"Direct involvement with industry professionals can be vital in bringing careers in the creative industries to life for students who otherwise might not usually get exposure to creative careers or see them as not being accessible."
Creative Careers Week at Abbs Cross Academy was organised by Patrik Michalopoulos, Head of Art & Design at Abbs Cross Academy and a former Careers Lead. Patrik brought together his experience in Careers and the Arts to organise a week of events at Abbs Cross Academy reflecting the school’s commitment to the Arts.
Overview
Activities during the week focused on creative careers across Years 7-11 and included form time PSCHE with lesson resources provided by Discover! Creative Careers. 700 students participated in the Creative Careers Week at Abbs Cross Academy creating awareness of the importance and meaning of creativity across subjects linking these to related study options and future careers.
Day 1 - Creative pathways assembly
Day 2 - Workshops led by young early career architecture professionals from diverse backgrounds
Day 3 - Form time sessions using Discover! Creative Careers resources and lesson plans
Day 4 - V&A assembly and visit to Tate Modern
Day 5 - V&A teachers’ retreat workshop with the chance to meet other educational professionals from creative subjects from schools across East London.
Number of young people reached:
700
Monday 18th November: New City College Assembly
Y11 Art, DT, Media, Drama, Music, Dance
Kerry Baker, Senior Curriculum Manager for Art & Design A Levels at Havering Sixth Form, and David Wood, Senior Curriculum Manager for Creative Industries at Ardleigh Green Campus both spoke about Creative Pathways at their respective New City College sites. With most of Y 11 attending and coming away with course brochures the assembly was useful for students to continue considering their next steps as post-16 students and attend follow-up Open evenings at New City College.
Tuesday 19th November: Open City architecture charity- Sustainable Architecture workshops
Y10 & Y11 Art and DT
Led by young early career architecture professionals from diverse backgrounds, 2 90-minute workshops were tailored to suit Y10 & Y11 Art and DT Abbs Cross students. The students were asked to reflect on their local area and learnt about the timeline of designing a building from the client brief stage to delivering a finished building. Students then worked in teams making models with materials provided by Open City with a focus on building ideas for the local area. Students presented finished models and talked about their ideas developing teamwork and presentation skills.
Wednesday 20th November: Creative Careers Week form time activities.
For Creative Careers Week, Year 7 and 8 completed the 'Focus on craft, fashion and textiles' PSCHE lessons while Years 9 and 10 completed ' An Introduction to the Creative Industries' PSCHE lessons. Students learnt about creative career links to subjects they are studying and engaged in group-work and class discussion relevant to their learning topic. As well as learning about more traditional creative careers, students engaged in discussions about the future of creative careers in areas such as AI and app-building.
Friday 22nd November: V&A East Director Assembly
Y11 Art, Y11 & Y10 DT, Drama & Dance
V&A East Director, Gus Casely-Hayford spoke to Y11 Art and Y11 & Y10 DT, Drama & Dance students about the opening of the V&A East and the V&A East Storehouse in Spring 2025 explaining the history of the museum and the opportunities the new buildings in Stratford will open up to students, their families and the school. Gus spoke about the role students have in shaping the future through their involvement in the Creative Industries.
Friday 22nd November: Year 10 Art Tate Modern trip
Y10 Art
Y10 GCSE art students visited Tate Modern on the South Bank to explore its collections of 20th century and contemporary art. They responded to a variety of activities; answering questions, taking photographs, analysing work and making sketches. Students had the opportunity to see famous pieces of work from the Pop Art and Surrealist movements along with the latest installation in the gallery’s Turbine Hall. Students found work relevant to their current project on ‘Natural and Mechanical Forms’ and identified artists of personal interest for future reference.
Saturday 30th November: V&A East Teachers’ retreat workshop
To cap off Creative Careers Week Ms Carson and Mr Michalopoulos attended a V&A teachers’ retreat workshop learning about MIG welding processes and at Blackhorse Road workshop meeting other educational professionals from creative subjects from schools across East London.
Advice for similar companies/organisations:
Start by making a list of potential activities and events that involve local businesses and institutions and that ideally tap into the profile of your school’s students across key stages, cultural backgrounds and educational needs. Use the Gatsby Benchmarks as a guide to cover different angles when planning who to approach and how to structure your Creative Careers Week to engage more deeply and effectively with your cohorts.
If you can involve a whole Department, Faculty or even your whole school this can be a great way increase awareness of creativity across classrooms and subject areas and get other staff on board. Students will welcome the exposure to different speakers, workshops and lesson content which will in turn broaden their careers horizons as they progress in their learning and have to make decisions about their future direction of study and work. Lastly collect feedback to inform future planning.
Can you tell us why you believe it’s important for industry to get directly involved in inspiring and informing young people about careers in the creative industries through projects like Discover?
There are a vast array of creative careers and related study paths that students can explore and follow. Projects like Discover can help students identify different sectors of interest within the creative industries and the subjects, skills and actions needed to move towards them. Involving speakers from institutions local to students that run creative courses can lead students to selecting specific creative study routes, seek out relevant work experience or attend an Open Day at a local place of study for example.
Involving a museum, theatre or gallery’s outreach team can build bridges between students, their families and a cultural institution’s programme of workshops for schools for instance enriching students’ learning and supporting the development of cultural capital. Labour market information for creative careers in your locality, apprenticeships providers and individuals from local creative businesses can help demystify the profile of specific careers paths and spark valuable conversations that can spill over into the classroom and students’ families and networks.
Students from disadvantaged or underrepresented groups can have the opportunity to engage with young professionals from similar backgrounds. Direct involvement with industry professionals can be vital in bringing careers in the creative industries to life for students who otherwise might not usually get exposure to creative careers or see them as not being accessible.