FIRTH PARK ACADEMY'S CULTURAL AMBASSADORS!

I visited Firth Park Academy in Sheffield again this morning to attend a session with stakeholders and partners working in the cultural sector.

I was at the academy for a meeting with Zeena Rasheed and a group of stockholders and partners who are all passionate about getting young people involved and participating in cultural activity, so that culture and the arts become part of the entitlement for everyone at Firth Park. Firth Park colleagues have worked brilliantly on the Cutlers' Made in Sheffield programme and this morning we also met some of their current ambassadors who are wonderful young people, working in the engineering and advanced manufacturing and the Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust projects.

We know that the arts and sport are critical elements in developing skills like teamwork, problem solving and critical thinking and that at their heart they have developing character, resilience, determination and hard work. We also know that no single organisation can deliver the breadth and richness of the cultural sector on their own and Zeena is keen therefore for arts, culture and sports organisations to team up and work with her to deliver an ambitious ambassador programme. 

The Firth Park Cultural Ambassadors programme will be co-created with partners and use the 'Made in Sheffield' approach and skill set.  This is an exciting opportunity in equally exciting times and it was also great to hear Zeena and Gary Simmons, deputy headteacher, whose collective drive, determination and focus on the things that matter is clearly transforming the school and the outcomes their students are achieving. Zeena also recognises that in a world controlled by the DfE and OFSTED we must strive for excellence in everything we do and be really ambitious by providing programmes that are truly world class – including music, film, theatre, comedy, heritage, museums, art and design, literature and sport.