It was American novelist John Steinbeck who declared that teaching is an art – and perhaps ‘the greatest of the arts since the medium is the human mind and spirit'.

That thinking sits nicely with a major new initiative led by Thurrock LBC which seeks to broaden the cultural horizons of our children and young people and their families.

Together with schools and leading cultural sector organisations, we are working to develop a cultural entitlement or offer. Fair access to creative and cultural learning experiences sits at the heart of this process. This will not only open up the pleasure and educational benefits of exposure to arts and culture but highlight potential career opportunities in the sector.

The idea was backed by the work of the Thurrock Education Commission, which we enlisted last year to review educational provision and suggest how we could improve it.

Lack of aspiration was one of six challenges that the commission suggested were holding back significant improvement in education in Thurrock.

Many of Thurrock's children and young people have for too long missed out on the learning, lifestyle and employment opportunities that open up with access to high quality arts and culture.

Nestling on the Thames just to the east of London, the borough has in recent years seen a rapid growth in the cultural sector – centred on the arrival in 2010 of the Royal Opera House's (ROH) backstage production centre, to be joined later this year by its costume department.

These facilities are central to the High House Production Park, effectively an industrial park for the cultural industries and artists sited in the grounds of a restored 17th century listed farmhouse and barn.

Thurrock asked the Royal Opera House Bridge, an Arts Council England-funded access project, to assess the likely support for a cultural entitlement programme. The research team found widespread enthusiasm amongst senior school leaders and key, often high-profile, cultural organisations.

They see the plan as an opportunity to open up new educational and career opportunities for their pupils and students.

The entitlement is likely to include: