Arts-based Learning Fund

Arts-based Learning Fund is sponsored by Paul Hamlyn Foundation. Supports arts and cultural organizations partnering with schools to integrate arts-based learning into education.

Arts-based Learning Fund | Paul Hamlyn Foundation We have two funds focused on arts education. If Arts-based Learning isn’t the right fit for you, you might be more suited to our Teacher Development Fund .

Amount: £30,000 to £300,000; up to £100,000 per year Deadline: Rolling application cycle Photo credit: James Mulkeen We support arts and cultural organisations to work in partnership with schools and make arts-based learning a core part of education. Need to know What you need to know We envision a more equitable school system where high-quality arts-based learning is a core part of all children’s education.

We believe that arts-based teaching and learning can add value and help schools achieve their aspirations for pupils.

This fund achieves this by: supporting arts organisations to work in partnership with formal education settings leading to a mutual exchange and enrichment of expertise; focusing on pupils who experience systemic inequity and enabling them to make progress and overcome barriers to learning; exploring the role of arts-based learning in addressing issues of inclusion, especially racism, in education; creating more opportunities for high quality arts-based teaching and learning in education settings, especially in those which have not had this work in the past; enabling arts-based learning to be embedded in curricula and practice for the long-term; and building a body of evidence and practice, and understanding how the work improves equity for pupils.

Arts and cultural organisations working in partnership with formal education settings (including state-funded primary and secondary schools, SEND specialist schools, Further Education colleges, alternative provision settings such as Pupil Referral Units, and some types of state-funded Early Years settings) Arts organisations can be charities, community organisations, social enterprises and not-for-profit companies active in the arts and culture sector We particularly welcome applications from organisations led by people most impacted by oppression, including racism, ableism, classism, sexism, xenophobia, homophobia, and/​or transphobia Organisations that are developing established programmes of work and/​or testing new approaches We warmly encourage arts and cultural organisations to book an enquiry call to find out more about the Arts-based Learning Fund.

We want to support organisations which: use arts-based content and approaches to support children’s learning.

These can involve the following art forms: crafts; creative writing, including poetry and spoken word; dance; design; film; music; opera; photography; digital arts and media; theatre and drama; the visual arts; and cross-arts practices; have high-quality practice in terms of expertise and resources; contribute to the development of teachers’ practice in the educational setting; respond to specific pupil and / or education setting needs co-construct work with their education setting partners; have a commitment to developing an evidence base for their work through reflection, organisational learning, continuous improvement and evaluation; ensure that their work and workforce are representative, respectful, and relevant to the lived experience of the pupils they are working with; are committed to anti-racism, which we define as the active work to identify and oppose racism, which includes changing systems, structures, policies and practices, as well as attitudes to create a more equitable society.

Organisations will centre anti-racism in the planning and delivery of work and ensure that the processes and approaches are considered through an antiracist lens; and recognise that inequity plays out in ways that connect and intersect across race, gender, class, disability and other characteristics, which will also be linked to local and personal context.

We want to support work which: Takes place during school hours Work within the school day, in partnership with school staff, where learning is situated within the curriculum. This means extra-curricular activities such as after-school clubs and holiday provision cannot be funded. Supporting and enriching the cultural education workforce, building equity for practitioners and working with an ethos of care.

We are interested in supporting work delivered by people with lived experience of systemic inequity and barriers to learning within the education system. Embeds into the curriculum PHF understands ​ ‘ curriculum’ as all the learning experiences schools offer to their pupils.

Much of the work we fund focuses on particular subject areas and we welcome applications supporting arts-based approaches in all subjects, from literacy, to humanities, to STEM. Some funded work has a broader focus, for example critical thinking; speech language and communication skills; or mental health and well-being. PHF does not prioritise, or have a preference for, any curriculum area or artform over another.

Takes an in-depth approach We prioritise organisations that take in-depth approaches, which have intensity and an extended duration, rather than one-off or short experiences.

We will consider applications from arts and cultural organisations for: core funding e.g. for salaries and organisational costs; costs of delivering work such as artist practitioners’ fees, teacher cover, equipment and materials; training and ongoing professional development for freelancers and staff; or costs of gathering and sharing evidence relating to this work.

In addition to our general exclusions , we are not able to fund: applications from schools and other formal education settings (however primary schools may directly for the Teacher Development Fund ); applications from universities. (We recognise that some arts and cultural organisations are under the organisational umbrella of a university in which case they are eligible to apply.

Universities may also be a project partner – for example involved in learning and evaluation work); work with formal education settings that are not state-funded (although we understand that some SEND and alternative provision specialist settings have different funding arrangements, and we encourage a conversation about this via our enquiry call process ); recently registered organisations which have not yet produced a set of accounts; work that is or should be a statutory entitlement, and you may wish to discuss this in more detail in an enquiry call ; work that is therapeutic in its practice and intended outcomes; or work which is focused on developing pupils’ creativity, through approaches that are not arts-based.

Please note that we rarely consider financial requests representing more than 50% of an applicant’s annual turnover. Helping Speech Bubbles reach more children and support teachers Speech Bubbles supports young children with communication needs that affect confidence, friendships and learning by providing weekly small group drama activities.

Freedom to Learn: creating bespoke and responsive relationships with schools The UK’s first dedicated Hip Hop school, Baby People engages and supports the needs of the young people in their community through music, art and culture. The Arts-based Learning fund operates on a rolling basis. This means organisations can apply at any time as there are no deadlines.

If you would like to, you can have a conversation with a grants manager before you apply to the fund. They will explore with you if your work might be good fit for the fund, and answer your questions about the fund and the application process. You can book an enquiry call through our online portal.

We aim to respond to an enquiry call request within four weeks. Submit an initial application You can apply by completing our online application. After submitting, you will receive an acknowledgement by email.

All applicants should expect to hear from us within four months. Successful applications can take around six months from date of application to receiving a grant. Who assesses your application First stage applications are assessed by two members of the arts education team and those progressing to second stage are discussed by the whole team.

Applications that align most closely with our criteria are taken to our decision-making panel of trustees and advisors for final decision. Progressing your application If your work aligns with our criteria, you’ll be invited to the second stage of application. At this point we will ask you to submit further information online and we might arrange a phone or video call.

We will provide additional guidance to help you prepare. Your application will be assessed against our criteria by our grants team. Following moderation we will decide whether to present your application to our grants panel for a final decision.

There are five panels a year, which are made up of trustees and advisors with a wealth of expertise. We will provide short written feedback to applicants who are not invited to stage two but unfortunately, we cannot offer individual feedback by phone. Applicants who reach stage two but are ultimately not successful will receive written feedback and can request a follow-up phone call.

If this application process is inaccessible to you at any stage, please get in touch with us to discuss your needs. We can provide pre-application access support and a bursary of up to £750 to help you apply. More about our accessibility support We use an online application form .

Sample forms for our enquiry call and both stages of the application process can be downloaded as large-print word documents for you to review in advance. Stage 1 sample application Stage 1 sample application (large print) Stage 2 sample application Stage 2 sample application (large print) Diversity, equity and inclusion monitoring form Diversity, equity and inclusion monitoring form (large print) BLINK Dance Theatre.

Photo credit: Jon Archdeacon Log-in or register to our online application form to start your application. If you have questions not answered on our site, please get in touch. Need to know What you need to know