KTP – Vital North Partnership

A vital partnership: Seven Stories and Newcastle University

In this blog post, I’m reflecting on the Vital North Partnership’s work from 2015 to 2018, supported by Arts Council England’s Museum Resilience Fund. Through the programme, Seven Stories, The National Centre for Children’s Books have strengthened their leadership role as Britain’s home of children’s literature. Funding allowed them to invest in their strategic collaboration with Newcastle University, and supported business planning and income diversification.

Seven Stories: The National Centre for Children’s Books and Newcastle University share the ambition that Newcastle becomes a centre for excellence in children’s literature – for collections, research, learning, engagement and professional practice.

From 2015 – 2018, Seven Stories and Newcastle University worked together on the Vital North Partnership, a strategic development programme funded by Arts Council England’s Museum Resilience Fund. This aimed to:

Enhance and scale up their collaborative partnership
Increase Seven Stories’ financial resilience and diversify income
Support Seven Stories’ long-term business planning

Arts Council England funding, matched by Newcastle University, supported the employment of a Partnership Manager (me!) to lead the collaboration, and provided a project budget.

Students from Newcastle University's BA in English Literature visiting Seven Stories. Image: Newcastle University — Students from Newcastle University’s BA in English Literature visiting Seven Stories. Image: Newcastle University

Developing a museum / university partnership

The Vital North Partnership has strengthened and significantly developed Seven Stories’ collaboration with Newcastle University, through activities including:

Collaborating on the UK’s first English Literature Knowledge Transfer Partnership, supported by AHRC and InnovateUK. This embedded a research function into Seven Stories’ Collections and Exhibitions Team and informed the Michael Morpurgo: A Lifetime in Stories exhibition.
Being recognised as the Knowledge Exchange / Transfer Initiative of the Year at the Times Higher Education Leadership and Management Awards 2017.
Securing three fully-funded PhDs looking at Seven Stories’ collections and spaces, supported by Newcastle University, the AHRC and the National Productivity Investment Fund.
Seven Stories engaged with 9 undergraduate and postgraduate taught modules at Newcastle University, from Music to Geography, providing learning and skills development opportunities.
Seven Stories hosted 20 Newcastle University student internships, from museums studies to film production, helping young people to experience cultural and creative careers.
Delivering 33 joint public events, from expert talks at Newcastle University to activities for early years in Seven Stories’ Studio.

Frances Hardiinge and Aishwarya Subramanian. Image: Newcastle University — Frances Hardinge and Aishwarya Subramanian in conversation at the ‘Fantasy Worlds with Frances Hardinge’ event.. Image: Newcastle University

Increasing Seven Stories’ financial resilience

Arts Council England’s funding supported Seven Stories’ financial resilience by:

Enabling Seven Stories to invest in marketing activity and branding development to understand audiences better and encourage new and repeat visits.
The Vital North Partnership supported Seven Stories’ first crowdfunding campaign, which will enhance their work with families with additional sensory needs.
Through collaborative activity with Newcastle University, Seven Stories were able to access higher education-related funding and support, from funders such as EPSRC, The Leverhulme Trust, Horizon 2020 and ERDF.

A bird's-eye view of Newcastle Gateshead in 2065. Image: Newcastle University — A bird’s-eye view of Newcastle Gateshead in 2065, created by Seven Stories’ visitors. Image: Newcastle University

A sustainable future for Seven Stories

Through the Vital North Partnership’s work, Seven Stories invested in their infrastructure and explored how their collaboration with Newcastle University could inform a long-term business strategy:

Seven Stories invested in additional collections storage, enabling additional collection acquisitions during 2015 – 2018.
Working with Newcastle University Library, Seven Stories explored collaboratively acquiring and providing access to collections. This included working on joint outreach projects with 8 local schools, and jointly acquiring the largest private children’s literature collection in the UK.
As part of the Newcastle City Futures Urban Living Partnership, Seven Stories’ visitors explored the future of the city, informing a new architectural project on reimagining children’s spaces.
Developing a detailed options appraisal for Seven Stories’ future infrastructure, and securing funding through the Higher Education Innovation Fund to explore models for the long-term future of the collaboration.

Students with their fairytales! — Pupils with fairytale books created as part of an outreach project led by the University Library with Seven Stories and the Hatton Gallery.

Through the project, Seven Stories’ work became embedded within Newcastle University’s structures, and enhanced their financial resilience.

For Newcastle University, new research collaborations were developed, wider audiences accessed academic research, and the Partnership provided unique opportunities for teaching and learning.

The partnership between the two organisations has been recognised by Arts Council England through the 2018 – 22 National Portfolio scheme, and with match funding from Newcastle University, we are looking forward to an ambitious programme over the next four years. And for more information on that – watch this space!

For more information about the Vital North Partnership and its activity, visit https://blogs.ncl.ac.uk/vitalnorth/

Northern Bridge and Ecologies of Knowledge

Seven Stories: The National Centre for Children’s Books is a strategic partner to the Northern Bridge Doctoral Training Partnership, funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council. In May, I joined staff from Newcastle University, Durham University and Queen’s University Belfast, as well as colleagues from Northern Bridge’s strategic partners, for Ecologies of Knowledge, a seminar held at the Public Record Office of Northern Ireland in Belfast.

The seminar was suggested by Sage Gateshead’s Dave Camlin. It gave us the chance to reflect on our time working together on Northern Bridge so far, and “to explore some of the tensions and opportunities inherent in collaborative approaches to the generation of new knowledge.”

Newcastle University's Professor Mike Rossington addresses the Northern Bridge Ecologies of Knowledge seminar. Image courtesy of the Public Record Office of Northern Ireland. — Newcastle University’s Professor Mike Rossington addresses the Northern Bridge Ecologies of Knowledge seminar. Image courtesy of the Public Record Office of Northern Ireland.

Of course, there are tensions; when you bring together any group of academic institutions, or cultural organisations, there is competition – for students, for audiences, for funding. And although learning is at the heart of what both universities and cultural venues do, the processes through which we generate knowledge are quite different. We speak different languages. We have different drivers. Working in collaboration requires negotiating all of these factors.

Another tension which formed a focus of conversation during the day was the inequality of engagement with the arts. The Warwick Commission’s Enriching Britain, Culture, Creative and Growth Report states that “the wealthiest, better educated and least ethnically diverse 8% of the population forms the most culturally active segment of all”. How to reach those beyond that 8% is certainly a challenge.

But democratising culture and knowledge is becoming increasingly important in both the higher education and cultural sectors. The Research Excellence Framework emphasises the impact of research ‘beyond academia’; Arts Council England encourages the organisations they fund to reach more demographically diverse audiences.

Dave Camlin (Sage Gateshead) opens the seminar. Image courtesy of the Public Record Office of Northern Ireland.

From my experience of working on the Vital North Partnership between Newcastle University and Seven Stories, collaboration holds exciting opportunities. Partnership helps to make our activities more interesting and diverse. At the intersections between universities, cultural organisations and communities, we can draw on our collective expertise to create new kinds of shared knowledge. And with increasing pressure on arts budgets, we can pool our resources and become more efficient.

I explored the Vital North Partnership’s unique ecology at the seminar, giving a Pecha Kucha presentation:

It was also interesting to reflect on what role Northern Bridge, as a Doctoral Training Partnership, has as part of our shared ecology. I think the ways in which universities and arts organisations collaborate is changing. We are asking different questions, and having new conversations. I work at this boundary – and I’m interested to see where we’re headed next.

For more information about the Northern Bridge Doctoral Training Consortium, visit: http://www.northernbridge.ac.uk/

Newcastle University awards Michael Morpurgo honorary degree

Today, Newcastle University has made Michael Morpurgo an Honorary Doctor of Letters for his outstanding achievements as a children’s author and supporter of children’s rights, and recognising his strong connections to the North East.

Michael Morpurgo received the honour as part of the School of English Literature, Language and Linguistics’ Congregation ceremonies, where our undergraduates and postgraduates also celebrated their degree success.

Michael is a true champion of children’s books. In an award-winning writing career that has spanned 40 years, he has published over 150 books for children, including War Horse, Private Peaceful and Kensuke’s Kingdom. He was the third Children’s Laureate from 2003 to 2005, a scheme he helped to establish. In 2006, his services to children’s literature were recognised when he was awarded an OBE. Michael and his wife, Clare Morpurgo, are also the founders of Farms for City Children, a charity which has now offered over 100,000 children the opportunity to experience a working farm in the countryside.

Michael Morpurgo with Seven Stories' A Lifetime in Stories exhibition. Image: Seven Stories, The National Centre for Children's Books, photography by Richard Kenworthy — Michael Morpurgo with Seven Stories’ A Lifetime in Stories exhibition. Image: Seven Stories, The National Centre for Children’s Books, photography by Richard Kenworthy

Alongside his writing and charity work, the honorary degree also celebrates Michael’s links to Newcastle. He is a Patron of Seven Stories: The National Centre for Children’s Books, and donated his entire archive to Seven Stories in 2015. This collection formed the basis for a major exhibition, Michael Morpurgo: A Lifetime in Stories, as well as a learning and engagement programme, and was supported by an InnovateUK Knowledge Transfer Partnership with Newcastle University, funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council. The exhibition was on display between July 2016 to July 2017 at Seven Stories and is now preparing for a national tour, beginning with the V&A Museum of Childhood, where it will run from 22^nd July 2017 – 25^th February 2018.

Michael Morpurgo, with items from his archive, at Seven Stories. Image: Seven Stories, The National Centre for Children's Books, photography by Richard Kenworthy — Michael Morpurgo, with items from his archive, at Seven Stories. Image: Seven Stories, The National Centre for Children’s Books, photography by Richard Kenworthy

In her citation, acting University Librarian, Jill Taylor-Roe, said: “Michael Morpurgo, who we are honouring today, is one of the finest storytellers of our generation.”

Michael Morpurgo accepted the award by saying: “I am delighted to receive this degree from Newcastle University’s School of English. What a huge honour and from a city that is home to the wonderful Seven Stories, who look after my archive and for which my wife Clare and I are joint Patrons. It feels a bit like coming home.”

You can watch the whole degree ceremony online. Jill Taylor-Roe’s citation begins at 31:10 with Michael’s response running from 40:48 to 52:14.

Congratulations, Dr Morpurgo! And well done to all Newcastle University students graduating this summer.

Newcastle University and Seven Stories win prestigious THELMA award

I’m absolutely delighted to blog today about this year’s Times Higher Education Leadership and Management Awards (THELMAs), where Newcastle University and Seven Stories: The National Centre for Children’s Books won the Knowledge Exchange / Transfer Initiative of the Year prize for our Knowledge Transfer Partnership.

From October 2015 to December 2016, Seven Stories: The National Centre for Children’s Books and Newcastle University’s School of English Literature, Language and Linguistics collaborated on an innovative Knowledge Transfer Partnership, supported by the Arts and Humanities Research Council and InnovateUK. I blogged about the Seven Stories KTP, which is believed to be the first English Literature KTP in the UK, back in January, where you can read all about the project.

The Times Higher Education Leadership and Management Award trophies. Image: Times Higher Education

The KTP was a flagship project for the Vital North Partnership, so I suggested that this should be put forward for the THELMA Awards, and worked closely with colleagues in the University’s Knowledge Transfer Partnership Team and the Press Office to make the award submission.

We were lucky enough to be shortlisted amongst some amazing entries – and on 22nd June, it was announced that Newcastle University had won the Knowledge Transfer / Exchange Initiative of the Year! Dr Lucy Pearson, one of the KTP’s academic supervisors, and Kate Edwards, Seven Stories’ Chief Executive, collected our THELMA trophy at a glittering award ceremony in London’s Grosvenor House Hotel in London.

The Knowledge Exchange / Transfer Initiative of the Year. Image: Times Higher Education — Comedian Bill Bailey announces the Knowledge Exchange / Transfer Initiative of the Year. Image: Times Higher Education

The judging panel said that this collaboration was “an exemplar of how a school of English could engage in knowledge exchange. The initiative has transformed the way staff seek to apply their knowledge and unlocked a number of additional collaborations in the area of English literature.”

Pro-Vice Chancellor for the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, Professor Julie Sanders, said: “I am immensely proud that the work of the School of English Literature, Language and Linguistics with Seven Stories has been recognised in this way. The KTP project is a model of what purposeful partnerships and collaborative working can achieve.”

Kate Edwards and Dr Lucy Pearson collected the award. Image: Times Higher Education

For Kate Edwards, this award “recognises that Seven Stories and Newcastle University are leading the way in bringing together research and engagement expertise to create rich, authentic and people-centred experiences that explore literature for children.

Dr Jessica Medhurst, our KTP Associate, took the application of research and interpretation of Michael Morpurgo’s archive to a different level, culminating in a landmark exhibition, that opened at Seven Stories in 2016. Our unique collections and curatorial experience, alongside the School of English Literature, Language and Linguistics’ subject knowledge and research rigour are opening up new opportunities for experimentation, with the goal that research and our collections are shared with the public in ways that are relevant, accessible and engaging.”

Many congratulations to all of my colleagues – an amazing award for an amazing project!

The Research Excellence Framework and the Vital North Partnership

In the 2014 Research Excellence Framework (REF), Newcastle University submitted an Impact Case Study about the Children’s Literature Unit’s work with Seven Stories: Promoting the preservation, presentation and public understanding of children’s literature with Seven Stories, the National Centre for Children’s Books.

This Impact Case Study received a 4* grading, defined as ‘outstanding impacts in terms of their reach and significance’. This contributed to Newcastle University ranking first out of all UK HEIs for impact in English Language and Literature.

REF2014 really highlighted the excellence of the partnership between the two organisations and what we could achieve together. Following this REF2014 success, Newcastle University and Seven Stories’ Vital North Partnership programme began in 2015, and aims to strengthen and scale up our collaboration.

So, how did this partnership lead to a REF2014 Impact Case Study, and what have we been doing since then? Well, I gave a paper on that very subject back in October as part of a panel on REF Impact and the Heritage Sector at The National Archives and Research Libraries UK’s Discovering Collections, Discovering Communities conference. Take a look:

From Warhorse to the Wombles: Seven Stories and Newcastle University

Of course, Newcastle University has a number of strong partnerships with the cultural sector, and Seven Stories’ weren’t the only museum mentioned in their REF Impact Case Studies. And this reflects the submissions of HEIs across the country: 837 of the submitted Case Studies mentioned ‘museum/s’ and 40% of all arts and humanities Impact Case Studies involved museums in some way.

The National Co-ordinating Centre for Public Engagement, reviewing this data, reflects that there are opportunities here to widen both the discipline base, create collaborations in new areas of museum practice, and broaden the approach to impact; I think that the Vital North Partnership is really helping Newcastle University to grasp the range of opportunities that working with Seven Stories presents.

Discovering Collections, Discovering Communities conference. Photo by Matt Blair.

Now, higher education funders and institutions are looking to the next REF in 2021. Lord Stern’s independent review of REF2014 was published in July 2016, and the four UK higher education councils are currently consulting on detailed arrangements for a second REF. We don’t know the details of REF2021 just yet, but the focus on research having impact beyond the academic environment and assessing this through Impact Case Studies looks set to continue.

Excellence in children’s literature is central to the Vital North Partnership’s vision. And thinking about the collaboration between Newcastle University and Seven Stories from the perspective of REF Impact, it seems to me that sustained and embedded partnership activity is an effective way of achieving and evidencing this.

The Seven Stories Knowledge Transfer Partnership

From October 2015 to December 2016, Seven Stories: The National Centre for Children’s Books and Newcastle University collaborated on an innovative Knowledge Transfer Partnership, or KTP, funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council. The Seven Stories KTP is believed to be the first English Literature KTP in the UK!

InnovateUK’s KTP scheme helps businesses to develop and grow by linking them with a university. The aim of our KTP was to help Seven Stories develop a research-led approach to their exhibitions and collections, and enable them to attract adult audiences.

Dr Jessica Medhurst, our KTP Research Associate, was embedded within Seven Stories’ Collections and Exhibitions team during the 15 months of the project, supervised by Collections Director Sarah Lawrance and Dr Anne Whitehead (PI) and Dr Lucy Pearson (Co-I) from Newcastle University’s School of English Literature, Language and Linguistics.

The KTP has had some really interesting and tangible outcomes for Seven Stories. And, by establishing research pathways into Seven Stories’ amazing children’s literature archive and evidencing the benefits of collaboration for both organisations, it’s informing our understanding about how the Vital North Partnership could work in the future.

Here’s a visual summary of the project:

Explore the AHRC’s image gallery for Michael Morpurgo: A Lifetime in Stories, read our KTP case study on the Culture Forum North website, or find out more about Knowledge Transfer Partnerships at Newcastle University.

The Vital North Partnership Pecha Kucha

New year, new blog post. And for my first post of 2017, I thought I’d bring you something a little different – a video! Here it is:

The Vital North Partnership (+19 other ways Newcastle University and Seven Stories are collaborating)

In 2016, I presented this Pecha Kucha about the Vital North Partnership between Newcastle University and Seven Stories: The National Centre for Children’s Books at two events; the Arts and Humanities Research Council’s Common Ground event in June, and Newcastle University’s Working Together: Bringing About Change event in November. Both events explored collaborations and engagement in the humanities.

Pecha Kuchas are short, visual presentations. As you talk, you show 20 images, each for 20 seconds. Your slides change automatically. And they’re more than a little tricky to deliver…

The Vital North Partnership (+ 19 other ways Newcastle University and Seven Stories are collaborating) is exactly what the title suggests: a presentation about 20 current Partnership projects. And what are those projects? Well, watch the video and find out!

With thanks to Jeff Wilson from the School of English Literature, Language and Linguistics, who produced this video.

Being part of Being Human 2016

The concepts of fear and hope are central to children’s books.

The Vital North Partnership is part of Newcastle University’s Humanities Research Institute.

So when Being Human, a national festival of the humanities, announced their 2016 festival theme of Hope & Fear, it seemed like the perfect opportunity for the Vital North Partnership to get involved!

Dr Lucy Pearson introduces Hope and Fear in Children's Books. Image: Newcastle University — Dr Lucy Pearson introduces Hope and Fear in Children’s Books. Image: Newcastle University

On 24th November, Newcastle University’s Children’s Literature Unit hosted a Being Human event at Seven Stories: The National Centre for Children’s Books.

The aim of Hope and Fear in Children’s Books was to engage non-academic audiences in children’s literature research in a fun and interesting way.

After an overview of how children’s books engage with hope and fear by Dr Lucy Pearson, Lecturer in Children’s Literature, our first stop was the Michael Morpurgo: A Lifetime in Stories gallery.

Dr Jessica Medhurst giving a guided tour of the Michael Morpurgo: A Lifetime in Stories exhibition. Image: Newcastle University

Dr Jessica Medhurst, Knowledge Transfer Partnership Research Associate, gave us a guided tour of the Michael Morpurgo exhibition. Dr Medhurst has been working with Seven Stories’ Collections Team to uncover the treasures within Morpurgo’s archive, and her tour highlighted the themes of hope and fear within Morpurgo’s work. One visitor said:

“The Michael Morpurgo exhibition was really visually pleasing. The person who took us around was really passionate and informative.”

Seven Stories' Collections Assistant Danielle McAloon talks to visitors. Image: Newcastle University — Seven Stories’ Collections Assistant Danielle McAloon talks to visitors. Image: Newcastle University

Next, we headed up to the Attic, where the Seven Stories Collections Team and Dr Pearson facilitated a hands-on session with original material from Seven Stories’ Catherine Storr, David Almond and Judith Kerr collections.

Our visitors really appreciated the chance to explore this original material in detail:

“The chance to look at the objects / drawings from the collection / archive was great.”

Then, Seven Stories’ Storycatchers Jayne and Lawrence introduced us to the Rhyme Around the World gallery, where we had some self-led time to explore hopes and fears in nursery rhymes. And to have fun with the interactives… “I dressed up as a sheep!”

Dressing up in the Rhyme Around the World gallery. Image: Newcastle University

The evening closed with a drinks reception and quiz in the Attic, sponsored by Newcastle University’s Humanities Research Institute. My knowledge of hope and fear in children’s books was certainly tested, anyway!

Commenting on what they thought was most successful about Hope and Fear in Children’s Books, I was really pleased to see that a number of our visitors said they liked the opportunity to ‘chat to experts’. And I think this piece of feedback from a participant about the impact the event had on them sums the evening up for me, too:

“It’s made me think about how literature can help children (and adults!) cope with fear, and indeed hope.”

Being Human is the UK’s only national festival of the humanities and took place this year between 17^th – 25^th November 2016. The festival is led by the School of Advanced Study, University of London, in partnership with the Arts and Humanities Research Council and the British Academy.

Discovering home, heritage and history at Seven Stories

In this guest post, Dr Lucy Pearson, Lecturer in Children’s Literature at Newcastle University’s School of English Literature, Language and Linguistics and Gavin Hetherington, a BA English Literature with Creative Writing student, reflect on the third year students’ visit to Seven Stories: The National Centre for Children’s Books in October.

Dr Lucy Pearson

My third-year module ‘Home, Heritage, History’ asks students to think about these three themes in the children’s books of the twentieth century, and to think about how English Literature might use archives and museums. This module evolved from my close working relationship with Seven Stories – I’m taking full advantage of having a heritage organisation devoted exclusively to children’s literature right on our doorstep! One of the highlights of my teaching year is the module field trip to Seven Stories, and this year’s trip was extra special.

The team at Seven Stories stayed on after hours to give my students exclusive access to the Seven Stories Visitor Centre in the Ouseburn Valley. The Collections Team brought along some archive material for students to have a closer look at: we explored some of Helen Craig’s original artwork for Angelina Ballerina, looked at some of Robert Westall’s correspondence and his manuscript drafts of The Machine Gunners, and investigated the creation of Tom’s Midnight Garden and The Borrowers through correspondence, artwork, and drafts. Mary Norton’s letter to her illustrator Diana Stanley in which she writes about the horror of the blank page when starting a new work struck a chord with us all! It’s a special feeling to handle the original material and see authors’ false starts, crossings out and uncertainties.

Dr Jessica Medhurst gave the students a guided tour. Image: Newcastle University

Students also had a chance to explore the galleries and think about how Seven Stories shares our heritage of children’s literature with the public. This was especially exciting this year because our KTP Research Associate Jessica Medhurst came along to give students a tour of Michael Morpurgo: A Lifetime in Stories and talk about the ideas behind the exhibition. Jessica has been working closely with the Seven Stories exhibitions team and conducting research to support their development of the exhibition, so she knows everything there is to know about the Morpurgo exhibition. The exhibition theme of storytelling was especially interesting to members of the group who are also creative writers: student Gavin Hetherington gives his account below.

In the Rhyme Around the World exhibition, Storycatcher Lawrence gave students a taste of the experience regular visitors to Seven Stories can enjoy – and they had some fun exploring the interactive aspects of the exhibition!

Interacting with the exhibitions. Image: Newcastle University

We finished the evening with a quiz, where students showed an expert knowledge of children’s books (and a healthy competitive streak!)

If you’re envious of the students’ exclusive access to Seven Stories, it’s not too late to sign up for our Being Human event on 24th November, which will offer all the fun the students enjoyed plus a little bit more.

Gavin Hetherington

As a creative writer, visiting Seven Stories was not only educational, but also inspirational. The biggest part of this children’s literature archive is that they have acquired original materials from iconic authors in order to preserve and protect them from being shipped elsewhere. In doing so, this material is available to be admired, ensuring that visitors can always walk away with something from the experience.

Students exploring the Michael Morpurgo exhibition. Image: Newcastle University

To go from Michael Morpurgo’s ‘Dreamtime’ in his exhibition, to the ‘Cabinet of Curiosities’ – a short walk away – shows how deeply connected every part of his writing process is, from his creative ideas whilst walking through the pastoral, to the illustrators that have collaborated on his work, boasting watercolour paintings that reflect some part of his stories. We are submerged in his mind and are able to interact with the pieces that make up his imagination, and it spills over into the visitors’ reality. Morpurgo himself, in a very cosy setting of a shed and a recording of the famed author speaking directly to us, said that we should ‘fill our heads with this world of which you are a part’ and that, for us creative writers, it is not ‘magic’ that conjured the words we seek to write, but ourselves, as we write the story we truly believe in, from our minds to the paper before us.

I could not help but be fascinated as Morpurgo himself comes to life, as do the other writers who have created such timeless children’s stories, with the manuscript of The Borrowers and the facsimile of Tom’s Midnight Garden. These personal objects reveal the process of their writing, that the finished product we all cherish began in a way that the creative writer can relate, and thus helps us to aspire to be like them. The exhibits in Seven Stories humanises the writers, shows us the processes of their hard work and how they each used their own modes of magic to bring their stories to life.

A first year and a first blog post

We’re now officially one year into our funding for the Vital North Partnership between Seven Stories: The National Centre for Children’s Books and Newcastle University. I thought this blog would be a good way to review what’s gone on over the past year…

The Vital North Partnership begins

The start of 2015 saw Newcastle University’s REF Impact Case Study about the Children’s Literature Unit’s work with Seven Stories receive a 4* grading, leading to the School of English ranking first in the UK for research impact.

This was fantastic recognition of our collaboration over the last 10 years, and led Seven Stories (with Newcastle University’s support) to make a Museum Resilience Fund bid to Arts Council England. This was for the Vital North Partnership, a project with the following aims:

To strengthen and scale-up Seven Stories’ partnership with Newcastle University
To build Seven Stories’ brand recognition and reach and develop new income streams
To secure a sustainable business model for Seven Stories as the national home for children’s books

We were delighted to be awarded funding, and the Vital North Partnership began…

From 2015 to 2016

It’s been a busy first year. Here are some of the highlights!

We were granted funding from AHRC and Innovate UK for a Knowledge Transfer Partnership between the School of English Literature, Language and Lingusitics and Seven Stories’ Collections and Exhibitions team.
We recruited a Vital North Partnership Manager (me!) to facilitate the project. I started in post in January 2016.
Seven Stories’ exclusive Michael Morpurgo: A Lifetime in Stories exhibition opened, supported by the KTP. The Vital North Partnership also supported a sell-out Christmas concert with Michael at St. Nicholas’ Cathedral, On Angel Wings.
We offered 4 joint public talks on children’s literature with expert Brian Alderson, and author Garth Nix.
Seven Stories’ Living Books project is ongoing: this is a development programme for early years settings and parents to share and enjoy books with young children. Newcastle University’s Centre for Learning and Teaching are helping to evaluate this project.

Living Books workshop — Image: Seven Stories, The National Centre for Children’s Books

The Collections team at Seven Stories have been supporting Professor Kim Reynolds’ research into Olive Dehn and Catherine Storr
We also collaborated around Professor David Leat’s Community Curriculum Making research: Seven Stories’ Learning and Participation team have attended meetings and events and contributed case studies.

Journey to Jo'burg performance — Image: Seven Stories, The National Centre for Children’s Books

Seven Stories and Newcastle University hosted Leverhulme Visiting Professor Karen Sands O’Connor from Buffalo State University. Karen spent her time here looking at race and diversity in the Seven Stories collection.
We jointly offered four David Almond Fellowships to support postgraduates and early career researchers to come and consult the Seven Stories collection.
Newcastle University students from the BA in English Literature and BA in Education visited Seven Stories as part of their course, and I gave a seminar on Seven Stories and reading for pleasure for the Educational Psychology doctoral trainees
Seven Stories have also been supporting student employability by offering placements: we’ve supported an undergraduate Research Scholarship with Speech and Language Sciences and we’re currently hosting a Santander University Internship.

Phew!

What’s next?

Now I’ve been in post for 8 months, things are really gathering pace. There are lots of projects in the pipeline and I’m planning to share activities as they happen via this blog. If you’d like more information about anything you’ve read about here, get in touch!

Between now and Christmas, I’ll be posting about opportunities through the Northern Bridge Doctoral Training Partnership, sharing a Pecha Kucha I gave at the AHRC Common Ground event earlier in the summer about the Vital North Partnership and quizzing Research Associate Dr. Jessica Medhurst about all things KTP.

So a first year, and a first blog post. I’m looking forward to seeing what the next year has in store…