A £700k partnership project across 150 London schools has been launched by development agency ‘A New Direction’. The agency is newly responsible for delivering the Arts Award qualification in the capital, and has selected 14 arts organisations including Punchdrunk, LIFT, Kinetika, Nimble Fish and Emergency Exit Arts, to create projects around the 2012 Olympics.
Each organisation will receive up to £4.5k, for a project inspired by the Demos report ‘The Biggest Learning Opportunity on Earth – How London’s Olympics could work for young people in schools’. The creative partnerships will run throughout the next academic year and will be designed to complement curriculum teaching with workshops, performance and a festival encompassing all 150 project strands in the summer of 2011. Steve Woodward, Communications and Development Manager for A New Direction, insists, “it’s not about tokenism; this is not a talent show. ”
The project is supported by ring-fenced funding from the Department of Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport and the former Department of Children, Schools and Families (now known simply as the Department of Education). A New Direction is also hosting Caroline Bray, London’s Arts Award Regional Development Co-Ordinator, who will lead the scheme with the support of up to 45 contracted ‘creative agents’ who will monitor the progress of each project. The application process is now open to schools across all 33 London boroughs. The selected schools will be announced in September and projects will begin in October.
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