and Tracey Emin. Schools Workshops:

• Trees of Life workshop -  KS3 
• Jars of Curiosity workshop - KS3                                                                        
• Zoetrope workshop, the life cycle of plants KS1-2
• Modelling Mini Beasts - KS1-2

For more information contact Lakeside.

20 May - 5 September, Lakeside Arts

This exhibition sheds a new light on the Lady with the Lamp. Schools Workshops:

• Drawing Data workshop - KS3
• Historic Scenes - KS1-2
• Lady with the Lamp: Lamp Making - KS1-2

To find out more about schools workshops please contact Lakeside. 

EYFS, KS1, KS2. Bring literacy to life with Lakeside Art’s storytelling sessions. Children are encouraged to join in the story using their imagination, props, and costumes. Using traditional oral storytelling skills pupils can explore themes, characters of traditional tales and myths. 

 KS2 and Year 7. An interactive performance/workshop for that can be experienced online or live in school.  Shhh...akespeare! excites intrigued minds to explore the characters, narrative and language of Britain's most celebrated writer and breaks down barriers to understanding and enjoying the Bard's brilliance.  

The Nottingham Poetry Festival  have four Bitesize 10-minute digital workshops for schools, created by local Nottinghamshire poets. The aim is to encourage children and young people to enjoy and create poetry. 

Primary and Secondary. First Story encourages and supports young people from all backgrounds to write creatively for pleasure and agency through a variety of events and programmes, including the First Story Year-Long Programme in schools.

Staff can also access dedicated creative writing CPD. 

Over the next nine months, Read On Nottingham will be working with schools and the wider community on this project, designed to support the wellbeing of children and young people and encourage them to read and write for pleasure. Activities include virtual author visits, creative writing competitions, book giveaways and more. To find out more and get involved please contact Michael Flynn – Connecting Stories Project Officer. 

Year 7 and 8. Secondary schools are still able to access this fun and effective catch up reading programme. Help students improve their reading, get them engaged and motivated and find their reason to read today. Skills  Academy costs £150. You can register an unlimited number of students on the programme throughout your 12-month subscription. When you sign up to the programme your school also receives a year's membership of the National Literacy Trust worth £100, which gives you access to all of their resources. 

Give your students the opportunity to see what it’s like behind the scenes of Nottingham Playhouse, to understand the various roles in theatre and see the teams at work. Led by a member of the Participation Team, students will hear from professionals about what they do day-to-day and how their role contributes towards the productions.  

Discounts on school bookings will be available for productions of ‘A Christmas Carol’, ‘Red Riding Hood’ and the pantomime shows from this Autumn. In Spring 2022.

‘Red Riding Hood’ will also be touring primary schools.. 

 Nottingham City Libraries have a wealth of resources for schools. The brand new website is packed with things to do for school classes: free ebooks and audio books, links to great free story/author sites, plus artist led sessions, theatre productions including related online resources and more.  They also hope to be able to welcome back class visits to the library soon. Children and staff are able to borrow reading books and non-fiction titles to take back to school and share stories, encouraging learning and reading for pleasure.   

KS2-KS5. The National Justice Museum is offering blended learning workshops to schools unable to visit their site. Working with you, their expert facilitators will  deliver live, interactive learning into your classroom. Workshops are held via Zoom and Teams, and can even be delivered to students at home if your school has temporarily closed. 

Years 7-9. Developed in partnership with the National Justice Museum and Ben Kinsella Trust, this workshop has been proven to make a difference in changing attitudes to knife crime among the young. To find out more please contact NJM.     

Primary. The education loans service at Nottingham City Museums and Galleries, ‘Access Artefacts’, has a collection of over 11,000 museum objects, all suitable for handling and available to use in the classroom. The collection covers a wide range of themes including social history, archaeology, geology, industrial history, the natural sciences and many others.  

Use these sessions as the perfect start to your students’ day to create a positive mindset, inspired and ready for the day of learning ahead. Motivational Mornings has had positive feedback from both students and teachers about the impact it’s had on confidence and motivation levels. The sessions are delivered through Freedom Foundations Lockdown Learning Hub - a safe space for students to access. 

Freedom Foundation deliver their 12 week Freedom Factory sessions in school time or as an after-school club. Using street dance and hip-hop, singing and song writing their 90 minute sessions with up to 30 children build confidence, resilience and aspiration, educate about the impact of social media on mental health and help children cope with common mental health problems such as anxiety, stress, depression and self-harm. 

Primary.  A series of free, short 5 to 15 minute videos and creative tasks which can be done in the classroom or at home. The MoveMore team also offer further support called ‘Beyond MoveMore’ which offers face to face sessions, virtual dance sessions and also CPD training for teachers. Contact   

 Votes for Schools is an award-winning platform giving your students a voice on the issues that affect them the most, as well as supporting you to consistently embed SMSC, British Values and Prevent across your school. 

Did you know that Nottingham City Schools can travel for free to events or activities using Nottingham City Transport?  Applications are made through the Aquinas Foundation.at least one week in advance by email to to the Aquinas Foundation nicola@aquinaseducation.co.uk Tel: 0115 9244788 

Primary. Area Bands are beginner orchestral groups open to young people in city schools that have a Whole Class Ensemble or In Harmony programme in collaboration with Nottingham Music Hub. These bands are ideal for pupils (usually Year 5) who have completed one year of instrumental learning.  Rehearsals are currently online, and they would love to welcome new members.  

Our Black Identity packs contain images and creative and educational media contents with hard copies, online and mobile device participation coupled with online based response and engagement platform. Fearless Youth Association are offering young people a chance to display their creativity in an online exhibit, celebrating what their blackness means to them.  

Meet some of Wollaton’s magnificent trees, learn to identify them and take a closer look at their leaves, flowers, bark and seeds as well as the animal life that lives on and around them. Fun practical science activities including measuring trees, comparing leaf shapes and bark patterns and finding out what woodlice like. You’ll see species of trees whose ancestors lived at the same time as dinosaurs. 

The Creative Schools Network was developed to support East Midlands schools to share ideas and expertise, profile excellent practice, and offer free training and workshops for those with responsibility for ensuring arts and culture thrive in educational settings. It's FREE to join.

 A few of Nottingham’s galleries are working together to support an anti-racist and inclusive curriculum. They are keen to work with schools and partners in the community.  If you are a teacher in a Nottingham city school and are interested in working with them.

For more information, please email Ruth Lewis-Jones, at New Art Exchange, or Amanda Spruyt at Nottingham Contemporary,   

Explore the extensive variety of resources available for art and design teachers.

Find out about NSEAD courses, conferences and training opportunities.

The Mighty Creative work with education providers and cultural organisations in the East Midlands to support and develop ways of tackling inequality of access to creative opportunities.

The Cultural Learning Alliance champions a right to arts and culture for every child. They act as a backbone organisation for the arts and cultural education sector, and provide the analysis, evidence, and arguments that Alliance members and their wider sectors can use.

Sir Ken Robinson makes an entertaining and profoundly moving case for creating an education system that nurtures (rather than undermines) creativity.