The Budding Writers' System

Once you've seen the videos, and looked through the written materials for each of our modules, you'll arrange a telephone call* with one of our Arts Award advisers. Your adviser will help you decide what kind of project to do, and how best to organise your time.

After this conversation, you'll be sent an email outlining what you’ve agreed and suggesting links to online resources that will help you complete the module.

One important thing that all Arts Award participants have to do is show evidence of themselves working on tasks. At Budding Writers, you'll post all this evidence, along with your project work, in an online portfolio, which can include writing, photography, video and audio files. It’ll be a challenge putting it together, but fun too, and you’ll develop a good understanding of your own creative process as you're doing it

Your portfolio will be kept on a secure learning platform called Seesaw – which can be accessed through your computer or via an app on your mobile device. Here you'll be able to upload all your evidence and other Arts Award work. None of this will be visible to general internet users, but your portfolio will be available to your Arts Award adviser, the Trinity College moderator, other participants of the Budding Writers Bronze Arts Award programme and, if you choose, your mum and dad/guardian. Once you've enrolled with us you'll be sent details on how to access the Seesaw facility.

Don't worry if this all sounds a bit daunting - if you ever get stuck, your adviser will only be an email away and they will ALWAYS get back to you.

* If you find talking on the phone uncomfortable, that's OK, we can work with you by email instead. Simply let us know with your first assignment that email is your preferred method of communicating with your adviser.

Expert Opinion

“The Budding Writers programme is a very well thought through and thorough Bronze and I hope that this brilliant course attracts lots of young people to explore and develop their own writing style.”
Caroline Bray, Arts Award Associate, Arts and Culture.

Full Course Synopsis

Introduction
This gives you an overview of Arts Award and explains what you need to do to get started.

Part 1 (Arts Award Part B): Exploring writing as a member of the audience.
To be a writer, you also need to be a keen reader, listener and watcher of films, plays, TV... etc. For this part you need to review and analyse a book, a story, a song, a play or maybe a film... something by someone you really like. You can present your review in any format you want.

Part 2 (Arts Award Part A): Developing your creative writing skills.
Here, along with your adviser, you'll decide on an activity that will help develop some aspect of your writing. This can be anything you like, from joining the school’s creative writing club to working through a booktuber's online course, or creating a written piece to enter a competition.

Part 3 (Arts Award Part C): Discovering more about someone who inspires you.
Here, you'll be asked to find out about an author or artist whose work you enjoy. You’ll look into their life, finding out about their influences, their career, and how they go about doing whatever it is they do. 

Part 4 (Arts Award Part D): Passing on your skills.
Teaching is a great way to reinforce anything you've learnt. And all artists (not just writers) are bearers of traditions that have to be passed on from one person to another, one generation to the next. So, in this section, you get the chance to pass on something you know about writing. Putting together a 'How To' article or video, or running a lunchtime workshop at school are just some of the options here – your adviser will help you decide what to do.

Guidance. For each section, you’ll be asked to provide evidence of yourself doing the required task and reflecting on the process you went through to complete it. You will be given guidance on how to do this.

Your work. The work you upload to your portfolio can be in any format you like – written pieces, photos, videos, songs, memes and mood boards are all good for Arts Award. This is something you can discuss with your adviser.

Your Adviser and You. Once you’ve enrolled with Budding Writers, you'll receive an email from your Arts Award adviser, introducing themselves. They will be your personal mentor, and guide you through the Arts Award qualification. You will have five telephone or email tutorials with your adviser. Plus, you can email them at anytime if you need a little extra help or advice.

Your adviser will be an enhanced DBS checked, Arts Award trained, working writer, who wants to help you become the best writer you can be.

Arts Award Qualification. Once you've completed all four parts of the Bronze Arts Award programme, and uploaded all your work to your portfolio, we will invite a moderator from Trinity College to look through it. Providing your individual pieces of evidence and reflection meet the required standard (your adviser will help with this) your Bronze Arts Award certificate will be issued by Trinity College and sent out to us, so we can send it on to you.

Seven-day Trial. After enrolling you have seven days to decide if this programme is for you. If for whatever reason (and you don't have to tell us), within the first week you decide you don't want to continue, simply email us and a full refund will be issued to the card that was used to pay for the course.

Twelve Great Reasons to Enrol with Budding Writers

1. Gain a nationally recognised qualification whilst doing something you love.
   
   
2. Develop research, reflection, teaching and leadership skills.
   
   
3. Increase your self-confidence and improve your writing.
   
   
4. Find out how you can use writing in your future career.
   
   
5. Gain a better understanding of your creative process.
   
   
6. All the course material is online so you can study where and when it suits you.
   
   
7. Focus on the areas of writing that interest you.
   
   
8. Five tutorials with your Arts Award adviser by telephone or email - it's your choice.
   
   
9. You can email your adviser any time you have a question.
   
   
10. You have a full year to complete your Award.
    
    
11. Seven-day trial to make sure it's for you.
    
    
12. It's challenging and lots of fun.

Enrolling is Easy. Here at Budding Writers we like to make things easy for you. So we have no fixed enrolment dates. You enrol as soon as you are ready. No waiting, no fuss. All you have to do is click the 'Enrol Now' buttons on this page. As soon as your card details have been approved you'll have instant access to your course materials and you can start. It's as simple as that.

Bronze Arts Award Fees: £372 for all four parts of the Budding Writers online-learning programme, plus Arts Award moderation and certificate fee of £23 = £395 in all.