After a 3-year hiatus, our Teach Inspire Create Conference was back this November!
We want to thank all of our guests who attended the event which took place at The Mermaid, London. They were treated to an exciting day of keynote speeches from inspiring voices in the creative industries, a series of interactive workshops led by UAL Awarding Body Chief Examiners and a trade fair featuring exhibitors from across the industry.
Additionally, we hosted a panel discussion titled "Looking to the future: Exploring key skills needed to thrive in the creative industries of tomorrow", which offered an engaging and thought-provoking exploration into the minds of those who influence and define the cultural and artistic landscapes in creative education and industry. This session shone a light on the important skills needed to thrive in creative industries in the future.
Keynote Speakers
Andria Zafirakou
Andria Zafirakou is a Vice Principal of England’s only seven-consecutive time Ofsted rated ‘Outstanding’ school. Her specialism is arts and textiles and for the last nineteen years has worked in some of the most marginalised communities in London.
She has been recognised as an education leader through accolades such as being a recipient of the million dollar Global Teacher Prize in 20418, a Culture Leader by the World Economic Forum, a Member of the The High-Level Panel on the Teaching Profession which was established by the UN Secretary-General in 2023, a Honorary Doctorate from the University of Worcester, and was nominated by the late Queen Elizabeth II for a MBE for her services to education.
She is the author of the bestselling book “Those who can, Teach” which was published by Bloomsbury in April 2021 and her most recent book “Lessons in Life” was published by Quercus in May 2023.
Kay Adekunle Rufai
Kay Adekunle Rufai is a British born Nigerian photographer, poet, filmmaker, author, mental health researcher and founder of the internationally acclaimed S.M.I.L.E-ing Boys projects. He is currently the first artist in residence for West Midlands Police, as part of Coventry City of Culture. His award-winning work explores themes of masculinity, mental health, identity and serious youth violence and has been widely exhibited at The Barbican, City Hall, Tower Bridge, the Royal Court and more, as well as featured on the Guardian, Channel 5 news, BBC 1XTRA and more.
Tina Ramdeen
Tina is the Associate Director of Young People at Roundhouse Trust. Her work is centred around supporting organisations within public, private and voluntary sectors to provide young people with equitable access to opportunities and progression pathways into industry. Tina is passionate about the impact of working with young people in non-traditional youth work settings and the intersect between youth provision and industry.
Teach Inspire Create Conference Panel
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Aimée McLaughlin is the Chair of the Panel. Aimée is associate editor at Creative Review. She joined the magazine in 2018, and writes extensively about advertising, branding and visual culture. She has also written for other titles including WePresent, Design Week, Dazed and Wallpaper*. -
Jazmin Morris is a creative computing artist and educator based in London. She is a lecturer at UAL Creative Computing Institute and the Lead Computational Tutor on the Graphic Communication Design course at Central Saint Martins. Her personal practice and research explore representation and inclusivity within technology. She uses free and open-source tools to create digital experiences that highlight issues surrounding gender, race and power; focusing on the complexities of simulating culture and identity. Jazmin is a socially engaged artist, often collaborating with communities to provide workshops and tutorials, including Tech Yard - a community initiative that she founded to encourage voices that are often excluded from technical developments to gain skills and confidence in the area. -
Despite being a high performing student, Dominic Traynor's dislike of his education experience eventually compelled him to build a career in education. Combining the best of traditional teaching with interactive, innovative and purposeful learning experiences, Dominic works with teachers and learners in a way that compliments the traditional classroom to achieve much higher levels of engagement. In 2018, he received the EDUCATE award from the Institute Of Education for a research project into improving primary writing using digital skills. From there, his first book, Literacy Beyond The Classroom, was published in 2020 by Bloomsbury. Dominic now works at Adobe as their Education Evangelist for EMEA. -
Michele Gregson is General Secretary and CEO of the National Society for Education in Art and Design – the trade union, professional body and learned society for art, craft and design professionals.Michele has worked throughout her career with children, young people and educators in arts education and cultural settings. After working for many years in London and Kent as an art teacher, Head of Department and school leader, she joined Kent County Council’s Advisory Service for Schools, supporting schools in challenging circumstances, then as Adviser for Art & Design, for all Kent schools. She spent ten years working as an independent arts consultant, before taking office at NSEAD in January 2019. -
Oliver Morris has been with UK Music since 2015. Before this he was a tutor, researcher, community worker, musician and composer. His PhD thesis explored ‘The Educational and Economic Aspirations of Young People in Wales’. He sits on the MU’s Education Committee, advisory board for Live Music Exchange, steering group for Make Music Day UK, advisory group for London Music Fund’s Amplify London Programme, advisory board for Music: Local, and is a member of Anthem that was set up to deliver the Welsh Government’s new Music Endowment Fund for Wales.
Breakout Sessions
The UAL Awarding Body Chief Examiners held five breakout sessions throughout the day and delegates were able to attend ONE of these sessions. The breakout session options were:
Room 1
‘Engaging community with creative arts education’ with Andy Sankey, Chief Examiner for Music and Extended Project Qualification (EPQ) – an immersive workshop on how to enhance the creative arts educational experience by working with local community
Room 2
‘Using AI to create content’ with Julian Watkiss, Chief Examiner for Creative Media Production and Technology – a thought provoking session which delves into the impact the world of AI-driven content generation
Room 3
‘The Express Yourself Challenge: unleash your imagination in 21 Minutes’ with Justine Head, Chief Examiner for Fashion Business and Retail, and Marc Mollica, Chief Examiner for Performing and Production Arts and Level 4 Diplomas – a fast-paced workshop to create a mini-masterpiece, designed to ignite your imagination and artistic exploration
Room 4
‘Artful Mindfulness: Cultivating Creativity and Presence Through Art’ with Matt Moseley, Chief Examiner for Art and Design – a transformative workshop exploring the practice of mindfulness and how it can enhance creative processes
Room 5
‘Project briefs: innovation, creativity, experimentation et al.’ with Vicky Cull, Chief Examiner for Art and Design – an inspiring workshop designed to enable creativity and avant-garde thinking in the area of project brief writing and development