Factory International Schools

Throughout the year, young people will focus on three overarching schemes of learning – PLAY - CREATE - SHARE.

Each term young people will use play and creativity to build social and self-awareness, make responsible decisions, and improve relationship skills and self-management. The programme will scaffold towards a final celebration event led by young people for their peers to experience, supported by Factory International.

Factory International Artists and Facilitators will be embedded in each school on a weekly basis to deliver creative workshops. Sessions will explore social and emotional themes and art-forms linked to our wider programme, including performances and exhibitions.

Activity will support the national curriculum including creative writing, digital skills, and citizenship. The sessions will be delivered by an experienced Lead Facilitator who’ll work with students throughout the entirety of the programme, ensuring young people build strong relationships. The Lead Facilitator will tailor learning to suit individual needs and interests.

Guest Artists will also deliver workshops throughout the programme, exposing young people to familiar and new art forms through Artist-led sessions, building creative skills, confidence, and ambition.

We’ll work with each school to implement the programme into their timetable, to ensure it meets learner’s needs and is on a path to achieving both the school’s and Factory International’s goals.

Young people will visit us a minimum of three times throughout the programme. Trips will include watching world-class performances, experiencing dress and tech rehearsals, and connecting with our wider team to understand what it’s like to have a career in the arts. Young people will have regular opportunities to perform and share their work at school, in the digital world and at our new home. There will also be limited work experience opportunities for students at each partner school.

The 23-24 pilot programme is open to secondary schools across Manchester and Greater Manchester, including SEND and alternative provision such as pupil referral units.

In this pilot year, we are looking to work with schools who are interested in helping shape the future of the programme.

The 23-24 programme is open to Secondary Schools only, however we have ambition to open this opportunity to all schools in the future.

As the 23/24 Schools partnership programme is a pilot there will be no charge to take part in the initial year. In return we will expect schools to invest time and resource into Factory International Schools' evaluation and future development.

Additional travel costs to Factory International will need to be covered by schools.

Factory International will:

• Provide high-quality creative learning sessions on a weekly basis at the partner schools
• Organise a minimum of 3 visits to Factory International across the course of the academic year
• Provide opportunity for students to share work created on the programme
• Provide a dedicated Creative Learning Manager to oversee the programme and be a point of contact
• Provide a team of skilled facilitators with ample experience working with young people of varying needs
• Conduct thorough evaluation throughout the programme, supported by BeeWell and the University of Manchester, to ensure the programme is achieving its outcomes
• Offer limited work experience opportunities to partner schools
• Support teachers to embed creativity and the arts into the curriculum 

Schools will need to:

• Provide dedicated member/s of staff for the Creative Learning Manager to contact prior to and throughout the course of the programme
• Provide a dedicated member of teaching staff to be present during all workshops
• Provide a dedicated team of staff to accompany students on visits to Factory International
• Organise and cover the cost of travel for students and staff when visiting Factory International
• Provide weekly access to the selected students, in our targeted group
• Provide a dedicated space for workshops to take place. The space must be appropriate to the workshop e.g., a sports hall / gym if delivering a movement session
• Complete Factory International’s monitoring and evaluation processes, including access to student monitoring data
• Support Factory International in gathering appropriate consent for student participation in the programme from parents and carers
• Advocate for Factory International and the Factory International Schools programme with governors, staff, students, parents, and carers

The Lead Facilitator will be available for up to one full day with each school, every week across the academic year. During this time, they can work with more than one class of learners, however it’s essential groups remain the same throughout the programme so we’re able to properly evaluate individual growth.

Factory International Schools has been designed for KS3 students but can be adapted for KS4.

We’ve partnered with The University of Manchester and BeeWell to support the evaluation of the programme. A PhD student will join the Factory International Schools team for a three-year period to support Factory International Schools’ evaluation in partnership with Factory International.

The programme’s been designed around a CASEL social and emotional framework (SEL), which helps cultivate social skills that advance students’ learning and development and help young people make a successful transition towards adulthood.