Renfrewshire’s new cultural champions step forward

Education staff explore arts venues as part of special project to make them more accessible for children and families

Teachers are becoming the newest champions of culture and creativity across Renfrewshire.

They have been working with clay and weaving, enjoying dance and brushing up their British Sign Language and storytelling skills as part of a drive to open up the arts and culture to more families.

And they are taking the lessons learned as part of OneRen’s Cultural Champions programme back to the classroom to help inspire the up-and-coming generation.

More than 60 education staff are already signed up and have been exploring local arts venues – with more being encouraged to take part in the project.

Funded by Future Paisley, it supports those based in primary schools as well as Early Learning and Childcare (ELC) settings to promote creative and cultural learning opportunities among children, encouraging them to explore Renfrewshire’s growing artistic and cultural world.

Kirsty Reid, who runs the Cultural Champions programme at OneRen, said: “With the new cultural venues reopening in Paisley, now is a great time for teachers to be part of the action as Cultural Champions.

“We’re delighted that so many have signed up and look forward to working with them to help shape our cultural offer to make it more accessible for schools and families.

“Over the next year we hope to see lots of children and their families enjoying all the fantastic cultural opportunities Renfrewshire has to offer.”

Since the programme began in September 2023, the Cultural Champions have visited various spaces including Paisley Museum’s The Secret Collection, Paisley Arts Centre, and the Jupiter+ Paisley exhibition on the High Street.

In these networking sessions they find out what’s on for schools and families and take part in creative activities they can test out with their learners.

Education staff have already found that taking these techniques back to the classroom has been of  great benefit to the children, helping to deliver their cultural entitlement, which was made law in Scotland earlier this year through the United Nations Convention on Rights of a Child.

Any ELC or primary teacher in Renfrewshire who would like to join the Cultural Champions should email Kirsty Reid at kirsty.reid@renfrewshire.gov.uk.