By Heather Armstrong, Creative Skills Programme Manager, Starcatchers
Starcatchers is the only organisation in Scotland making high quality work for and with babies and young children aged zero to five, and their parents and carers.
We believe Scotland’s youngest citizens should be able to engage with, and participate in, high quality performances and creative experiences made by exceptional artists who understand the needs of this unique audience.
As Starcatchers has evolved since 2006, it has become a catalyst for changing the social and cultural landscape in Scotland. It has promoted arts and creativity in the early years, engaging with government and opening up new ways of working in communities.
There is a wealth of research that proves engaging in the arts, using a playful approach and child-led learning are incredibly effective ways of raising academic attainment. These approaches also build resilience and emotional wellbeing and enable the development of creative skills.
The arts and creativity should be at the heart of early years practice across Scotland. Our innovative Creative Skills Programme is supporting early years practitioners in Scotland to make that happen.
The flexible, child-led approach to the arts we champion gives early years practitioners the skills and confidence to work in a genuinely creative way. This supports the delivery of children’s rights as well as key strategies such as Curriculum for Excellence and Scotland’s National Play Strategy.
I’m incredibly proud of what the Creative Skills Programme has achieved since the pilot began in 2013, and I’m excited to have the chance to share Starcatchers’ work with the diverse audience attending My Rights, My Voice in Edinburgh this July.
To book your place at My Rights, My Voice: Celebrating the rights of the child, visit
www.ifdco.com