The Art Room is a group programme that uses art-making and discussion to support pupils with emotional difficulties.

In a safe and creative environment, children and young people can explore their feelings, express themselves and grow in confidence.

A highly trained Mobile Art Room team will create a vibrant and welcoming space in each school and groups of up to eight pupils between the ages of five and 16 can attend The Art Room once a week for at least a term.

Using group discussion, stories, art-making and reflection time, our staff support children and young people with emotional difficulties to feel safe and to develop confidence and resilience.

Who attends The Art Room?

With consent from parents and carers, schools refer pupils who need help to thrive at school.

These pupils might:

• Struggle with wellbeing
• Need help improving social skills, building trust and becoming more confident
• Find large groups difficult
• Benefit from a break from school or home. 

They may also be going through change as:

• A looked after child
• An asylum seeker
• A young carer
• A new pupil.

In the safe and creative environment of The Art Room, children and young people often take the opportunity to talk about what is worrying them.

We keep an ongoing dialogue with the school to help staff understand their behaviour and encourage them to get the most out of their learning.

What happens in an Art Room session?

Sessions at The Art Room are carefully planned and structured to help children and young people feel supported.

Working with our highly-trained staff, they transform an everyday object – like a lampshade, stool, clock or tray – into a work of art which they take home with them.

The work gives them a chance to explore their feelings, express themselves and grow in confidence, as well as developing social skills, making their own decisions and feeling proud of their achievements.

We encourage pupils to carry these positive changes into the rest of their lives, so they can get the most out of their learning and relationships.

Changes to the Art Room service 

In 2019 Place2Be carried out a business review of The Art Room service, which concluded that in its original format, the service had limited accessibility and was not financially sustainable.

We are now excited to announce the introduction of an accessible, affordable mobile model for the Art Room, that will enable us to reach more children and young people in the future.

From January 2021 the Art Room team will come into schools and set up a safe and welcoming space to offer weekly sessions for groups of children and young people who need extra support.

Activities from The Art Room

During the lockdown period, the team created a series of free projects for primary aged children to make at home or school together with parents, carers or teachers. The creative projects can help adults and children to nurture their relationship whilst having fun making art together. Learn more about our Activities from The Art Room. 

Find out more

Get in touch using our enquiries form or by emailing: theartroom@place2be.org.uk