The Cultural Education Partnership currently has funding from Paul Hamlyn Foundation Teacher Development Fund for ‘THE STORY EXCHANGE’, a partnership project with The Story Museum and local schools. The creative project aims to develop the necessary skills, knowledge and confidence of teachers and artists working together to provide space for improving Emotional Literacy and Pupil Voice in the classroom.

Working together as co-inquirers, our overall aim is to tackle the inquiry question: How can oral storytelling and the performing arts support teachers to use stories to improve emotional literacy and pupil voice?

We will be developing a programme of work until the end of August 2025 which:
• Develops a partnership between The Story Museum and at least 6 local schools;

• Shares The Story Museum’s extensive experience of action-research into the benefits of story-based learning for children, young people and teachers;

• Uses oracy as a vital building block for children to become more confident and resilient, and improve their mental health and wellbeing;

• Creates a cohort of active learners including class teachers, middle teachers (subject/year group leads), members of the senior leadership teams, and artists from The Story Museum, who will exchange skills and learn together;

• Embeds the learning from the project into the partner schools curriculum and creates a lasting legacy of storytelling in school programmes;

• Focuses on local schools experiencing systemic inequity and disadvantage;

• Invites external experts to share their knowledge and skills with our learning cohort;

• Investigates how to create a digital learning centre that will engage people who are available at different times and in different places with regular shared learning opportunities;

• Cascades the learning from the programme to wider school teams and the Cultural Education Partnership network;

• Seeks partnership investment for the continuation of the programme beyond the pilot period.

The project is managed by a working group consisting of representatives from arts organisations, educational establishments and the six local authorities, reporting to Oxford City Council’s Youth Partnership Board.

We are seeking to appoint a freelance PROJECT MANAGER with experience and knowledge of both the arts and education and who is able to ‘hit the ground running’ on this exciting initiative in Oxfordshire.

PROJECT MANAGER - Key Tasks
• Ensure the project is delivered according to Cultural Education Partnership’s THE STORY EXCHANGE project outcomes, and Oxford City Council policies and procedures;

• Create Terms of Reference for the project partners;

• Create a delivery plan for the project with key milestones;

• Attend CEP Meetings, currently meeting once a month, plus other meetings with project stakeholders as required;

• Manage the strategic reporting process for the funder and project steering group, writing reports at key points within the project delivery term;

• Manage the relationships with the representatives from the Council partners, reporting to Oxford City Council senior management as the lead organisation;

• Manage the recruitment and supervision of the evaluator on the project;

• Liaise with the Project Coordinators to ensure that schools and other educational establishments are developing their involvement and engagement in Oxford’s CEP;

• Develop a digital portal for sharing resources and supporting co-learning for all partners;

• Coordinate a wider CPD programme for the core learning cohort and the wider CEP network;

• Contribute towards social media and website content for the project;

• Attend all key programme dates;

• Research further opportunities for funding for this project and future projects for the CEP;

FEE/CONTRACT
Working flexibly to meet the requirements of the brief, an average of 1 day per week, for 78 weeks over 2 years between August 2023 and August 2025, paid on agreed schedule over the period of the contract.

This work is offered as a freelance contract, for a fixed fee including VAT and all expenses. The appointed individual will be responsible for all tax, national insurance etc.

TO APPLY
Please send letter of application, no longer than 800 words, outlining your experience and suitability for the post, along with at least one relevant case study that illustrates how your skills and experience support the delivery of the key tasks above, a CV and two references.
If there is more than one application for the role, the successful candidate will be appointed based on how well their application supports the requirements of the key skills.

Applications should be submitted to: ktoomey@oxford.gov.uk by the deadline

CLOSING DATE: 12pm, Monday 7 August 2023

APPOINTMENT DATE: Friday 18th August 2023

START DATE: ASAP following appointment