Creativity for Schools — Collaboration Program

Overview

The Creative Learning Program aims to increase access for students and teachers to engage in enriched learning through arts processes and experiences.

The Creativity for Schools Program offers funding to support projects and programs connecting Western Australian creatives with schools.

The Creativity for Schools – Collaboration Category supports activities utilising arts-based practice to engage students in their learning beyond arts curriculum areas. Projects will support access to, and participation in, transformative creative learning experiences for students (K to 12) and will develop educators in utilising creative pedagogy across curriculum areas and beyond. The collaboration category connects artists with school communities, thereby empowering students, fostering their creativity and positively impacting their overall learning experiences at school.

Objectives

The Creative Learning Program recognises that the following 5 program objectives are interdependent.

Primary objective

1. Enhance students’ and educators’ creative learning capabilities to increase engagement and support student success across Western Australian curriculum areas and beyond.

Supporting objectives

2. Build the pedagogical and partnership capacities of arts organisations, creative practitioners, education leaders and teachers in Western Australia.
3. Foster creativity in schools by increasing access to, and participation in, arts, cultural and/or creative activities.
4. Improve the engagement of disadvantaged students in schools, particularly in low-socioeconomic, for example low Index of Community Socio-Educational Advantage (ICSEA) schools and/or in regional areas.
5. Enhance the health and wellbeing (for example mental, social, and/or physical) of students.

Your application must align with the primary objective and, where relevant, the supporting objectives.

Key program priorities

To increase the competitiveness of your application, it is recommended that your activity demonstrates alignment to four (4) or more of the key program priorities.

• low socio-economic index and geographically disadvantaged schools
• programs exposing students to enriching arts experiences, instilling curiosity, creativity, imagination and empathy
• programs engaging with students and their educators in school years K to 12
• programs that demonstrate cross curriculum links beyond the arts learning areas
• programs that incorporate elements of co-design with schools ensuring student and educator agency
• programs that incorporate creative learning capacity building for creative practitioners
• programs that incorporate creative learning capacity building education leaders and/or teachers
• programs that provide a legacy for school communities. 
  

Who can apply?

Applications are open to:

• Western Australian-based* arts and/or cultural organisations
• Western Australian-based* creative practitioners
• Western Australian Primary and Secondary Government and Non-Government Schools, including Catholic and Independent schools
• local government authorities
• Western Australian-based* not-for-profit community organisations and/or not-for-profit community service organisations.

*Must have a Western Australian office, or be currently residing in Western Australia, with a Western Australian address.

When can I apply?

Applications to this funding category are assessed by a peer assessment panel. The key dates calendar has application opening and closing dates, activity start dates, draft review deadlines and notification dates.

All times are in AWST (for Perth, Western Australia).

You are encouraged to submit your application before your submission date to ensure you have plenty of time to allow for any technical issues.

Processing of grant payments to successful applicants will not start until after the grant contract is signed and returned. Depending on the activity start date, we cannot guarantee notification and/or availability of grant funds before the activity begins.

How much can I apply for?

Eligible applicants can apply for up to $60,000 for projects and/or programs engaging students and their educators in creative learning activities.

This program may fund up to 80% of your activity costs. You must demonstrate at least 20% income (either in-kind or cash) or your application will be ineligible.

What can I apply for?

Creativity in Schools — Collaboration grants support projects and/or programs engaging schools in creative learning. This can include:

• teaching artists and/or creatives working in classrooms
• artist residencies/workshops/programs
• teacher professional development — bespoke and residencies
• teaching artist professional development
• digital content creation/engagement
• incursions with demonstrated links to extended learning for students and/or teachers
• attending arts and/or cultural experiences with demonstrated links to extended learning for students and/or teachers 
• programs embedding arts-based pedagogy and practice across learning areas
• co-designed learning experiences
• art therapy and intervention programs.

Please note: activity applied for should demonstrate cross-curricular alignment beyond arts-based learning areas (such as music, dance, drama, visual arts, media arts). For further information please refer to the School Curriculum and Standards Authority.

What can’t I apply for?

• more than two (2) Creativity for Schools applications in a calendar year *(both residency and collaboration category)
• activity already funded through the Creative Learning Partnerships Program
• commercial workshops, excursions and/or incursions
• projects that are a continuation of an already existing work in progress
• school beautification projects** (including but not limited to: murals, mosaics and signage) without demonstrating each of the following;
  • embedded learning concepts
  • curriculum alignment beyond arts learning areas
  • professional development for teaching staff and/or leadership
• school events (including but not limited to: festivals, fetes and productions) without demonstrating each of the following;
  • embedded learning concepts
  • curriculum alignment beyond arts learning areas
  • professional development for teaching staff and/or leadership
• school activity clubs and/or extracurricular (before or after school hours) activities including but not limited to; debate clubs, choir, orchestra, bands, drama, dance, chess, digital arts, cooking and after-hours school care
• salaries and wages of those employed by the Department of Education, Catholic Education Western Australia and Association of Independent Schools of Western Australia, including relief teaching
• projects or activities that do not involve or benefit Western Australian based practicing artists, creatives or arts or cultural workers
• purchase of capital equipment (including instruments, computers, tablets (iPads) and/or uniforms, including technical website development costs)
• capital works such as construction, modification or purchasing of studios, workspaces or gallery spaces
• activities relating to podcasts and audiobooks that do not involve creative arts practitioners
• purchase of WA curriculum materials such as text-books
• activities already funded by the Department of Local Government, Sport and Cultural Industries’ culture and the arts grant programs
• activities relating to radio broadcasting
• fundraising, competitions, prizes and trophies
• the work of State or Federal government departments
• salaries and wages of those employed by the Department of Education, Catholic Education Western Australia and Association of Independent Schools of Western Australia including relief teaching
• sitting fees for committees
• ongoing organisational and staffing operational costs.

*To ensure a fair and equitable distribution of funds, the Panel may prioritise new applicants and/or programs within a 12-month period.

** For these projects to be competitive, the beautification must be a secondary outcome The primary focus of this program is to support projects engaging an artist to work with students and teachers to embed creativity and arts beyond arts learning areas. You are strongly encouraged to explore creative learning activities other than school beautification.

What will make my application ineligible?

You will make your application ineligible if you:

• do not adhere to support material limits and format requirements
• do not include mandatory support material
• submit a project that contains details listed in the ‘What can’t I apply for’ section
• do not complete components of the application
• do not adhere to the listed budget requirements
• start the activity before the eligible start date
• the activity extends beyond 12 months
• submit an application late
• exceed application limits
• have any key personnel with an overdue acquittal
• are a staff member of DLGSC (staff of portfolio organisations may apply subject to meeting the Code of Conduct and Secondary Employment Policy)
• request funding that exceeds the funding cap of the program
• are a portfolio organisation of DLGSC
• are not a Western Australian group or organisation with a WA based and listed office and permanent employees
• are already a recipient of funding through the Creative Learning Partnerships Program.

How many times can I apply?

You may submit 1 application for either the collaboration or residency category per Creativity for Schools funding round. Please note you may only receive two (2) successful applications in a 12-month period.

To ensure a fair and equitable distribution of funds, the Panel may prioritise new applicants and/or programs within a 12-month period. Creative practitioners may only be the lead artist on 1 application per Creativity for Schools (Collaboration or Residency) funding round.

Your project must be completed within 12 months of receiving the funds.

How do I apply?

Please apply using the Online Grants web portal.

More information on how to apply can be found in the application manual.

We strongly suggest speaking to a Creative Learning Project Officer prior to commencing your application.

4 components of your application

There are 4 components of a grant application: core application questions, project outputs, financial information and support material. Each plays a significant and distinct role in creating a whole picture of your activity.

Core application questions

Your answers to the core application questions should give assessors a concise overview of your activity. Each question has a 1500-character limit. You can extract a copy of your draft application in Online Grants at any stage to share with others for their feedback.

Respond to the following questions with reference to the assessment criteria, program objectives and relevant key program priorities:

Q1. What is the collaboration activity you are planning?

Provide a summary of the activity and the key elements. Outline the importance and relevance of the activity to your organisation and target groups.

Q2. How will your activity enhance creativity, learning, health and wellbeing?

Describe why your activity is relevant to the creative learning landscape within Western Australia, with reference to the program objectives and key priorities relevant to your activity and community. Consider how your collaboration will assist in building sustained, meaningful engagement with the activity partners and/or target groups. Detail any other benefits from the activity. 

Q3. How will you plan, manage and deliver the activity?

Provide a summary of the key milestones in your activity planning and delivery, the key stages of the activity and who will be responsible. Please outline your plans for marketing and promotion of the activity.

You are encouraged to complete a COVID Safety Plan as part of your planning. You do not need to provide us with a copy of the plan.

Note: a detailed activity timeline must be provided in the mandatory support material.

Q4. Who are the key creatives and collaborators and what are their roles in the activity?

Outline how key personnel will contribute to the development/delivery of the activity. Also describe the nature of the proposed collaborations and partnerships.

Note: you can attach brief CVs, biographies or profiles that demonstrate the experience of the creative personnel in your support material.

Q5. How does your activity engage students and educators to use creativity across the curriculum?

Outline the creative processes used to engage students in their learning. Outline which areas of the curriculum  your activity aligns with, and how the use of creative processes will impact student engagement across learning areas. Consider how your activity supports critical and creative thinking, personal and social capability, ethical understanding and/or intercultural understanding.

Q6. How will you evaluate the activity?

Outline the methods, processes or tools you will use to measure and report your progress towards, and/or achievement of, the activity outcomes you outlined in question 2. Consider how you will know whether you achieved your proposed outcomes. Outline how you will share the learnings with the wider education/creative learning community. 

Project outputs

You are required to provide relevant project outputs. An output is a specific measurable thing that is generated by your project. This information will be considered as part of your application and provide further clarity about your project for the assessor. The outputs also provide important data for DLGSC for research, analysis and advocacy purposes.  

You only need to provide outputs for the categories and items relevant to your project.   

If your application is successful, you will be required to report against your planned project outputs in your acquittal report.  

Please contact a Creative Learning Project Officer if you have any questions.

Financial information

The financial information in your budget helps to demonstrate that all elements of your activity have been considered, thoroughly researched and costed. A good budget also provides confidence for the department that your activity will be a sound investment for the State of Western Australia.

You should indicate which expenditure items you want the department to support. List those items in the ‘Additional Notes’ section of the application form’s budget page.

If you are registered for GST you should not include GST in the budget figures.

All amounts should be in Australian dollars.

Your funding request is the difference between your expenditure minus your income. To ensure this amount is calculated accurately, seek quotes for all expenditure items (whether or not you intend to include these as support material) and include all costs associated with the activity, even if they are supplied in-kind.

For each expenditure or income item you add to the budget, use the notes area alongside the item to explain how it relates to the delivery of your activity and how the cost was calculated. If relevant, include a breakdown or itemisation of costs.

Expenditure

Expenditure items can vary significantly from one activity to another. Any legitimate expense that is eligible can be included in the budget.

Do not duplicate costs in the budget form. For example, if you receive a quote for advertising which includes design, do not add an additional item for design. Simply use ‘advertising’ as the expenditure item and add a note explaining that the cost includes design.

This program may fund up to 80% of your activity costs. You must demonstrate at least 20% income or your application will be ineligible. Make sure you check the National Association for the Visual Arts

If these standards do not apply to your activity, you must outline how reasonable rates have been calculated. For long-term activities, it may be appropriate to pay artists a rate based on a yearly salary for a similar kind of work. If this is the case, you need to clearly explain the rationale for the pay rate in your budget notes.

All rates should be relative to level of experience.

Please note that organisations such as the Media, Entertainment and Arts Alliance, predominantly provide information on minimum base rates for employees engaged on a full-time, part-time or casual basis. Rates for artists and arts workers engaged as contractors will include a loading to cover the costs of being self-employed. Full-time, part-time and casual rates do not factor in these costs and should not be used when engaging contractors.

Travel and freight

Costs associated with transporting people, equipment or goods. Eligible items may include fares (taxi, airplane, bus etc.), tolls, land or air freight and vehicle hire.

Income

This program does not fund 100% of your activity costs. You must demonstrate at least 20% income or your application will be deemed ineligible.

Eligible income items

Earned income

May include ticket sales, product sales, performance fees and merchandise sales. For performances, this amount should factor in the number of performances, average ticket price and projected venue capacity.

Corporate sponsorship

List any income received through sponsorship from corporate bodies or businesses. Income received through government funding should be included in the relevant government income category.

Philanthropic donations

May include contributions from fundraising such as crowdfunding, donations, gifts and bequests.

Australia Council, other Federal Government, other State Government, local, government

All grants and funding being sought from local, State and federal government, the Australia Council, and other government sources must be included, whether or not this support has been confirmed.

If your application is to be assessed by a peer assessment panel, we will attempt to confirm the status of any pending funding applications directly with the funding body prior to the panel assessment. Do not include department grant funds being requested as part of this application.

Other income

If you are making a cash contribution or someone is providing cash to the activity, list this item as a ‘cash contribution’ or similar. Include any other income source that does not fit within any of the above categories and provide enough detail to identify the income source.

In-kind expenditure and income

Some expenses may be offered to you for free or at a discount. This might be borrowed equipment, the use of a rehearsal space, donated or discounted goods or services, volunteers (including yourself), negotiated discounted fees and allowances. Anything given to your project at no expense to you is considered in-kind.

All in-kind expenditure must be included as a budget item under the in-kind expenditure category. The corresponding recognition of in-kind income is created automatically in your online application, and you do not need to enter any in-kind income budget items. The total in-kind expenditure must always equal the total in-kind income.

If, for example, you are hiring a venue, which would normally charge $2000, and you have successfully negotiated an $800 (40%) discount, you would include venue hire fee as a budget item under the Expenditure category of $1200 and $800 under the in-kind expenditure category.

Additional notes

This section of the budget provides an opportunity for you to detail any additional information you feel may help to clarify items within your budget. For example, for fees and salaries you can indicate in this section how you calculated your amount.

You should use this section to indicate which expenditure items you want DLGSC to support.

Taxation

The Australian Taxation Office (ATO) considers any grant payment to be taxable income for the purposes of your annual income tax return. If you receive a grant you are encouraged to discuss your tax implications with your tax agent or the ATO.

Registered for Goods and Services Tax

If you are registered for GST you must show your expenditure items exclusive of the GST component. For example, you have been quoted $550 including GST for lighting hire. In your expenditure budget you would only show lighting hire of $500.

If you are registered for GST and your activity is funded, the department payment will include a 10% GST component to cover those items on which GST is payable.

Not registered for Goods and Services Tax

If you are not registered for GST you must show your expenditure items inclusive of the GST component. For example, you have been quoted $550 including GST for lighting hire. In your expenditure budget you would show lighting hire of $550.

If you are not registered for GST and your activity is funded, DLGSC payment will include the GST component for those items on which GST is payable.

Support material

Support material is crucial to a successful application and is essential for assessors to fully gauge the value of your activity. It is highly recommended you pay close attention to the support material you choose and make sure it offers the best support for your application.

It should help demonstrate the 4 assessment criteria: quality, reach, good planning and financial responsibility as well as the objectives of the category you are applying to.

There is 1 mandatory unit of support material for the Creativity for Schools — Collaboration Program. You must submit this unit. Please note that mandatory support materials will not count towards your support material.

Mandatory units of support material

Project plan (mandatory)

You are required to include support material that provides evidence of activity planning.

Acceptable formats and limits:

• Maximum 10 A4 pages (1 PDF only, 5 MB max per file)

Non-mandatory units of support material

• Maximum 10 images in one PDF or Word document or up to 10 image files (maximum file size 5 MB with one line of text caption permitted for each image).

Note: weblinks are not accepted.

• YouTube
• Vimeo 
• Soundcloud

• Bandcamp.

Examples of material:

• examples of previous work or activities
• interviews, recordings, or presentations that support your activity
• a recorded explanation of your proposed project
• testimonials of support for the project.

How will my application be assessed?

Applications to this funding program are assessed by an external peer assessment panel. There are 4 components to a grant application: core application questions, financial information, project targets and support material. Each plays a significant and distinct role in creating a whole picture about your activity and tells a story about what you want to do.

All applications are assessed against the 4 criteria:

1. quality
2. reach
3. good planning
4. financial responsibility.
   

Each has a weighting and a subset of dimensions with definitions. More information about the dimensions and definitions, which have been developed by artists and creatives representing their sector, can be found in the application manual.

Assessors will consider your application against the relevant dimensions and definitions and allocate a weighted score for each of the four criteria.

Final approval of successful applications depends on available budget and approval by the Minister or delegated authority.

Quality

Dimensions of quality

Imagination, authenticity, originality, cross-curricular alignment, inquisitiveness, excellence, captivation, relevance, innovation, challenge and rigour.

Weighting 35%

Quality refers to the level of artistic and cultural significance of the activity. Quality may be demonstrated by, but is not limited to, examples of previous work, letters of support  and  timeliness of the work. You must consider the program concept and how it relates to the primary objective and key program priorities. Quality may also be demonstrated through the skills and experience of the people involved in the activity, and the alignment of those skills and experience to deliver the project.

Reach

Dimensions of reach

Diversity, platform, collaboration, leverage, number, growth and depth.

Weighting 20%

Reach refers to the level of impact the activity is likely to have. Reach may be demonstrated by including information such as the number of participants and depth of engagement, detail as to the extension into the wider school community and beyond, and legacy of the activity.

Good planning

Dimensions of good planning

Realistic, achievable, considered, demonstrated research and/or consultation, evaluation and co-design.

Weighting 25%

Good planning refers to the level of consideration which has been given to practically undertaking the activity. Good planning can be demonstrated by, but is not limited to; carefully considered preparation, confirmation of key personnel, a realistic timeline and achievable outcomes, documented research and/or consultation, and a process of evaluation.

Financial responsibility

Dimensions of financial responsibility

Value, comprehensive budget, financial self-sufficiency.

Weighting 20%

Financial responsibility refers to the sound management of the budget. Financial responsibility can be demonstrated by, but is not limited to, efficient use of resources, reasonable expenses and an accurate and comprehensive budget, including use of budget notes. Other sources of income have been considered and included where appropriate and the activity goes some way towards self-sufficiency.

Acquittal report

If you are successful, you will be required to fill in an acquittal report when your activity has finished. An acquittal report details your activity and how you spent the grant. The acquittal report will be available for you to access in Online Grants once a copy of your signed funding agreement has been received.

Your acquittal report must be submitted within 90 days of the activity completion date as specified in the funding agreement. 

You will need to attach relevant documents, images and videos that substantiate the delivery of the activity and that may demonstrate the impact and outcomes achieved.

The report will also include your activity budget and you will be required to enter all the actual figures against each budget item and add any additional items that were not in the original budget. Variations between budget and actual figures are acceptable, however you must provide an explanation for large variations in the Notes for that item. As you enter actual figures, the activity profit/loss will be automatically updated and displayed at the top of the Financial Information page.

The funding acquittal report also includes the option to provide feedback to DLGSC to help us to continually review and improve the service we provide.

How to identify disadvantage

DLGSC takes into consideration various levels of disadvantage, including economic, social and/or geographic disadvantage.

Identifying economic and/or social disadvantage in line with the Australian Curriculum Assessment and Reporting Authority (ACARA) considers the measure known as the Index of Community Socio-Educational Advantage (ICSEA). A school’s ICSEA indicates the average educational advantage of the school’s students and is calculated using information about a parent’s occupation and education, school geographical location and the proportion of Indigenous students.

In addition to social and economic disadvantage, areas of geographic disadvantage include:

• outer metropolitan Perth
• Peel
• Wheatbelt
• South West
• Great Southern
• Goldfields/Esperance
• Mid West
• Gascoyne
• Pilbara
• Kimberley.

Assistance for applicants

More information on how to apply can be found in the application manual.

Grants Officers are available via telephone and email to answer queries about applications and suitability of activities to specific programs.

If you need extra assistance due to disability, language barriers or any other factor that may disadvantage you in completing your application, please contact us.

The advice provided by Grants Officers does not guarantee the success of your application.

Due to the high number of applications received, each funding round is highly competitive.

All applications are considered on their own merits and against the assessment criteria and program objectives.

Contact us

Online Grants portal technical support

For assistance using Online Grants or to report any related technical issues, contact the Online Grants Support Team: onlinegrantsupportca@dlgsc.wa.gov.au

Grants Officers

For enquires relating to this funding program, including advice or assistance with your application, contact a Grants Officer:

Telephone 61 8 6552 7400
Toll Free (Country WA callers only) 1800 634 541
Email grantsprogramsca@dlgsc.wa.gov.au

Assistance for people with disability

The department is committed to supporting applicants with disability. Information can be provided in alternative formats (large print, electronic or Braille) upon request.

If you require special assistance in preparing your application, please call 61 8 6552 7400 or toll free for regional WA callers on 1800 634 541.

Family, friends, mentors and/or carers can attend meetings with you.

If you are deaf or have a hearing or speech impairment, please contact us through one of the following:

• National Relay Service (NRS) then ask for 1800 634 541
• Internet Relay Calls
• Captioned Relay Calls
• TTY users phone 133 677 then ask for 1800 634 541
• Speak and Listen users phone 1800 555 727 ask for 1800 634 541.
  

Interpreting assistance

For interpreting assistance in languages other than English, telephone the Translation and Interpreting Service on 13 14 50 and ask for a connection to 61 8 6552 7400 or 1800 634 541.

Regional applicants

Toll Free (Country WA callers only): 1800 634 541
Email the Grants Officers: creativelearning@dlgsc.wa.gov.au