New role for Creative Partnerships

With funding from the Department for Culture, Media and Sport and the Department for Children, Schools and Families, the government's creativity programme will extend offers to more schools across the country and develop a new national approach to embed creative learning in schools.

Hilary Lane, cultural strategy manager, East Sussex County Council, said: "For the past three years, children and teachers in Hastings and East Sussex have been approaching core subjects in a variety of creative ways.

"Everyone involved, including creative professionals, agree they have been inspired to think and work differently in the future.

"Now we have a wonderful opportunity to extend our new programme to schools across the wider region, I am confident we will learn and have fun together and be inspired to move forward with creative learning at heart of our experiences."

The change schools programmes selects schools with significant challenges to engage in an intensive three year programme that supports creative development of the whole school.

The enquiry schools programme enables schools to run short-term projects (one-three terms) working with a creative professional on an enquiry-based project that investigates creativity in learning.

Between 2008-10 Creative Partnerships, Hastings and East Sussex will be offering the change schools programme to 22 schools. The enquiry schools programme will be offered to schools in Brighton and Hove, West Sussex and Surrey, laying foundations in these new local authorities to deliver the change schools programme from 2010 onwards.