Creative and Cultural industries are the backbone of our modern world, touching every aspect of our lives; from the way we consume media and communicate to our friends to the clothes we wear and the buildings that we live in.
To help your students explore subjects like Art and Design, Architecture, Creative Technologies, or Media at the university level, our Faculty of CCI have a range of opportunities for Key Stage 5 students.
Browse and book experiences, tasters and talks at different timeframes and levels of knowledge – and help your students get close to the subjects they love.
Browse Creative activities for your college
Workshops
Our team will bring all the necessary equipment for hands-on activities, giving students a taste of what it's like to study creative subjects.
Subject talks
Our academic experts offer engaging talks covering a range of subjects, delving into ground-breaking research within creative disciplines and offering insights into specific topics.
Browse and book now
Art & Design
Fashion
Students will boost their fashion drawing skills using various mixed media and drawing materials to help develop their unique styles for fashion illustrations and grow their confidence.
Using still life objects students will create playful and expressive drawings focusing on interesting marks, shapes and textures. Students will:
- Move from the still life to the mannequin by experimenting with draping techniques
- Take their drawings to the next level with digital projection to See how their drawings can inspire fresh textile ideas on your mannequin
Let students imagination’s run wild by creating playful and expressive textile drawings, exploring the world of colours, patterns, and textures to craft unique designs that stand out. Students will see their creations in 3D, seeing designs translate into real garments.
Illustration
We'll start with a rundown of various narrative forms in Illustration before students can get hands on in crafting their own comic based on a specific theme.
After exploring techniques for creating portraits, students will get artistic by using various methods and media to draw each other and bring portraits to life.
Graphic Design
We'll show students what graphic design means in the professional world before students can get hands-on in crafting impactful messages for specific audiences using only type and pictograms for a t-shirt template.
Students will present and discuss their ideas and receive valuable feedback from the session tutor to help build their portfolio.
Theatre
An introduction to the exciting world of puppetry, discovering simple yet powerful techniques to bring inanimate objects to life through live animation. Followed by a session on creating captivating visual theatre by the use of masks.
Delve into innovative ideas in the realm of theatre in higher education with this practical session aimed to get creative gears flowing.
A practical introduction to Laban's movement analysis for performers using the valuable tool to express and understand movement.
Bring the stage to life with a high-energy routine exploring choreographic approaches in Musical Theatre.
Your students will discover innovative ways of composing and performing using 'found' materials and technology such as looper pedals.
Experience a 60-minute workshop immersing students into the styles of Broadway with choreography including:
- Fosse (Chicago)
- Swing (Bandstand)
- Gestural/Pedestrian (Once)
In this hands-on session, students will analyse and discuss the tools employed by legendary choreographers to convey dramatic meaning.
Architecture
Students will unlock the spatial potential of forms and dive into the fascinating world of model making by cutting, scoring and manipulating spaces in this hands-on workshop.
Students will design - and redesign - modules of play and explore the profound connections between play, architecture and construction.
In a practical, hands-on workshop, your class will be equipped with essential model making skills for spatial design. Students will make a scale model ready to test using a range of materials.
We'll challenge students to bridge the disciplines of architecture, spatial design and fashion by transforming architectural forms into wearable paper garments.
Delve into the exciting world of opportunities and career pathways within the fields of Architecture and Interior Design covering:
- Next steps to securing a dream career
- How to structure and edit a portfolio for education and industry
- Tips and advice to find placement opportunities
Creative & Digital Technologies
Whether your students are seasoned gamers or completely new to the concept, this session is available for all experience levels with no coding background essential.
In this hands-on workshop we'll explore the magic of creating engaging and entertaining video games before designing a new game concept together.
This exciting and accessible workshop will look at the world of coding to create the fun and interactive filters seen on Snapchat, Zoom and TikTok - no previous experience necessary.
Your students will unlock the creative potential of web-based music and how a browser can be a powerful took in the music industry. Using JavaScript, your class will explore how they can begin creatively coding using the web.
In this hands-on workshop, you'll explore the world of procedural art using JavaScript in a web browser. Suitable for all levels, you'll take the reigns to see how procedural art systems are capable of changing based on the parameters you choose.
This session will introduce the tools and technologies of producing a range of media content. We will cover video, motion graphics, web and UI design, and animation while looking at the creative production and communication design processes.
Film, Media and Communication
Journalism
Working alongside our Journalism team, you'll learn about routes into Journalism, what the course looks like an engage in an interactive workshop to dive into the world of news stories, values and ethical considerations.
Television
From Netflix to Disney Plus - modern audiences think that streaming platforms are different to television and with high end TV being the driving force behind faster content, is now the best time to work in TV?
Your students will discover what goes on behind the scenes of some of their favourite reality TV programmes; from Love Island to I'm a Celebrity, your class will find out what it's like to direct multiple TV cameras and discover more about the TV industry in this relatable and current session.
Your students will understand how various media outlets relate to each other and yet differ greatly. We'll also highlight the unsung roles that fuel the construction of media used for streaming platforms, social media, television shows and other video productions.
Creative Writing
Aimed to inspire future writers, published authors from the University of Portsmouth will use practical activities to delve into the following written forms:
- Fiction and non-fiction writing
- Script writing
- Poetry
- Writing for the screen
Your students will experience an imaginative and though-provoking creative writing session to explore weird fiction and crafting captivating stories within the genre.
With a hybrid of reading, discussion and exercises, students will learn techniques to keep readers hooked until the very last page.
Bespoke sessions
Our Faculty of Creative and Cultural Industries are keen to provide the best support we can your school or college, and we'd love to discuss how we can develop our outreach programme in order to give you and your students the most valuable experiences.
We have a range of sessions that can be delivered on campus at the University of Portsmouth where your students can see what we have to offer, explore our equipment and get hands-on in our Eldon Building; the hub for creativity, innovation and imagination.
If you're interested in finding out more about this, please let us know on our CCI booking form.
Work experience opportunities for students
Work experience is a great way to gain insight into all the different career opportunities a university can offer. We welcome requests for work experience from students from our local schools and colleges.
Please email schools-work-experience@port.ac.uk with the dates of your placement and what your interests are, and we'll get back to you.
Other things to check out
Browse our on campus Subject Taster Days, where experience of studying their favourite subjects at university, read more about our work with schools and colleges and take a tour of our technology facility.
