Creative partnerships and the curriculum

Book excerpt: Since the establishment of the National Curriculum and the National Literacy and Numeracy strategies in 1998 and 1999, concerns have been expressed that creativity and innovative approaches to teaching may have been unintentionally constrained. Creative Partnerships was introduced as a two-year pilot scheme in 2002 in 16 local areas, and then more widely from 2004. The scheme funds creative professionals to go into schools and work in partnership with teachers and students, offers continuing professional development to school staff, and also provides guidance on creativity in relation to wider school improvement. This report focuses predominantly on Creative Partnerships as a scheme. Policy-makers now appear agreed on a definition of creativity which goes beyond the expressive and aesthetic arts, and agree that in educational terms creativity should extend right across the curriculum. Evidence suggests a very high level of support for more creative approaches to teaching among school staff and creative practitioners. Continuing professional development is of fundamental importance to embedding more creative approaches to teaching and learning, and should be seen as the core of the operation. Extending creative approaches beyond a particular activity and firmly embedding them in the wider curriculum remains a key challenge for schools and also for Creative Partnerships as an organisation. A priority now for Creative Partnerships and its two sponsoring Government departments in planning for the future should be to produce replicable models or templates, which can then be used and adapted to initiate work in other schools.