Northumberland Students Discover! Creative Careers at Queen’s Hall Arts Centre
In February 2025, Queen’s Hall Arts Centre ran the first Discover! Creative Careers Carousel for Northumberland, in partnership with North East Combined Authority.
Eight Schools across the county brought groups of Y9 students to take part in interactive workshops with creative professionals, to offer an insight into the range of careers available in the creative sector.
Timeline
February 2025
Project Partners
Artists
Backstage Builders CIC, Emma Tominey, Kristin Kelly Abbot, Over the Winks, Novo Theatre, Newcastle College, Northumbria University, Queen’s Hall Arts Centre
Project Coordinator
Helen Mills, Queen Hall Arts Centre,
Kathryn Henderson and Hannah Gow, North East Combined Authority
Schools Involved
- NCEA Duke’s Secondary School
- Queen Elizabeth’s High School
- Duchess’ Community High School
- King Edward VI School
- Hillcrest Cramlington
- Cramlington Learning Village
- Haydon Bridge High School
- Blyth Academy
Key Goals
- Young people to feel inspired about the possibilities of working creatively and view this as a potential career option
- Students to gain experience in working with professional artists
- Students to have a deeper understanding of different routes into creative careers
North East Combined Authority and Discover! Creative Careers organised a series of ‘Career Carousel’s’ across the North East, to inspire children to explore creative careers and show them how the things they love to do can translate into a career. In Northumberland, students were invited to Queen’s Hall Arts Centre to enjoy an engaging, hands-on day with professional creatives, gaining real insight into what a day in their career is really like.
Workshops
Northumberland schools were invited to bring groups of Year 9 pupils to participate in three hands on workshops with creative professionals. Workshops included a screen printing workshop with Creative Producer and Multimedia Participatory Artist, Emma Tominey, an introduction to scenic arts and prop-making with Backstage Builders CIC, an interactive dance workshop with dancer and choreographer, Kristin Kelly Abbott and an introduction to theatre in unusual places, with Novo Theatres.
Some groups were able to try out the light and sound equipment with Queen’s Hall technicians, as well as attending an introduction to gallery curation, and a demonstration of stage and special effects makeup by Over the Winks.
The Panel
At the end of the workshops, pupils attended a panel discussions with Creative Director of Queen’s Hall, Katy Taylor, Helen Driver, curriculum lead of Art at Newcastle College, Steve Gilroy from the School of Design, Arts and Creative Industries at Northumbria University and Trish Mayes, from Backstage Builders CIC. The panel was led by playwright Garry Lyons, and gave students the opportunity to ask questions about different pathways into the arts and creative industries, such as apprenticeships, college courses, university degrees, or more unconventional routes into the sector.
Outcomes
Inspiring Northumberland pupils with Creative Careers opportunities
Eight Northumberland schools sent pupils from across the county with a total of 209 young people taking part in the interactive workshops. Many of the young people had not realised that there were jobs in some of the disciplines they tried and left saying they would look into this in future.
Demonstrating a range of careers across creative industry
Representatives from eight different areas of creative industry held workshops for pupils. These included theatre production, visual arts, sound and lighting, stage make up, gallery curation, stage artistry, film production and choreography.
Showcasing different routes into creative careers
The panel comprised of a range of professionals, the Creative Director of Queen’s Hall Arts Centre, Katy Taylor, Managing Director of Backstage Builders CIC, Playwright and Panel Chair Garry Lyons, Art and Design Curriculum Leader for Newcastle College, Helen Driver, and Director of Public Programme from the School of Design, Arts and Creative Industries at Northumbria University, Steve Gilroy. This ensured a wide spread of insight into different routes into industry, from the traditional academic routes, through to apprenticeship and complete career change.
Impact
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MELVA: Children’s Wellbeing and Mental Health Education Through Storytelling
With the support of the North of Tyne Combined Authority, theatre and creative learning charity Mortal Fools made their award-winning, creative mental health programme, MELVA, available free of charge to over 50 local primary schools.
Through the MELVA programme, children engage with a range of different art forms and storytelling devices – including short animations and digital theatre – which explore mental health and wellbeing topics in an accessible, child-friendly way. These are accompanied by practical and creative activities designed to help children cultivate positive wellbeing habits and self-management techniques.
Timeline
September 2023 – July 2024
Project Partners
Creators and Producers
Mortal Fools
Collaborators
Danielle Slade – Playwright
Vida Creative – Web Developers
Key Goals
- To increase pupils’ understanding of mental health and wellbeing through creative storytelling
- To teach pupils practical self-management techniques
- To improve teachers’ confidence in addressing mental health topics in school
The Inspiration
The MELVA programme began life as a children’s theatre show in Christmas 2017, telling the story of nearly-11-year-old, Melva Mapletree, as she navigates her struggles with anxiety and bereavement (or ‘worrits’ as they’re known in her world). The play was developed in consultation with children, who helped shape the character and story at every stage. Following its initial success, the play was developed into a regional schools’ tour with wraparound activities, visiting 28 North East primary schools. When the pandemic hit, Mortal Fools acted fast to transform this live programme into a fully digital resource, and today, it is used by over 100 schools and reaches 1000s of children every year.
Outcomes
Increased reach to children in the North East
Over 3,000 children participated in the MELVA digital programme between September 2023 – July 2024.
Improving knowledge and understanding
Evaluation received from a sample of schools demonstrated a 94% improvement in pupils’ understanding of mental health and wellbeing topics, and a 99% increase in their knowledge of practical self-management techniques (as rated by teachers).
Improving children’s wellbeing
Wellbeing was measured using the integrated PERMATM Framework for mental wellbeing, with every PERMATM pillar being rated highly by children in over 60% of MELVA sessions (most notably Positive Emotion, rated highly in 81% of sessions).
Empowering Teachers
Teachers reported increased confidence in addressing mental health topics in school and a greater awareness of children’s anxieties, with some describing the accompanying CPD training as ‘transformational’.
Providing sustainable strategies in schools
In academic year 24/25, North East Combined Authority renewed and expanded their funding offer to over 100 schools, with 81% of the existing school partners choosing to continue using MELVA.
Impact
Funding Partners
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