Building school-museum connections

Earlier this year, Art Fund highlighted our commitment to advocating for greater access to museums for disadvantaged children through the school curriculum. Strengthening that connection between museums and education remains a priority for us.

Our research identified two primary barriers preventing schools from taking more trips to museums: financial limitations and the considerable time required to prepare for them. The logistics of arranging an offsite visit for a large group, along with the necessary research into a museum’s collection, present challenges. 

To address these challenges and to encourage relationships between teachers and museums, we have partnered with Clore Duffield Foundation to launch Art Fund Teacher Fellowships. 

Call out to host museums

This initiative gives state secondary school teachers the opportunity to work in a museum, supporting it to develop the learning offer and build stronger relationships with schools in their local area.

With our host museums now in place for the pilot programme in 2024-25, applications are currently open for museums interested in taking part in 2025-26 academic year. 

We’re seeking host museums that are passionate about developing their learning offer and increasing their engagement with schools. We offer two grants of up to £61,750 to museums wishing to take part in the programme, available to museums with Clore Learning Spaces based anywhere in the UK. 

The deadline for applications is 18 October 2024. As we approach that date, we are also excited to learn about the plans of one of our pilot host organisations, Watts Gallery, which will welcome their teacher fellow this month.

Putting teachers at the heart of the gallery

Sarah Jarvis is Head of Engagement at Watts Gallery. She says: “As a gallery established by artists, with a strong social purpose and guiding mission of Art For All By All, our aim is to engage as many people as possible in the art, ideas and creativity that sits at the heart of Watts Gallery's story.”

The gallery recognises there is an increasing distance between their institution and teachers, reflecting Art Fund’s research findings. “We have a well-established school workshop programme,” Jarvis says, “but, as time and resource are increasingly squeezed, we are aware of the growing gap between us and teacher colleagues. 

“We've found it difficult to maintain the rich, ongoing conversations and collaboration that can develop and respond over time, from which we know the most valuable and impactful partnership work can grow.”

The Art Fund Teacher Fellowships programme offers a unique opportunity for collaboration, allowing museums and teachers to work together closely to meet their shared goals. Watts Gallery see this as a chance to deepen their existing relationships with local schools. 

“With a teacher in our team, we'll spend the year ahead working to best understand the needs and priorities of the schools that surround us, to be as relevant and useful as possible.” 

Watts Gallery is committed to being a valuable educational resource, by empowering teachers to use its spaces. “We want to be a tool for teaching, to support teachers to confidently take up space and use the gallery on their own terms,” says Jarvis.

Engaging whole school communities

The programme aims to benefit not just individual teachers and organisations, but entire local school communities. By sharing the knowledge gained through the fellowship experience, Watts Gallery hope to foster a deeper engagement with audiences, ultimately encouraging more visitors with an educational angle. 

“We hope this work will impact whole school communities,” Jarvis says. “The fellow will be able to share learning with colleagues, developing a deeper pool of knowledge to support engagement with cultural venues, and how to navigate with learners in different ways. 

“We want more people to connect to all we have on offer. Teachers are advocates, champions, supporters in this, and together we hope to offer an enhanced creative experience for schools.”

Looking forward, Watts Gallery plans to use this year as a period of exploration and learning. “This year is about listening, experimenting, testing and learning; identifying and understanding barriers so we can move them out of the way together. 

“We'll offer up all the resources we can share – the collection and gallery spaces, dedicated creative studios, a community of artists, woodlands, technical equipment, staff expertise – and look forward to seeing what unfolds.”

Robert Dingle is Senior Programmes Manager at Art Fund.
 artfund.org
 @artfund | @robertdingle

If you are interested in applying to be a host museum for the 2025/26 academic year, find out more about the Art Fund Teacher Fellowship programme and how to apply here. 

This article, sponsored and contributed by Art Fund, is part of a series sharing information and expertise to support museums and galleries to recover from the pandemic and develop audiences for the future.