Luton Cultural Education Partnership
The Luton Cultural Education Partnership (LCEP) is a partnership that includes the University of Bedfordshire, Luton Borough Council (education, creative and cultural representatives), local schools and colleges, and local creative and cultural providers (e.g. The Culture Trust Luton, Tangled Feet and UK Centre for Carnival Arts).
The shared LCEP mission is “to support Luton to continue to be an exciting town where arts and cultural learning thrives – embedded in the daily lives of all children and young people who live, learn or work here”.
The University of Bedfordshire's Arts and Culture Projects team received Partnership Investment (PI) funding for two years from Royal Opera House Bridge in order to be the lead LCEP partner in Luton.
Funding ensures the University can align LCEP activity to the University of Bedfordshire's Access and Participation Plan (APP) and academic faculty specialisms, and support the local creative ecology through increased resource and collaborative project working.
The three goals of LCEP are:
- Advocate for the value of creative and cultural learning and increase access for all.
- Ensure high quality opportunities and links between Luton’s cultural providers, schools and other formal and informal education providers.
- Involve children and young people in shaping their creative and cultural learning.
The long-term objectives for LCEP are to:
- Assure access and inclusion in Arts and Cultural learning for all.
- Deepen and broaden the nature of the creative and cultural learning opportunities for Luton’s children and young people and ensure the offer enables progression.
- Promote engagement with the arts to support mental health and wellbeing outcomes of the children and young people who live and learn in Luton.
- Encourage higher levels of investment in creative and cultural learning opportunities in order to make the offer to schools and children and young people more sustainable.
The UoB Arts and Culture Projects team work with colleagues across the University, with LCEP partners, and in dialogue with other LCEPs across the county/region to develop and consolidate a range of LCEP resources to help Luton-based teachers, creative practitioners and children and young people.
In addition, there are wider Arts and Culture Resources, which provide a broad range of cultural sector-level support, resources, reports and links.
In September 2019, ROH Bridge set out to create new networks for education settings in targeted areas. The networks were designed to be local forums for the coordination of creative and cultural learning discussion and activity. Initially networks were established in places that have a Local Cultural Education Partnership, and Luton’s Creative Teachers’ Network was launched in Autumn 2019.
As is the case with all Creative Networks, Luton’s Creative Teachers’ Network is intended to develop semi-autonomously, placing the responsibility for shaping the conversation with local school leaders, with input from University of Bedfordshire, Hillborough Junior School and ROH Bridge as lead organisations working to assure quality and help drive momentum for more strategic/coordinated activity. Networks are framed as forums to discuss and respond to local need, with early conversations facilitating conversations that help to identify collective needs and challenges so that the network can plan a programme of teacher/school support.
Local cultural provider content is always a key element to the Luton Network but, in most cases, the education partners plan when and how to involve cultural providers to ensure the core foundational principle of the network being for education is maintained.
LCEP work with Luton’s Creative Teachers’ Network is supported by the LCEP Delivery Group: Schools and Employability Subgroup Luton’s Creative Teachers’ Networks events are shared on our calendar here.
If you are a local teacher and/or educator and you would like to join the Network please contact ROH Bridge School Engagement Manager Tina Gray-Rampello at tina.gray-rampello@roh.org.uk
N.B. Due to the Coronavirus Luton’s Creative Teachers’ Network physical meetups have been postponed, with a shift towards to a remote method of delivery. If you are a teacher and require support please contact Jitty Marwaha at jitty.marwaha@beds.ac.uk
To meet the demand of Covid-19, the Arts and Culture Projects team have also developed resources that can be used digitally. See LCEP Resources
Furthermore, teachers can contact ROH Bridge School Engagement Manager Tina Gray-Rampello at tina.gray-rampello@roh.org.uk for digital support in terms of Artsmark and cultural educational delivery support.
If you would like to know more information about LCEP please get in touch:
General Enquiries
General Enquiries: culture@beds.ac.uk
Specific Queries: Jitty Marwaha jitty.marwaha@beds.ac.uk
Joining the Luton Creative Forum
Luton Borough Council, Cultural Enabler: Michaela Nutt michaela.nutt@luton.gov.uk
Joining Luton’s Creative Teachers’ Network
ROH Bridge, School Engagement Manager (Herts, Beds and Luton): Tina Gray-Rampello tina.gray-rampello@roh.org.uk (cc'ing in) jitty.marwaha@beds.ac.uk
Wider LCEP Support
UoB, Arts and Culture Projects Manager: Emma Gill emma.gill@beds.ac.uk
UoB, Collaborative Outreach Projects Manager: Paula Page paula.page@beds.ac.uk
ROH Bridge, Programme Manager (Luton & Beds): Emma Van Nieuwenburgh emma.vannieuwenburgh@roh.org.uk
Luton Borough Council, Senior Schools Improvement Advisor: Caroline Dawes caroline.dawes@luton.gov.uk
Culture Trust Luton, Head of Cultural Learning and Skills: Caroline Simon caroline.simon@culturetrust.com