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It is inevitable, when the Government announces that it will be spending £110m on an initiative that takes the arts into schools, that envious glances will be thrown by those ineligible to participate in the scheme. But in the case of Creative Partnerships (pp9-12), much of this envy seems to stem from the sense of mystery that has hitherto shrouded the whole scheme.
Did you know, for example, that Creative Partnerships was the only cultural scheme to be identified by name in this year?s Comprehensive Spending Review, and is a flagship of the Government?s cultural strategy? And were you aware that the initiative was set up by the Government in direct response to ?All Our Futures?, Ken Robinson?s startling 1999 report which asserted that creative education, and not the 3Rs, would be the key to the country?s future prosperity? And did you know that, although Creative Partnerships has been specifically designed to benefit children living in the most economically and socially challenged areas in the country, it also aims to plant the seeds of change into the entire the education system, and thereby will create long-term opportunities for artists and arts organisations across the whole country? Possibly not, which is why ArtsProfessional is going to be working with the Creative Partnerships team for the next 12 months to ensure that all professionals working in the arts have a real understanding of the impact that Creative Partnerships is already having ? and can continue to have, long after the scheme itself has ended, and far beyond the geographical boundaries that are defined by its current remit. If we all, as arts practitioners, can celebrate, learn from and replicate the successes of Creative Partnerships across the whole of the country, we might just stand a chance of getting the rest of the population to understand why we believe the arts to be such a fundamentally important element of our children?s education.