Save the date: Imagine If…Conference 20 November 2024

Our annual Imagine If… conference is back at the Great North Museum: Hancock this autumn. This year we are focusing on the importance of cultural capital for all pupils – what if all our children experienced the awe and wonder of the world in which they live?

The full itinerary will be released nearer the time, but will include…

Setting the scene: why cultural capital is especially important for the North East’s young people
Mayor Kim McGuinness, North East Combined Authority
Our keynote speech will outline ​why it is so essential to build cultural capital for children and young people in our region – what challenges are they facing, and what is it like to ​grow up here? How can engagement in arts and cultural opportunities be transformative, creating long-term impact on life chances?

Building Cultural Capital In All Learners
Louise Quinn, North East Learning Trust and Sarah Stock, NEAT Academy Trust
Led by two Research Schools in the North East, this session will team theory with practical exemplification, focusing on the importance of cultural capital as part of every child’s whole school experience, irrespective of background. Looking at examples across the phases and from two different trusts, we will consider how to weave opportunities for cultural capital seamlessly into the curriculum offer through ambitious subject curricular, the creation of exciting – and essential – extra-curricular experiences and through wider school strategies, such as approaches to reading and language.

Cultural Match: supporting Early Career Teachers to build cultural capital
Rachel Adam and Sarah Hudson
Learn about Tyne & Wear Archives & Museums’ Cultural Match programme, which has seen early career teachers and their mentors from 12 schools each working in partnership with a cultural organisation to build pupils’ cultural capital over the course of the last year. How did we get from new teachers who didn’t know how to lead an out-of-school visit, to whole-school exhibitions and rap videos filmed on Hadrian’s Wall?

Workshops led by the Cultural Match 2023-24 teachers
Practical workshops on the themes of:

• Broadening horizons: equipping children and their families with the knowledge and confidence to make return visits to cultural venues
• Empowering pupils to take ownership of their learning
• Local pride: learning about the rich history of our local area and the role we play in it
• A sense of place: travelling further afield, experiencing new things and understanding our community’s place in the wider region

The Cultural Match project is supported by the North East Combined Authority.

Data notice
On our booking page, we collect certain information from delegates for event communication, impact tracking and to be able to tailor our sessions/wider programme to the needs of our audience. We won’t pass on any contact details to third parties or use your email address for anything else other than information specific to the event you’ve signed up for unless you also register for any of our other programmes, or join our mailing list. Finally, we use the information about the name of your organisation and its address to track who we have been working with, so that we are able to report back on use of funds effectively, and also adapt our future planning to ensure we are reaching as wide an audience as possible. By booking, you agree to providing us with your information for the above purposes.