The Cultural Learning Alliance is built with diverse representation and voices across cultural and education sectors. This month CLA Advisory Panel member, Dr Steven Berryman FCCT FRSA CTeach, brings his perspective on the new national plan for music education ‘The power of music to change lives’ launched on Saturday 25 June.

This month we bring you news of the new Music Education Plan from the Department for Education; recommendations for policy makers from the Centre for Cultural Value; Arts in Schools from the Gulbenkian Foundation; the DTEA Seize the day event to tell decision makers about the importance of drama and theatre education; an invitation to attend an Erasmus+ Youth Learning Through Arts seminar in Brussels; and an ask from Durham University to fill in a survey to assess the impact of the Durham Commission.

At the end of March 2022 the Department for Education published its first White Paper for six years. Tightly focussed on literacy and numeracy, it sets out ambitions and plans to improve behaviour and attendance, teacher recruitment and retention, and for all schools to join a Multi-Academy Trust (MAT). It also includes a pledge for the Department to work with the Department of Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS), and Arts Council England (ACE) to develop a National Plan for Cultural Education: something that the CLA has been calling for since 2014. This post gives you the headlines.

This month we bring you an update to our 20 years of cultural education policy timeline; news of research from Engage on Art & Design Education in Scotland; changes to Education Scotland, including a new national education agency; Future Fwd conference, and the Researching the Arts in Primary Schools blog.

This month we welcome a third Co-Director, Ranjit Atwal, begin a process of transition and change to strengthen the CLA governance, mission and structure and had our second Advisory Panel meeting with inspiring speakers including Sanaz Amidi, CEO & Trustee, Rosetta Arts, a hub for art and creative learning in East London and much discussion on what we mean by Levelling Up through Cultural Learning.

The government’s Levelling Up agenda has had a significant impact on public funding for the arts and for cultural learning, with new directives from the Secretary of State to prioritise investment in specific geographic areas, and to re-distribute funding away from London taking immediate effect.

This post gives you the headlines, what this might mean for cultural learning, and calls for your experiences on how your work will be funded and supported going forward.

The government’s Levelling Up White Paper contains complex, complicated, and refreshingly long-term ambitions to make significant changes to places and placemaking in the UK. It aims to align all relevant government investment and policy towards the achievement of these goals over the next 8 years, and to create a comprehensive placemaking strategy that will create a new kind of industrial revolution and systemic change for the UK.

This month we bring you news of the fate of BTECs; the Culture in Crisis report from the Centre for Cultural Value; a new Representation in Dance Education resource; an ask for Art Teachers to fill in a survey from NSEAD; a new guide for governors from Arts Council England; and a July Artsmark Celebration ‘Day to Create’.

The Office for Students (OfS) is the regulator for Higher Education (HE) in England. On 20 January it launched three consultations on new policies which have significant implications for Arts degrees. If the proposals go ahead all degrees will need to have at least 60% of students go on to managerial or professional employment within 15 months.