Culture Voucher case study: Sacred Heart Primary School

During March, 60 pupils from Year 3 at Sacred Heart Primary School in Luton enjoyed a visit from Mini Map Maker, Alice Gadney. The activity took place thanks to Culture Vouchers made available to schools embarking on their ArtsMark journey.

What are Culture Vouchers?

Culture Vouchers work as a closed currency, awarded to schools to spend on the delivery of creative workshops with their pupils, made possible by our funders. Schools are invited to apply for Culture Vouchers which can then be exchanged with any Provider listed on The Culture Challenge Directory when booking a workshop.

Teacher Heather Canavan applied for Culture Vouchers for Sacred Heart Primary School and chose to work with Alice and her cartography workshop as part of a STEAM activity with Year 3. Alice runs #GetChildrenMapping, an initiative for school aged children to understand the different elements of maps and explore their uses through a range of fun activities.

Mini Map Makers workshop

Heather hoped that the activity would benefit her students by building their confidence when faced with the challenge of learning new skills. She noted that although some children were unsure at first, with further prompting they began to enjoy taking part in the activity.

Mini Map Makers workshop

As with many creative and cultural activities we have listed on The Culture Challenge website, pupils trying a new activity offers is so much more than mastering a new technique. It provides children with the opportunity to grow in confidence when they learn they can try something new and succeed. These activities also build resilience, where often things will not go right first time, so perseverance is required in order to improve. These are valuable lessons to be learning during these formative years.

The benefit of the Mini Map Makers activity also extended beyond the pupils themselves, with staff exclaiming that they learned new ways to integrate maps into their teaching. At Culture Challenge, we find that by inviting a cultural provider into a school, not only do the pupils benefit, but it can be viewed as a practical form of CPD (continuing professional development) for staff too. Sacred Heart Primary School thought Alice’s printed materials were excellent and the school were happy with the quality and suitability of the session for the 7 and 8 year olds.

If you would like to find out more about Alice’s Mini Map Maker sessions, do take a look at her Culture Challenge Profile Page.