The arts are coming back to the classroom - and we'd love to build it with you

Something has shifted in national policy this term, and if you work in a school, it's worth a few minutes of your time because it could change what creative partnerships mean for you, and it's exactly the kind of work we exist to do.

For over a decade, the arts sat awkwardly at the edge of the school day, pushed to the margins and undervalued. That's changing. Through the Curriculum and Assessment Review, the government is scrapping the EBacc, reforming Progress 8 to reward a broader curriculum, and bringing the arts back into a revitalised National Curriculum. It's also introducing something we think matters enormously: a statutory enrichment entitlement, guaranteeing every pupil access to arts, culture, nature, sport and civic engagement.

In other words, the creative and cultural experiences we've always believed everyone deserves are becoming something schools are expected, and supported, to provide.

What this means for schools

We know that that new entitlement, however welcome, lands on already-full plates. Evidencing high-quality arts and cultural enrichment takes partners, planning and people. That's where we come in. A new National Centre for Arts and Music Education is being set up specifically to strengthen partnerships between schools and cultural organisations, and connecting local schools with local creativity is precisely what Two Quarts Arts is here for.

We're not a service that parachutes in and leaves. We're a Market Harborough community interest company, rooted here, working with young people, artists and residents across the town. Our vision is about giving young people real skills and puts young people's own creativity into the streets they live in. And everything we do is built to be inclusive, because we care most about reaching the young people who usually get the fewest chances. That focus lines up closely with the new push to close the "arts entitlement gap" and with dedicated funding for enrichment in the communities that need it most.

Why we frame this as placemaking, not just workshops

We don't think creativity is a nice extra bolted onto community life but a part of the glue that holds a place together. When a school, its pupils, local artists and the wider community make something together, they're not just producing artwork; they're building the relationships and sense of belonging that make a town feel like home. Social capital, the connective tissue of a place, is what turns one-off activity into lasting impact.

The reforms give schools a real reason to build exactly those local connections. And a hub that links schools, young people and the community isn't only delivering our mission but helping deliver the government's own goals for enrichment, equity and civic life. Encouragingly, that's how national policy now frames it too, with culture increasingly described as civic infrastructure sitting alongside place-making, rather than a luxury.

If you're a school, a trust, or another organisation thinking about how to meet your enrichment entitlement in a way that's genuinely rooted in our community, we'd love to hear from you. Come and tell us what your young people need, and let's design something together.

Two Quarts Arts CIC · twoquartscic@gmail.com