My conference adventure!

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This week I was big and brave and went to speak at a conference…it was all about the new primary curriculum and it’s purpose was to give inspiration to the head teachers who will have to make the theory coming out of government house a reality in the classroom…

So there I was in a conference suite in York, stood in front of 120 head teachers – a daunting sight at the best of times…even more daunting when you know it’s your job to engage them for 30 minutes.  The temptation to run away was strong but I didn’t and a lot of you are partly to thank for that. 

I didn’t run away because I was there to champion the arts as a valuable tool for education.  I knew with a certainty that the arts can unlock people’s potential, can inspire them to want to learn and can give them the confidence to grow into the best versions of themselves.  That certainty gave me the courage to stand my ground, find my voice and talk to the assembled audience about what I know to be true.  How do I know it to be true?  Because all the time I’d been writing the speech people had sent me their thoughts and evidence about how the arts had transformed them or others in their lives.  I also knew I stood on firm foundations as I every week I see how the arts makes people in the youth theatre grow in confidence and skills, how it develops their empathy and understanding and how it allows them bit by bit to understand who they are, the world that they live in and their place within it. 

Thinking about all of this I managed not to run away, I stayed and talked about all of this as well as I could, it was obvious that some of my audience were already convinced, some were reminded of things they had forgotten and some…just enough to make it worth everyone’s while were inspired to try something new in terms of channeling the power of the arts.   When I’d finished I thought… “Well that was ok…but now I want to get really good at it.”  A desire born from the fact that ensuring the arts are part of young people’s lives and education is important and I am more than happy to fight for that cause.

So thank you everyone who contributed to my conference adventure by telling me why you thought the arts were important and to those of you who contribute week by week by showing me the positive impact that the art has on your lives…I couldn’t have done it without you!

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