Reflecting on Our Festive Campaign 🎄
Throughout December, our festive campaign brought 25 days of creativity to our social media channels, celebrating our programmes, people and the impact of our work.
We shared everything from behind-the-scenes team vlogs to powerful messages from our wonderful Patrons and supporters including Stephen Fry, Hugh Dennis, Zoë Wanamaker and Anish Kapoor.
The campaign generated fantastic engagement and raised valuable funds to support our work in 2026.
Thank you to everyone who followed along, shared our content, and donated to support young people’s creative futures.
If you didn’t get a chance to donate during December, it’s not too late. Find out how to support us.
Celebrating Our BFI Film Academy Students 🎬
We’re immensely proud of our 2025 BFI Film Academy cohort, who wrapped up an incredible journey earlier this month with their sharing event at BFI Southbank.
Over the last few months, a group of talented young filmmakers worked with industry professionals to develop their skills in story pitching, producing, directing, camera operation and editing – culminating in three outstanding short films. Each film showcases the students’ creative vision, technical skill and the confidence they’ve gained throughout this programme. Here’s one for you to enjoy:
BFI Film Academy – Generation (2026)
A huge congratulations to all our students and thank you to our brilliant mentors for guiding them every step of the way.
Watch all the films on YouTube.
Applications for our 2026 BFI Film Academy will open later this year. If you know a young person aged 16-19 who would like to participate in this course, encourage them to subscribe to our Film and Media Opportunities newsletter.
Fundraising News
We’re happy to announce that Eastside has been awarded three years of funding from the Derwent London Community Fund East for our ‘Finding Our Voices’ project. This multi-year investment will enable us to expand our work supporting young people across East London to develop their creative confidence and communication skills through the arts.
We’re also thrilled to share that Wembley Stadium Foundation has awarded us three years of funding to support the delivery and expansion of our schools programmes, including our Artists in Residence Programme and Spoken Word Power.
A massive thank you to both Derwent London and Wembley Stadium Foundation for believing in our mission and investing in the transformative power of creative education. These commitments mean we can plan ahead with confidence and reach even more young people over the coming years.
Schools Programme Updates
Artists in Residence 2026
Applications are now open for our free Artists in Residence programme, placing expert artist educators in Primary and SEND schools across select London boroughs for six weeks during the summer term.
Schools can choose from Animation, Drama or Spoken Word Poetry, with each residency including weekly workshops, teacher CPD, a whole school assembly and a celebratory Creative Festival.
Applications close 10am Monday 2nd March 2026.
Apply today.
The Art of Oracy
We’re excited to introduce a new series of creative workshops for Primary and Secondary schools across London, exploring this year’s Children’s Mental Health Week theme: ‘This is My Place’.
Through drama and spoken word poetry, young people will explore community, identity, and belonging while strengthening oracy skills and meeting PSHE curriculum goals. These sessions are available to book now and are a wonderful way to support wellbeing and creativity in the classroom!
Find out more
Who Are We? Spoken Word Poetry: Oracy in a Multilingual Classroom
We’re delighted to share that an article by George Coish, from Cleveland Road Primary School, our partner school for our Paul Hamlyn Foundation Teacher Development Programme, has been published in the latest edition of Words Matter, The Journal of the Society of Teachers of Speech and Drama.
In Who Are We? Spoken Word Poetry: Oracy in a Multilingual Classroom, George reflects on how spoken word poetry is being used to strengthen oracy, confidence and identity in a richly multilingual classroom. The article explores how performance, rhythm and personal storytelling can give pupils a powerful voice, supporting them to articulate their ideas, draw on their home languages and see their lived experiences as something to be valued.
Read more about our Who are we? Project.
Music Composition Workshop CPD 🎵
Join us for a free teacher CPD session in collaboration with BBC Young Composer, East Ed and Waltham Forest Music Service, designed to support both non-specialist and specialist KS2 and KS3 teachers in developing clear, practical strategies for teaching composition.
This interactive workshop will give you practical ideas to develop composition and support pupils’ transition between key stages. Using the Model Music Curriculum and BBC music education resources, we’ll explore structured pathways and practical tools to help pupils progress confidently and creatively. You’ll leave with adaptable ideas, ready-to-use resources, and clear starting points for composition work in your classroom.
📅 25th February, 1:45pm – 4:45pm
📍 UCL East – Marshgate
Book your place.
