Speak Up
LUNG are the Creative Associates on the National Theatre’s school’s programme Speak Up. This is a new secondary school programme that gives young people the opportunity to explore issues that matter to them. They work together, with local artists and the National Theatre, to produce creative work in any form that they choose.
Developed for young people whose voices are not always heard, Speak Up activity is co-created with each school and its students.
Follow the hashtag #NTSpeakUp to see the work happening in schools across the UK. Speak Up takes place in areas of low arts engagment where there is an inequality of access to opportunities for young people and their voices are not always heard. Young people work collaboratively as equal partners with their teachers, artists, local arts organisations and the National Theatre to co-create local artworks and creative projects in response to issues which matter to them.
“We need someone who will listen. We want to make something meaningful. We need a space to express ourselves and just be.”
– Student, Carleton High School, Pontefract
Two films made by students from Trinity Academy Cathedral
The Chimp in my brain | Written and directed by Matt Woodhead
No Baloons | Written and directed by Matt Woodhead
Impact
Speak Up is taking place in selected schools across England. From 2022 to 2025 Speak Up will engage with 140,000 young people in 55 selected secondary schools nationwide.
Young people are supported to become leaders, by putting them at the heart of the creative process and decision making
Teachers are able to find ways that Speak Up can impact the culture of their school
Artists have the freedom make work without any predetermined outcomes
Speak Up aims to develop young people’s self-expression, wellbeing and personal skills, with an open-ended offer to make creative projects in their local area.