We have set up an online space for the Geek Club to exist and develop outside of our online meetings.

Please use the different sections to share and develop your interest and knowledge around evaluation.

This is a completely open space where all geeks are invited to generously share, question, and connect.

I’m excited to be here to learn, share, and be inspired. I’d love to expand my knowledge with this brilliant group and explore new ways of evidencing our impact - with plenty of curiosity and, hopefully, a touch of playfulness too.

We have been a part of the Teacher Development Fund from 2022-24 and are now starting a new project through the Arts Based Learning Fund from 2025-28.

lesleyann.smith@livemusicnow.scot

Favourite sweet treat: Custard doughnut

We are based in Hull but deliver creative workshops and adaptive education programmes across the UK aimed at young people who 'learn differently' - including neurodivergent young people.

We are a Trinity Champion Centre for our delivery of Arts Award and have a new portal for young people to sign up and progress through all stages of Arts Award at their own pace and with our support.

creativebriefs.co.uk/arts-award

Our aim is to provide young people with autonomy and the confidence to make informed choices when they need - in both life and eventually careers. 

I (now) love learning and have my own strategies for retaining knowledge after being identified as dyslexic while completing my PGCE as a mature student.

I enjoy sharing my enthusiasm for design and creativity with the younger generation and have set up The Junior Design Factory - www.creativebriefs.co.uk/jdf who run their own paid for design agency.

I don't have a sweet tooth and would much sooner have two main courses than a dessert.

Our mission is to help every child & young person to shine & to have a voice. At Chuckle, no one is invisible, we aim to work towards a future where ability not disability is the focus, challenging preconceptions of disability/neurodivergence and championing uniqueness.

I'm here to hopefully pick up new approaches to evaluating. We are currently part of the PH Arts-Based learning fund, working in 6 schools and 12 nurseries, and we also work with The Community Fund and the Youth Music Foundation.

philippa@chuckleproductions.org

p.s I love Gummy Bears. Yum Yum :)

My name is Gem (she/her) and I'm the Head of Learning & Impact at Grimm & Co (www.grimmandco.co.uk). We are a literacy charity and arts organisation providing free creative writing programmes for children and young people aged 0-18 years. Our signature pedagogy is centred on the child's Funds of Knowledge to make meaning of the world around them and understand that their voice is important in adding to that meaning.

I am currently in the 3rd year of my EdD at the University of Glasgow and my areas of interest are in:

• Game-based systems in evaluation to encourage honest, critical reflections from children and young people.

• The impact of immersive, multi-sensory environments for language development.

• Creative courage in the classroom and enhancing this in educators and pupils.

My fave sweet treat is a tres leches cake - it's mui ricco!

My role involves developing and delivering arts-based learning projects to deliver different aspects of the curriculum.

We have just started a new PHF funded TDF project supporting teachers in using story and storytelling within their everyday classroom practice. I am really interested in how evaluation can be created and used in a meaningful (and creative!) way.

Here are some of our current projects:

https://www.z-arts.org/creative-learning/projects-were-proud-of/

If you haven't signed up yet - you can sign up via the eventbrite linked!

My name is Aoife (ee-FAH) and I'm the Operations and Programme Coordinator for Fighting Words NI. We're a charity dedicated to unlocking the joy and power of creative writing for children and young people aged 6-18 through a combination of schools and community workshops.

My role means that I do a little bit of everything but focus mainly on our schools programme, and our PHF ABL project Writing Our Selves.

I have a massive sweet tooth and my favourite changes daily (my inability to pick just one has contributed hugely to how long it took me to write this bio!) but I will never say no to a really indulgent ice cream, or one of my mum's oat biscuits.

I created and ran a peer learning and reflection programme for arts educators in Yorkshire and the Humber for years and had the privilege to learn about creative evaluation techniques alongside all the people who came through the programme. The evaluation work I do now ranges hugely in scale and focus. This month, I'm working on a large schools opera programme in Rotherham, supporting a small arts organisation in Bradford to tell their stories of change, and helping a special school in Sheffield notice moments of connection and rapport building.

Working solo as a freelancer means I don't often meet other people who are interested in evaluation and reflection, so I'm DELIGHTED to join this Geek Club and to learn and share alongside you all.

email: Sophie_hunter@icloud.com

Favourite sweet treat: dark chocolate and stem ginger, preferably eaten together :)

I am Louise Marshall (she/her)and I am based at Eden Court, Inverness - a theatre and arts venue in the Highlands.

I am the Producer for Dance & Accessible Arts in the Engagement Team and lead on various projects. Currently I am the Project Coordinator for our Paul Hamlyn Teacher Development Fund project - Everyone IS An Artist.

I am loving the action research approach of Paul Hamlyn and since completing an MEd In Learning and Teaching in the Performing Arts a few years ago I have become a bit of a qualitative research/evaluation geek.

lmarshall@eden-court.co.uk

Favourite sweet treat - lemon cannoli

I’ve recently stepped into this role, having worked for Open Theatre for over 10 years previously. I am keen to enhance our evaluation process, helping us measure impact in much more rich and meaningful ways!

bethan@opentheatre.co.uk

And most importantly… my favourite sweet treat has to be banoffee pie!

My work is largely freelance. At the moment, I am working as a critical friend/evaluator with Blue Moose Dance Company on their Paul Hamlyn Teacher Development funded project: From Head to Toe: News - Blue Moose Dance Company.

When not Blue Moosing, I work part-time as a Senior Lecturer/Practitioner-Researcher at the University of Lancashire co-creating interdisciplinary research with our local Dance for Parkinson's community.

And beyond the university, I am developing the Wanna Dance? project with Cheshire Dance, as a Dance Artist In-Residence in social care - exploring 1:1 dancing with adults with profound intellectual and multiple disabilities: Home - PMLD Dance.

I'm keen to explore/discover how I can best capture, evaluate and share lived, embodied and non-verbal experiences. I look forward to geeking out with everyone!

ruthspencer.info@gmail.com

rmspencer2@lancashire.ac,uk

And now to cake - anything with lots of moist, dried fruits - I am in!!!