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Listen Up now to what young people are exploring and creating on Speak Up – a secondary school programme with a difference. 

Alongside teachers and artists, young people are speaking up about issues that matter most to them. Explore creative work made in classrooms and in local towns and cities. 

This page will be updated throughout the duration of the programme. Keep up to date with the creative responses here and by following along on social media #NTSpeakUp. 

 

We need someone who will listen. We want to make something meaningful. We need a space to express ourselves and just be.

– Student, Carleton High School, Pontefract

The Big Speak Up Get Together

In November 2023, we invited teachers, artists, partners and the Speak Up Council to the National Theatre for The Big Speak Up Get Together.

We welcomed over 100 people from across England to our South Bank home for a series of conversations, workshops and CPD training – and, crucially, to give people the chance to meet others on the programme.

Look

Have a look at the artwork created by students from across the Speak Up programme

Watch

Two films made by students from Trinity Academy Cathedral

A person in a chimp costume on a high street on a sunny day
Play Video

The Chimp in my Brain
Written and directed by Matt Woodhead. Photography: Fly Girl Films.

Still of an image from the Speak Up film. A person in school uniform, holding a pink balloon
Play Video

No Balloons
Written and directed by Matt Woodhead. Photography: Fly Girl Films.

Two films made by students in Sunderland

Play Video

Oxclose Community Academy, sharing showcase event 2022

A cartoon drawing of a person with a speech bubble.
Play Video

Made by students at Beacon of Light school with animator Sheryl Jenkins

Listen

Listen to our playlists of music, podcasts and spoken word created by young people on Speak Up

 

 

Join the conversation

Follow Speak Up activity on Twitter #NTSpeakUp

News from the programme

Our funder

The Mohn Westlake Foundation Trustees share our belief in the importance of youth voice, and care about the detrimental effects of the pandemic on young people’s aspirations, confidence and agency.

In partnership with Mohn Westlake Foundation we created Speak Up, and we are excited to be working together with young people in some of the most economically disadvantaged areas of the country to enable positive change in their lives, schools and local communities.

Find out more about supporting our work

Contact us

If you would like any more information about the creative work made on Speak Up, please contact:

Rhian Bennett 
Press
rbennett@nationaltheatre.org.uk 

Ellie Hart 
Speak Up Project Manager
speakup@nationaltheatre.org.uk  

Photo by Smart Banda