Royal Dock Originals
Royal Docks Originals schools programme
Royal Docks schools are invited to help shape and participate in Royal Docks Originals, taking place in Autumn 2027.
Following the success of the 2025 festival schools programme, we are working to build stronger, longer-term relationships with local schools around the next edition of the biennial festival.
Schools are invited to take part in a programme of creative opportunities developed with artists, cultural partners and the Royal Docks Team. These could include creative workshops, performances, exhibitions, public art, digital projects and opportunities for young people to work alongside professional artists and creative organisations.
The programme will also explore the Royal Docks history and heritage, as a place of migration, communities, trade and industry, as well as a place of environmental change and regeneration, connecting local learning with the changing landscape around it.
A key strand will be the development of a new Royal Docks learning resource for schools, exploring the area's past, present and future. Teachers and pupils will be invited to contribute ideas and help shape a resource that can support curriculum learning while encouraging children to develop a deeper understanding of and connection to, the place where they live and learn.
The initiative aims to create lasting pathways from classroom learning into and through the wider Royal Docks cultural programme. In time, these pathways will also connect with the creative and digital skills opportunities being developed at Compressor House, at Royal Albert, a new space championing digital literacy and creative skills for young people.
We want Royal Docks Originals to be a festival that local children and young people can see themselves in – not simply as audiences, but as participants, creators and contributors to the story of this extraordinary place.
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