Creative Partnerships was introduced by the government in 2002, in response to an influential report called 'All Our Futures', published by the National Advisory Committee on Creative and Cultural Educations.
The report (which you can read here), responded both to fears that the National curriculum's heavy focus on mathematics and literacy was driving out opportunities for creativity in educations, and that children's creativity needed to be encouraged in order for them to be fit for the challenges of the modern world of work.
Creative Partnerships ran as a pilot scheme in 16 areas for two years and was rolled out more widely in 2004. Originally, Creative Partnerships in this region (Coventry, Solihull and Warwickshire) was delivered by 'Creative Partnerships Coventry', but transferred to the name of 'Cre8us' in 2008. Creative Partnerships nationally has been overseen by Creativity, Culture and Education (CCE).
The government annouced its plans to withdraw funding for the Creative Partnerships programme from the end of the acadmic year 2010/2011.
Creative Partnerships has supported thousands of innovative, long-term partnerships between schools and creative professionals including artists, performers, architects and multi-media developers. Partners have ranged from national institutions, to individual local artists - and everything and everyone in between!
Creative Partnerships started with the belief that teaching is fundamentally a creative profession and that teachers are well accustomed to finding creative solutions to complex challenges. By pairing the complementary skills of creative practitioners and teachers, Creative Partnerships has helped liberate the creativity of everyone involved, so that fresh and engaging approaches to teaching and learning have been developed through collaboration. These partnerships have inspired young people, teachers and creative professionals to challenge how they work and experiment with new ideas. As a result, young people have developed the skills they need to perform well not only in exams and extra-curricular activities, but also in the workplace and wider society.
Case studies from schools working with Cre8us as part of Creative Partnerships are on our website here. You can find out more about the legacy of Creative Partnerships nationally at www.creative-partnerships.com.