The Forge: Grow Future Skills

Grow Future Skills is a creative education programme exploring the impact of visual, digital, and multiliteracy practices in schools across County Durham. It integrates photography, animation, digital arts, games design, AI, and AR into the curriculum to draw on children’s ‘hidden literacies,’ foster creative autonomy, and build digital fluency. 

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The programme started with an intensive R&D phase, bringing together artists and educators from six primary schools to form a community of enquiry. This group investigated how expanded definitions of literacy can support learning in both educational and cultural contexts. I led the development and delivery of a CPD programme for the 2024–25 academic year, co-designed with three artists, Jo Hislop, Guy Schofield, and Cloe Sparrow and six primary schools. 

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Together we co-produced a primary school programme of creativity which resulted in six original games, photobooks and animation/AR projects whilst exploring and testing alternative literacy methodologies with educators.