Year 7 student
MaxLiteracy develops new ways of teaching creative writing and literacy by bringing writers, educators and cultural organisations together.
Kate, Year 9
The idea of using the art as a starting point to make something creative is brilliant. It’s a whole new educational genre.
Tim Marvel, Head of Art
The Joseph Rowntree Secondary School, York
Emily Year 5
Engaging with writers and artists can have a transformative effect on the lives of young people.
Stevie Ronnie, Writer
MaxLiteracy offers funding for cultural organisations in England to work in partnership with schools and writers as part of a programme to stimulate literacy through the visual arts.
Using artists and artworks as inspiration, these collaborations produce innovative resources that are available for anyone to download and use.
Watch our film to see how MaxLiteracy has helped young people.
Running time 2:46 mins
Ideas to support writing and literacy across the curriculum for all ages using the visual arts as stimulus
Take an individual artwork, an exhibition, your collection or building, as a prompt for writing
Learn from the experience of writers who have been part of MaxLiteracy projects and explore the resources created
Evaluation reports from previous MaxLiteracy projects tell us the following impacts are typical:
Key Stage 3 and 4 (ages 12 to 15)
A cross-curricular project exploring the themes of flooding and climate change through creative writing and visual art making.
Key Stage 3 (ages 11 – 14)
A collection of automata encourages year 7 boys to explore the theme of a dystopian future and write their own science fiction book.
Key stage 4 (ages 13 - 14)
Raising self-esteem and building young people’s resilience, The Whitworth worked in partnership with Trinity Church of England High School and creative writer Johnny Woodhams, to increase levels of literacy across all subject areas.
Develop your own creative literacy project inspired by art from your local gallery or museum.
Our resources give you useful tips for planning your project and making it happen.
View the resources