Each term young people will use 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 partner schools one day per week of the academic year 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 artist-facilitator and supporting artist-facilitator who’ll work with students throughout the entirety of the programme, ensuring young people build strong relationships. Facilitators 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, building creative skills, confidence and ambition.

We’ll work with each school to implement the programme into the timetable, to ensure it meets learners' 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.

Schools will be expected to contribute to the cost of the programme, however the programme is heavily subsidised by Factory International. To arrange a meeting please complete our expression of interest form linked below. 

Factory International will:

• Provide high-quality creative learning sessions on a weekly basis at the partner schools
• Organise a minimum of three 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 artist facilitators with vast 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 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

Facilitators will deliver two two-hour sessions one day per week of the academic year, with each partner school.

There are 20 spaces in each session meaning we engage 40 students in the core programme as we work with the same 40 students across the course of the year. The core group will be made up of students at risk of exclusion, passive learners as well as high achievers and a minimum of 50% of the group will be eligible for Pupil Premium.

We will also engage with the wider school through additional opportunities. 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 has joined the Factory International Schools team for a three-year period to support Factory International Schools evaluation in partnership with Factory International.

We will produce an annual report on wellbeing, social and emotional learning, attendance and attainment. We gather data at the start, middle and end of the program to see the value added in all of these areas and, together with UoM and BeeWell, we compare this data with other data sets across young people who are not participating.

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.

Secondary Schools in Greater Manchester, including SEND and alternative provision.

We define an at risk young person as someone at risk of exclusion from school due to behaviour or attendance.