Stimulating Creativity

The Creative Partnerships effect

  • Date:
    17 August 2009
  • Categories:
    Curriculum developme
  • Introduction:
    Independent research and reports by Ofsted and a Parliamentary Select Committee have shown that Creative Partnerships programmes had a significant positive impact on everyone involved: young people, parents, teachers and schools as well as creative professionals.
  • Article:

    Since 2002, Creative Partnerships worked intensively with over 4,000 schools across England. More than 13,000 schools had some involvement in the programme.

    The impact on schools:

    An independent survey of headteachers conducted by British Market Research Bureau (BMRB) assessed their perception of the impact of Creative Partnerships.  In secondary schools:

    • 92% saw an improvement in pupils’ confidence
    • 91% saw an improvement in pupils’ communication skills
    • 87% saw an improvement in pupils’ motivation
    • 80% saw an improvement in pupils’ enjoyment of school
    • 78% saw an increase in pupils’ ability to learn independently
    • 70% saw an improvement in pupils’ behaviour

    The impact on young people:

    The National Foundation for Educational Research (NFER) completed a study of 13,000 young people who had participated in Creative Partnerships activities. NFER found that:
    'Young people ... out-performed those in the same schools... at all three key stages. This was evident in average scores in English, Mathematics and Science, in Key Stages 2 and 3 and in total points scores...'
(NFER conclusions, 2006, p22 para 5.3)

    Despite coming from economically and socially challenged communities, young people who participated in Creative Partnerships activities out-performed the national average at Key Stage 3 and matched the national average at Key Stages 2 and 4.

    The impact on parents:

    Creative Partnerships projects encouraged parents to engage with their child’s education.  Children talked about the exciting activities they took part in and parents were motivated to find out more by becoming involved in their child’s learning and in the life of the school.  Creative learning projects also provided non-threatening opportunities for involvement for parents who may not have otherwise engaged with schools.

    The impact on the economy:

    An independent study by the Burns Owens Partnerships showed that Creative Partnerships had a significant impact on the development of individual creative practitioners:

    'Creative Partnerships has nurtured a pool of practitioners and creative agents that are highly skilled, with a strong understanding of the education market.'

    35% of creative practitioners had been working in the sector for less than three years. This group of emerging professionals and new companies gained the biggest benefits from Creative Partnerships in terms of new skills, confidence and CV enhancement. This is a highly significant finding because traditional government training programmes are more successful in reaching the longest established and biggest companies.

    Approximately half of creative professionals working with Creative Partnerships developed other work and employed other creative professionals as a result of their involvement with the programme.