Introducing our new Creativity Collaboratives!

Today we announced funding of £2,780,000 to build a network of schools that will test a range of innovative approaches to teaching for creativity.

The funding has been generously supported by Freelands Foundation and will be granted to eight lead schools, who will each work with a network of at least a further eight schools. The networks will trial varied methods of teaching that help children and young people to develop their creative capabilities and evaluate their effectiveness.  The pilot will run until July 2024, testing out teaching approaches and curriculum development which can then be applied more widely throughout the education system. 

Each Creativity Collaborative will be developing their own specific projects that explore the impact and value of teaching for creativity. Key themes include supporting teachers to develop the skills and confidence to integrate teaching for creativity across their lessons, developing a curriculum that enables curiosity and creativity across all subjects, and how a creative education prepares children and young people to live happy, healthy and fulfilled lives.

Nicky Morgan, Director of Special Projects said: “I’m delighted to see the launch of the Creativity Collaboratives national network where we will work closely with teachers, their school networks and with the wider education sector to test approaches to teaching for creativity which all schools can adopt.

This innovative work reflects Arts Council’s commitment to reach children and young people across the country and in all phases of education to nurture their individual curiosity and creative potential which we know has a crucial impact on improving their life chances.

We want to highlight the professionalism and determination of teachers who work so hard to support and care for their students and look forward to sharing their work and the impact of the Creativity Collaboratives programme over the next three years.”

The launch of the network responds to one of the recommendations of the Durham Commission on Creativity and Education, which sought to investigate the role of creativity in the education system, and find ways to make creativity a bigger part of young people’s lives in education and beyond.

The eight Creativity Collaboratives are: Anglian Learning, Billesley Primary School, The Duchess’s Community High School, Halterworth Primary School, Holy Family Catholic Multi Academy Trust, The St Marylebone CE School, Penryn College and Welbeck Primary School. 

On the launch of the fund, Henry Ward, Creative Director of Freelands Foundation stated that: “We are very excited to see the launch of the Creativity Collaboratives, an ambitious and unprecedented initiative that will embed creativity and creative thinking in schools across the UK. We hope the partnerships will initiate an important shift in education policy and practice toward celebrating the essential force of creativity in learning.”

Johanne Clifton, Director of Curriculum and Virtual Learning at Billesley Primary School said: “Billesley Primary School is delighted to have been successful in applying to become a Creativity Collaborative with a network of schools across the West Midlands and East Anglia. We intend to explore how we can enable young people to fulfil their creative potential and so improve their life chances by working with local heritage and cultural organisations to implement innovative practices in our schools.”

Paul Walker, Headteacher at Penryn College said: “We are thrilled to be selected as a Creativity Collaborative, we will be exploring how teaching for creativity across the curriculum prepares young people for their future in a changing workforce. We’re excited to work in partnership to establish a creative strategy and pedagogy to ensure our students are best prepared for the modern workforce. Our plans seek to serve our schools and their communities with ambitious aims to nurture young people’s creative capacity and we can’t wait to get started!”

We’ll be sharing progress of the Creativity Collaboratives on Creativity Exchange over the course of the funding period.