The beginning of a new era?

The National Centre for Arts Education (NCAE)

Atio, a company involved in the development and improvement of schools and educational organisations, has been awarded the role of overseeing the National Centre for Arts Education. In this particular sector, we have been waiting a long time to find out which company or agency would land this prestigious opportunity. So, the instigation of this long-awaited body which will champion, promote and steer the shape of creative and cultural education for children and young people in England and Wales is to be much applauded. My hope, having worked in the sector for a long time, both in the days of Creative Partnerships (can it be nearly 20 years already since the advent of that vision?) helping to run the ROH offer across the Thames Gateway and beyond, as well as within the school sector whist the Bridge organisations were taking the lead, is that the work developed during these two iterations of Government funded initiatives will be built upon and developed further, to create a higher, even more professional level of support for those in the teaching community. There is the possibility that until the new curriculum is fully implemented, where ‘enrichment’ is heralded and greater emphasis put on to ‘oracy’, is that we will suffer an extended interim period where all the good work previously attained from the early initiatives put in place, and in particular the great partnerships established across networks of arts providers, local authorities and educational organisations and schools will be lost. Reinvigorating the arts education sector is vital at this stage in our crisis hit times, particularly in the positivity and sense of agency it can provide young people.

20th Oct 2026

Things are starting to happen out there with the new National Centre for Arts Education coming into being via Etio, backed by the DfE. Yesterday’s article in The Guardian quoting Education Secretary Lucy Powell on how important oracy and supporting young people’s ability to thrive through good communication skills is worth a read: https://speakeasyjo909.substack.com/p/things-are-starting-to-happen?r=91618k&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcomeOnShare=true

9th Oct 2026

I was recently at the Green Party Conference in Brighton to represent Speakeasy and to attend the debate on their new education policy (which does not shy away from focussing the arts as key to a holistic curriculum) and had the fortune to attend the NEU’s events whilst I was there. I thought it would be useful to provide a link to their Arts and Minds campaign.

Arts & Minds | Putting Creativity At The Heart of The Curriculum

As a union dedicated not just to supporting the teaching community, they are also there to support encouraging best practice in schools. So what better than working to ensure that all children and young people have access to good arts provision. There website is worth a view and with the support of so many arts professional ambassadors, it is a great place to gain inspiration and access arts companies and agencies to engage with your schools.

5th Oct 2026

Creative Young Lives Survey | Arts Council England

I generally find myself reading such reports with enthusiasm to know what the ‘facts’ are, but I do feel the time has come to move on from a sense of constantly reiterating that accessing arts and creative activities for young people is essential, to just taking the basic assumption that it is – and making it part of the bedrock of the curriculum.

18th Sept 2026

There have been many times that I have announced to a class that we are going to do a drama session to support their learning and they get very excited. Of course, generally, this is seen as fun, However, there will be a) some reluctant members of the class who find the idea of drama as very pressurising, intimidating even. and b) there is not enough time for all to participate well. How we ensure that all the class can participate and gain from the experience.

Being an ‘audience member’ for the drama will inevitably provide some gain for students, because they are able to witness the outcomes of the event and even comment and contribute, for example if you are exercising a form of drama known as ‘Forum’ (more of that another time).

However, a simple approach is to demonstrate the drama task, then enable the class to work in pairs or small groups so that all can participate. Simple, yes? Seemingly…

But how do you, as the teacher or facilitator, engage across the class to see how all the students are reacting and obtaining something from the experience?

An answer is to ensure that your students have the basic skills they need to be able to operate well in the drama space. Have you taught them simple improvisation abilities, which means they can trust themselves to try out different views and approaches? By setting up and teaching the class at the start of the year some confidence in how to improvise and use that to investigate different situations, scenarios and opinions, using simple drama games and devices, will then provide a background of useful means to deepen their experience when it comes to getting into the ‘meaty’ subjects you wish them to explore: ‘Ophelia’s decision in how to react to Hamlet’s actions’, ‘A focus on bullying in PSHE’ etc.

In providing them in advance with these opportunities will inevitably help with laying a bedrock of skills, which can then be used at a later stage across a wide range of the curriculum.

13th Sept 2026

A really timely and interesting article in the latest edition of the Cultural Learning Alliance’s bulletin by executive school head Zoe Morris:

From Advocacy to Action: Reimagining Education Through the Arts – Cultural Learning Alliance

09 Sept 2026

Moving into the mellow, reflective season

Today, I awoke and although there was an intense blue sky and a warm sun to sit in on my patio, I was still aware of the autumn chill and the way I felt, – as I have always felt at this time of year – the season is changing.

As any of you living in the South of England will know, it’s been a particularly long, hot, intense summer. Lovely from the point of being able to sunbathe for those who like to (and I do after a beach swim), but more than a worry for those of us who are concerned what this signals in terms of climate change.

So, the cooler air and earlier sundowns are quite a relief in some ways (along with the fantastic early morning downpour I lay in bed listening to yesterday), but they are also indicative of the intensity of the summer we have just experienced.

There is also quite a bit of angst to cope with now we are back into the school term. Not least attitudes to climate change they will have come across over the summer break.

How do we talk to students about these environmental events, along with the social and political reactions to these?

How can we create a safe space to discuss worries, fears, discrepancies and the inevitable polarisation that can occur in young people’s views and questions, given their access to social and mainstream media, which can raise confusion and despair in their minds?

Drama is an amazing tool. Handled correctly, it can provide a brilliant medium to explore ideas and opinions, whilst providing a safety zone to step out of one’s own comfort and into the shoes and mindsets of others. It can provide a great arena for debate and break down barriers to discovering the view of others, whilst also holding space for nuance, vagueness, indecision and just plain ambiguity. In other words, it allows there to be a place where there is more than right and wrong, black and white and left and right. Instead, it can be the liminal space where there is everything inbetween. Therefore, a fantastic opportunity for students to investigate what they personally think and feel, as well being able to step into the shoes and explore the views of others.

I will always advocate for the wonders of drama, but particularly now, in a world riven with dispute and division, it’s a great time to teach our students how to use it wisely.

05 Sept 2026

A not so Subtle Shift

https://speakeasyjo909.substack.com/p/a-not-so-subtle-shift?r=91618k

When words are written to be spoken, how do we speak them?

All published (or would be published) writers write for an audience of some kind.When a writer creates a piece of work, how do they envisage them being spoken aloud – if at all?

Many writers do envisage their work as something to be spoken out loud. More so, as we move further into the digital age where work appears less internalised, more externalised by a presenter: performance, podcasts, poetry in the open. Even information texts and instructions.

Therefore, how do we build the ability and confidence in the upcoming generations to be able to speak out and up, and translate the written into the spoken word, being able to speak the creative words of others as well as their own.

It’s not enough to teach children and young people to recite a poem or piece of prose. Articulation is only one strand of this complex network of skills. Without giving them the understanding of how the voice works, how they can control and utilise their own voice to advantage, how to project, and how to speak with the nuance and power that a real orator can have. And they cannot connect with all that without having the understanding of their own personal oracy; an ability to relate to their own feelings, emotions, attitudes and ideas. To understand their beliefs and opinions and a way to express all these.

The new curriculum, coming into being in 2028, will provide a great starting point to develop these skills, and ideally to remove students from the constant passive consumption of written and screen based texts. We can provide them with the ability to have a voice in an AI dominated environment and to enable them to speak with confidence and courage.

SpeakEasy provides educationalists and schools with the tools and skills to promote oracy in the classroom and beyond. From a simple CPD session with teachersto build confidence in using drama in the classroom, through to a personalised, strategic approach as to how all subjects within the curriculum can be taught with more oracy opportunities embedded in each lesson, we can provide a fresh take on how to teach this much needed skill. Contact SpeakEasy to have a free further discussion about how we can help you develop oracy in your educational environment.

01 Sept 2026

BACK TO SCHOOL

https://speakeasyjo909.substack.com/p/back-to-school?r=91618k

Are you getting that feeling?

That slight buzz spiced with a little bit of anxiety?

(Nerves we used to call them!)

Akin to stage-fright.

Yes, it’s back to school again.

Back in for the start of a new term.

I don’t know about you, but I find the ‘back to school feeling’ quite appealing.

That long-hot summer hasn’t passed me by, it’s just slowed me down.

Now it’s time to rev up for a new year. A new year of learning, of sharing, of taking risks and finding out more about ourselves. What we can do – a lot more than we tend to suppose.

So, time for a fresh start and a new burst of energy. An opportunity to take the plunge and engage in new ideas and training.

SpeakEasy is here to provide – a CPD workshop for your teachers on using drama more effectively in the classroom; a bespoke easy to deliver programme of drama sessions – either as discrete sessions or as integrated sections of your KS English curriculum; an SLT consultation on how to use drama and theatre arts more productively across your school; a report analysing and identifying how your primary English curriculum could be adapted to meet the new oracy requirements; a set of whole class sessions working on improving oracy and public speaking through drama and theatre techniques… the list is endless. Contact Jo to discuss how I can help your school further.

PS: When did you last take yourself on a art-date? Just you and a ticket to somewhere different for a couple of hours. For a recharge, inspiration or just plain entertainment. I recommend it!

04 Jan 2026

The government’s response to the Curriculum and Assessment Review has been out for a short while, and we’ve now had time to digest it (although at 61 pages there is a lot to skim through). However, what is clear is the focus on the importance on developing student oracy, as recommended in the main review, has been noted, and there is a sense that action will be taken to start to promote the use of drama as a tool to build these skills within the coming generations. It seems we are going to have to wait until September 2028 before much of this is embedded in the primary curriculum. Yet, this doesn’t mean we can’t start to prepare and be aware of what could be developed at this stage in preparation for these changes. Not least in teacher training and ongoing in-school teacher CPD.

Get yourself ready with the help of SpeakEasy. We can provide a variety of support packages, or a simple one-off consultation or CPD session. Together, we will explore what the changes to the curriculum might mean for you, your school, and your students. And how you can involve yourself at this early stage in finding ways to embed better oracy skills through drama within your classrooms and curriculum.

25 Nov 2025

It’s nearly the festive season and we celebrate the government’s response to the recent curriculum review, which has stated: ‘We agree with the Review that drama plays an important role in a broad curriculum, and that it supports the development of a range of knowledge and skills including creativity and oracy. We consider drama to be an important artistic discipline in its own right, helping pupils to find their voice and express their ideas, on stage and off.’

Therefore, we realise there will need to be more focus on drama being taught both as a standalone subject but also integrated into the primary English curriculum. ‘As the Review suggests, we will consider whether further detail and clarity at primary could enable a stronger drama offer within English and will create a discrete drama section within the key stage 3 programme of study.’