Curious Minds

Your State of Mind Matters Come join us in a space to reflect, recharge and connect with your peers navigating a freelance career.

THIS FRIDAY (World Mental Health Day), we're bringing creative freelancers together for some much-needed peer connection. 90 mins of reflection, recharge & real talk.

📅 10 Oct, 11:00-12:30
💻 Online, free, limited spaces

Facilitated by psychotherapist Ros Norford.

Get involved with Curious Works Are you aged 16-25 and based in Wigan Borough? Looking for a creative part-time job? Curious Works could be right up your street. Applications are now open.

Take a look and apply: curiousminds.org.uk/get-involved...

No formal experience needed - just a passion for creativity, curiosity, and a willingness to give things a go.

This job is offered to young people aged 16-25, based in Wigan Borough and not in education, work or training, as part of Curious Works. We've got more jobs on our website!

Supported every step of the way by our Head of Careers & Skills, you will come up with ideas for what the event could look like, and work as part of a team to make them happen. This is a hands-on role where you’ll juggle creative planning with practical organisation.

Curious Works Placement: Event Producer with Curious Minds

We’re looking for two creative and enthusiastic young people someone to take the lead on planning and running our interactive creative careers fair in Wigan in January ’26.

Teachers, last chance to apply for Cohort 1!

🔹 The Hour: Spotlight
📅 Thur 30th Oct, 12-1pm
Reclaiming your own creativity with Keith Saha (Artistic Director/Co-CEO of 20 Stories High). After years of leading and holding spaces for others, what happens when you put your own creativity back at the centre?
thehourspotlightoct25.eventbrite.co.uk

🔸 Is Culture Still Bad For You?
📅 Thurs 23rd Oct, 2–4pm
Five years on from Culture Is Bad for You, join the authors for a discussion on cultural inequality, exclusion, and what the latest evidence means for arts participation, artistic practice, and policy.
curiousaboutcultureisbad.eventbrite.co.uk

🔹 The Hour: Connect
📅 Thursday 16th October, 12–1pm
Come as you are. Leave feeling refreshed. An informal, supportive space for artists, educators, freelancers, and cultural leaders to connect.
Register here: thehourconnectoct25.eventbrite.co.uk

🔸 Your State of Mind Matters
📅 Friday 10th October, 11–12:30pm
For World Mental Health Day, we have brought together a space to support the mental wellness of freelancers. Join us to reflect, recharge and connect with your peers.
Book your place: stateofmindoct.eventbrite.co.uk

Upcoming in October!

We have a series of free and online events that you can sign up for this month.

Thread 1/5

What does good practice look like for a teaching artist?
Are you an artist? Do you teach? Then you are a teaching artist!

- But what is good practice?
- Is it about artistic excellence?
- Is it about access and inclusion?
- Is it about inspiring others to create?

Creativity according to Psychologists In this second blog accompanying his PhD research journey, Saul Argent explores how academia defines and examines the often blurry concept of creativity..

Creativity, according to psychologists 🤔

In his second blog, Saul Argent explores the concept of creativity.

- What is creativity?
- How creativity is valued globally.
- How to define and categorise creativity
and more...

It's a fantastic read: curiousminds.org.uk/creativity-a...

Interested? Find more info and apply before 15 Oct:
curiousminds.org.uk/get-involved...

You don’t need formal qualifications or experience. We’re looking for someone who is:

🌟 Into social media, the arts and culture scene, & all things creative
🌟 Good at staying organised and thinking ahead
🌟 Happy to share their ideas and speak up
🌟 Open to learning new things and giving stuff a go

Curious Works Placement: Social Media Assistant, with Curious Minds

We’re looking for a creative and enthusiastic young person to help us to plan and shape our social media content, You’ll be part of our communications team, helping us to come up with content ideas and plan posts.

As a sector we need to do more to celebrate the role of teaching artistry - and to ask why it matters now more than ever.

Are you interested in this work and these questions? We’re hosting a big conversation on this 2 December in Liverpool. Save the date - and keep an eye out for more details soon.

Teaching artistry is the work that sits at the heart of our cultural sector.

It’s how artists connect, educate, and shape the next generation.

But too often, it’s undervalued or unseen.

Leading the Arts In Your School CPD A professional development programme (CPD) for teachers who want to embed creativity, culture and the arts across their school. Applications now open for 26/27 cohorts.

📣 3 weeks to apply!

Are you a teacher looking to bring more creativity & arts into the school day? Want to see how creative approaches can boost learning across your curriculum?

Leading the Arts in Your School CPD applications are open! But not for long...

curiousminds.org.uk/leading-the-...

2️⃣ Thursday 25th September. 3:30pm to 5pm: Creative approaches to evaluation - CultureEd Impact Network.

We’ll be joined by Dr Elisavet Christou and Violet Owen, the team at Lancaster University behind the Little Book of Creative Evaluation.

cultureedimpactsep25.eventbrite.co.uk

This week at Curious Minds

1️⃣ Wednesday 24th September. 12pm to 1pm: Keeping Working-Class Stories Alive With Jayne Williams (New Perspectives Theatre Company) - our latest The Hour: Spotlight.

Join us: thehourspotlightsep25.eventbrite.co.uk

Arts-based Learning Fund We support arts and cultural organisations to work in partnership with schools and make arts-based learning a core part of education.

Paul Hamlyn Foundation are also offering an Arts-based Learning Fund. This fund supports arts and cultural organisations to work in partnership with schools and make arts-based learning a core part of education.

Amount: £30,000 to £300,000; up to £100,000 per year.

Find out more: bit.ly/3VrLseR

Teacher Development Fund We support teachers to develop arts-based approaches which create equitable classrooms where all children learn and thrive.

There are some great opportunities for teachers. The Teacher Development Fund supports teachers to develop arts-based approaches which create equitable classrooms where all children learn and thrive.

Up to £165,000 per application
Deadline: 12 November 2025

www.phf.org.uk/funding/teac...

Curiosity Outside the Classroom. What people are saying about our training. Spark curiosity in your students.

A quote: "A wonderful experience, sharing ideas with creatives. Went away ready to get out of the classroom!”

A quote: “Really thought provoking training which focuses the mind of the why we should prioritise school trips.”

A quote: “Interactive approach to looking at curiosity outside of the classroom. Lots of tools to take back to school and embed within our practice.”

We have developed a training programme packed with practical advice, tools, and real-world insights called Curiosity Outside the Classroom.

Here is what people are saying about the training.

Interested in attending? Read more about our latest training date: bit.ly/3HTsHxk

Specialist Leaders in Cultural Education. SLiCE with Curious Minds.

An image of a teacher in a dance room. Text reads. Professional development programme for school leaders.

💡 SLiCE® Fellowship
- One-year strategic leadership training for senior leaders.
- Embed cultural education in your school improvement planning.

5/5

Peer Tutoring. Transforming learning through student leadership. The Peer Tutoring Programme gives young people the chance to share their knowledge, creativity, and skills with others. As Peer Tutors, they support the learning of their peers in one-to-one or small group sessions, using creative approaches to make learning fun and engaging. Speak to us about how we can bring Peer Tutoring to your school. Spark the change.

"The children of St James CE Primary School experienced two of the best days training for children I have ever witnessed. It was lovely to see how their confidence grew over the two days and how at the end they felt they had been treated like 'real teachers' and were so excited to start their new role. I highly recommend this inspiring training to any school, as it clearly empowers and challenges the children in so many different ways." - Deputy Head Teacher KS2, St James CE Primary, Birmingham 

🖌️ Peer Tutoring
- 12-week student leadership programme.
- Build aspiration and confidence in young people.
- We are interested in partnering with schools to bring Peet Tutoring to their pupils.

4/5

Curiosity Outside the Classroom. Spark curiosity in your students. Our day long course equips any school staff with the skills, confidence and knowledge to plan, advocate for and deliver brilliant trips and visits that extend and enrich creative learning.

🏛️ Curiosity Outside the Classroom (Trips & Visits)
- Public sessions in Autumn 2025: bit.ly/3HTsHxk
- One-day CPD or INSET for all school staff.
- Unlock the full potential of school trips.

3/5

Text reads: Become an arts leader in your school. Leading The Arts with Curious Minds.

Our tried and tested programme is designed for teachers with ambition and drive to develop a whole school approach to arts and culture, and to make a real difference for the children they teach; contributing to personal growth and learning. Places still available for our January 2026 and September 2026 cohorts.

🎨 Leading the Arts in Your School
- Applications are now open for the 26/27 cohorts: bit.ly/4gqKCIR
- 6-month CPD for early to mid-career teachers.
- Cultivate culture, creativity, and curiosity in your students.

2/5

The different ways we work with schools.

Young child in a football kit lying on the floor and writing on a huge flipchart piece of paper.

This week we'll be focusing on how we work with schools.

OUR CPD OFFER:
Delivered through a blend of online, in-person, guided learning and workshops. In-house delivery available. Please get in contact.

🧵 1/5

Culture is Bad For You? Is culture still bad for you? The authors of Culture is Bad For You return with new evidence on who benefits and who is still shut out.

Is culture still bad for you?

The authors of Culture is Bad For You return with new evidence on who benefits and who is still shut out.

Thursday, 23rd October 2025.
2pm to 4pm.
Free and online.

Don't miss out: curiousaboutcultureisbad.eventbrite.co.uk

#CuriousAbout #CuriousCreatives