Creative Enrichment Strategy
Arts and enrichment activities are a crucial part of our curriculum, often engaging learners who can’t be engaged in other ways.
Creative enrichment isn’t just about having an art department, it’s embedding new and innovative ways of doing things across the entire curriculum, including vocational subjects, maths, English and science, along with the more expected creative subjects. It’s about showing learners that there’s lots of different ways to learn and working with partners to bring new opportunities to the classroom, helping to improve the cultural capital of our learners.
This second version of our strategy aims to improve the access to arts and culture for our learners, strengthening our existing partnerships and forging news ones in a consistent way across our whole estate.
Creative Enrichment opportunities serve as a pathway to self-expression, problem-solving, and innovative thinking. They offer individuals a means of self-discovery, skill development, and personal expression. Particularly impactful for those whose experience of formal education was a negative one, creative opportunities empower individuals, fostering a sense of purpose, confidence, and provide potential avenues for personal and professional growth beyond traditional academic structures.
With this strategy, our mission is to:
Creative Enrichment
Promote creative enrichment and foster a culture of enriched educational experiences throughout Novus education delivery nationally.
Engage and Empower
Enable Novus colleagues and learners to access creative enrichment in all forms, across all curriculum areas, using the arts and creativity as a platform to engage and empower.
Our aim is to champion:
The arts and its value to society
The communities we work in
The learners that we support
Key objectives of our strategy:
- Continue to contribute to the strategic direction of the arts and creativity within prison education.
- Implement a creative enrichment community of practice within Novus, with a wide membership including Business Development colleagues, to drive forward access to funding and sharing of best practice.
- Create creative spaces through Novus’ curriculum to enhance learning opportunities.
- Embed a core creative enrichment offer in all Novus provision to support parity of opportunities for Novus learners that is promoted across the department’s curriculum
- Provide continued opportunities and experiences which will enhance our learners’ enjoyment and understanding of the arts and creativity, which can then act as a catalyst for developing critical thinking and exploring new identities.
- Support community cohesion by showcasing creative work.
- Identify individuals and groups, working in both the community and prison arts sector, to use as a key resource to shape and deliver creative educational experiences.
- Encourage our colleagues and other professionals (e.g. HMPPS) to support the development of the arts and culture in prisons through increased continuing professional development opportunities.
If you like to read the whole strategy, our aims, motivations, and methodology, download a copy here:
Creative Enrichment Strategy
