Creative Academy Inspire Programme
The Creative Academy Inspire Programme is a flagship strand of Slough’s cultural revival, using dance and performing arts to open opportunity, build confidence and strengthen community life across the town. Funded by Arts Council England, Slough Schools Sport and Physical Activity Network, the UK Government, Slough Borough Council and Slough Arts Forum, Inspire brings high-quality, inclusive activity directly into the places where people already are, schools, community spaces and local groups.
Inspire is about widening participation and breaking down barriers to Performing Arts education, particularly for communities who are underrepresented in the creative industries. By offering inspirational classes, regular participation opportunities and clear progression routes, the programme helps children, young people and adults to experience dance not just as a hobby, but as a realistic lifelong pathway and potential career.
At the heart of Inspire is our commitment to put dance into every Slough school. We deliver classes across the town, led by professional dance teachers working alongside Creative Academy Year 2 and Year 3 BA (Hons) Dance students. This approach ensures that pupils experience high-quality teaching, while our undergraduate dancers gain vital real-world experience as emerging practitioners, role models and mentors.
Beyond schools, Inspire extends into the wider community. We run weekly, accessible and affordable dance classes for adults with learning disabilities, using movement and creativity to support well-being, social connection and independence. We also offer free space to small, local community groups who have secured their own funding for dance projects, enabling them to rehearse, create and share work without the barrier of venue costs.
For children and young people, Inspire provides regular, affordable dance and musical theatre classes in partnership with Prodigy Dance Studios, Drishti Dance Company and Srishti Dance Company. This unique collaboration brings together a range of styles, traditions and professional expertise, giving local participants a rich, high-quality training experience right on their doorstep.
In partnership with the Slough Schools Sport and Physical Activity Network, Inspire also produces an annual schools dance festival that showcases the work taking place across all our schools.
The festival has grown year on year, from around 100 children and young people taking part to more than 450 participants in the 2025/26 academic year. It is a joyful celebration of creativity, commitment and achievement, and a visible reminder of the importance of arts and culture to the life of the town.
This Boy Can Dance Too, launched in September 2025, brings Slough School boy pupils together with professional male dance practitioners, to combat the growing incel and toxic masculinity, by showcasing positive male role models and combatting the diminishing boys pathways over the past 10 years and demonstrating the economic, social and wellbeing benefits of dance.
Overall, the Inspire Programme is designed to ensure that children, young people and adults in Slough can see themselves in dance and the wider creative industries.
By making activity accessible, local and relevant, it empowers participants to imagine creative futures, supports health and well-being, and contributes directly to a vibrant, diverse cultural ecosystem for Slough.
