Bath Spa University has been awarded £600,000 from Arts Council England to develop The Creative Writing Education Hub, a three year project working alongside 100 schools and a thriving community of arts organisations and creative writers across the South West.

The project will be led by Bath Spa University in partnership with Bath Festivals and The National Association of Writers in Education. It will place professional creative writers in schools across the region that have low levels of arts and cultural engagement.

These professional writers will deliver workshops to pupils aged eight to 12, equipping them with the skills to write and express themselves imaginatively, developing talent and character.

Creative Director of the Project and Head of Creative Writing at Bath Spa University, Bambo Soyinka said: “Creative writing should be part of every child’s education as it develops imaginative thought, language and literary skills. The Creative Writing Education Hub will introduce school pupils from varied social and cultural backgrounds to the joys of writing and will enable young people to learn alongside professional writers.”

A series of specialised workshops for teachers and creative writers will run alongside the schools programme, supporting and enriching their professional development and training them in different approaches to teaching creative writing to engage a range of pupils across a variety of schools.

Paul Munden, Director of the National Association of Writers in Education said: “NAWE is delighted to be working again with Bath Spa University and Bath Festivals. This project has sufficient scope to make a lasting impact on a regional level, and – through NAWE's national network – to ensure that the benefits extend to the writing in education community as a whole, especially school pupils who are the writers of the future.”

The programme aims to leave a legacy of up-skilled teachers and writers and a sustainable model of best practice for creative writing education that can be adopted by schools across the UK.

Bath Festivals already works in close partnership with Bath Spa University and commenting on their involvement in the project, Chief Executive of Bath Festivals, Belinda Kidd said: “We are passionate about introducing, inspiring and educating young people in the arts and so are delighted to join with Bath Spa University and NAWE to deliver this exciting programme. Through it many more children and young people will get the chance to experience the joy and power of creative writing.”