Children’s engagement measured

Only 27% of 5–10 year-olds in England are engaging in more than five hours of cultural activity a week, but 66% of 11–15 year-olds are doing so, according to baseline statistics on children’s engagement with culture and sport produced as part of the Government’s ongoing Taking Part survey. Children aged 5–10 were included for the first time in the survey in 2008/09. However, the figures for this age group are acknowledged to be an underestimate, as they do not include cultural activities in school. The DCMS’s Departmental Strategic Objectives (DSOs) include an aim to increase the proportion of children engaging in five hours of culture per week, and the statistics will allow progress to be assessed, with a final report to be published in autumn 2010. The figures show that just over 99% of children engaged in cultural activities in the past year, with reading and writing being the most popular activity and arts and crafts the next most popular for both age groups. For 11–15 year-olds, the proportion taking part in other artforms was moderately high, ranging from 69% engaged in drama to 73% taking part in music activities. 52% were engaged in dance and 36% in street arts, circus or carnival, but less than 10% in radio. Some variation was shown among key subgroups such as gender, ethnicity, disability, and urban and rural populations, the most noticeable being that girls aged 5–10 have “significantly higher rates of out of school arts participation than boys”. Paul Collard, the Chief Executive of Creativity, Culture & Education, which is currently piloting the Government’s ‘Find Your Talent’ scheme, pointed to the importance of cultural experiences in “personal development and raising aspiration”, but said that “not all children and young people are getting the same access to them”. He added that “access to cultural opportunity is too important to be an accident of geography or the privilege of a minority”.