Government Response To All Our Futures: Creativity, Culture & Education
1. As we said when we attended the last meeting of the National Advisory Committee on Creative and Cultural Education (NACCCE), we are extremely grateful to you and the other members of your Committee for the work that went in to producing All Our Futures: Creativity, Culture & Education. We should like to take this further opportunity to thank you all for that work and for your contribution to the debate on the future of education.
2. We were pleased to be able to respond to your concerns about music education during the lifetime of the Committee and before you published your report. We share your belief that music has many benefits for young people, not only in the pleasure and enthusiasm it generates but also in the discipline and pride in achievement it can bring. We have committed £150 million from the Standards Fund over three years for the protection and expansion of Local Education Authority music services. We have also established the National Foundation for Youth Music, launched by the Prime Minister in June last year, with Arts Council Lottery funding of £30 million.
3. We want to emphasise the impact the report has had on our thinking.. The report has an excellent analysis of the role of creativity and culture in education - both for their own sake and in building the skills that young people need to achieve their potential in the knowledge economy of the future. They are key in developing the capability of future generations.
4. David's recent North of England speech emphasised the need for young people at Key Stage 3 to achieve much higher standards in literacy and numeracy. By getting the basics right, we open up access to opportunity to more pupils in more spheres of learning than ever before. Creativity and the grasp of the basics are not in conflict. The ability to draw on a body of facts is an essential stepping stone to the development of creative thought which translates imagination into practical implementation. There is a growing body of evidence of the impact on standards of systematic and disciplined approaches to higher order thinking skills. We are piloting a professional development programme from this Autumn so that secondary teachers know how to teach higher order thinking skills through their subjects. This responds directly to your recommendations aimed at helping teachers to develop creative thinking and teaching skills.
5. We share the Committee's desire to see creativity embedded in our education system - in both teaching and learning. Your report provides a guide to how that might be achieved and since it was published our two Departments have been working closely on how to respond to its recommendations. This letter is our response. Not all your recommendations, of course, are addressed to our Departments, but clearly we have a broad role to play in creating the conditions in which creativity can flourish and all can play their part.
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The Whole Curriculum
6. Your Committee has asked the Government to ensure that the importance of creative and cultural education is explicitly recognised and provided for in schools' policies for the whole curriculum, and in government policy for the National Curriculum.
National Curriculum Review
7. In the course of the review of the National Curriculum, you attended the Qualification and Curriculum Authority's (QCA) Preparation for Adult Life Group to discuss the work of the Committee. Later, of course, you were able to give the QCA access to the Committee's draft recommendations, again to inform their work on the review. We are pleased to have been able to reflect the advice you gave in the revised National Curriculum.
Programmes of Study
8. We agree with the Committee that creativity is not only about the arts, vital as they are to a balanced and rounded education, but that it applies to all subjects in the National Curriculum, and to other activities and studies both inside and out of school hours. The importance of creativity, and the six guiding principles you recommend, are stressed in the new rationale of the National Curriculum and further highlighted in a number of individual subjects. In addition, creativity is acknowledged as an essential part of learning in the new Handbook for Teachers which accompanies the Programmes of Study and covers the breadth of study and skills across the whole Curriculum. Your Committee raised some concerns about last year's temporary suspension of the requirement for primary schools to follow the full compulsory Programmes of Study for non-core subjects. We are pleased to tell you this requirement will be reinstated from September 2000 for all subjects.
Flexibility
9. Your Committee also stressed the need for greater flexibility in the National Curriculum. This was a key theme of the QCA review and we have clarified and slimmed down Programmes of Study for the foundation subjects to achieve this. We believe this increased flexibility will give teachers the freedom to incorporate more creativity into their planning and teaching. From September 2000 there will also be provision for Key Stage 4 pupils to disapply up to two National Curriculum subjects in order to devote more time to an area in which they are particularly talented.
PSHE and Citizenship
10. Another key theme of the review has been to ensure that schools are doing all they can to prepare young people for adult life. Our proposals for the further development of Personal, Social and Health Education (PSHE) and the introduction of Citizenship in to the National Curriculum from September 2002 will be important elements of this. We are keen for teachers to use the potential for arts and sports activities to engage young people in these areas and to teach their pupils critical thinking and viewing skills.
Guidance for Teachers
11. Your Committee stressed the importance of maintaining breadth and balance across the whole curriculum. We are strongly committed to this. To help teachers achieve this balance the QCA is working on guidance for schools on the whole curriculum, with the emphasis on encouragement rather than prescription. The QCA is also preparing non-statutory Schemes of Work for all subjects which will offer guidance on how to derive the most benefit from greater flexibility and serve as models of organisation and planning in those subjects.
12. We are also enthusiastic about using the full potential of the National Grid for Learning (NGfL) to disseminate best practice. We are well on our way to achieving our target for all schools to be connected to the NGfL by 2002 - with 62% of primary and 93% of secondary schools currently connected. The Public Library Network will form a complementary part of the NGfL, connecting all public libraries to the Grid by 2002 and providing a range of digitised content focusing on Learning for Life. DfEE and BECTa are working closely with a wide range of partners, including teachers, LEAs, the subject associations, cultural organisations and the National Association of Advisors for Computers in Education, OFSTED and the QCA and industry to ensure that their knowledge and expertise is fully reflected in NGfL developments.
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Further Reviews
13. Now that the review of the National Curriculum is complete, we have issued materials to schools on the Curriculum from September 2000. We do not plan to carry out another review of this type in the near future, but have instead chosen to concentrate on a number of specific areas. In response to representations made during the consultation, we have agreed with the QCA that - among other things - they should do further work on the role of creativity and the arts in the curriculum. The QCA are currently working on a proposed plan and timetable. Both Departments will work with the QCA and others to define the scope and nature of the review. We will use your report to inform our thinking.
14. Your Committee also recommended that further work be done on Key Stages 3-4 and in early years education. Education for 14-19 year olds is another of the areas that the QCA will be looking at in its future programme of work. The QCA is also developing an early years foundation stage curriculum with Early Learning Goals (ELGs) for most children to reach by the end of reception. The curriculum areas include "creative development" and cultural awareness issues will be addressed through "knowledge and understanding of the world" and personal, social and emotional development. The ELGs will be supported by contextual and exemplary materials and will be implemented from September 2000.
School Inspection
15. You made a number of recommendations relating to OFSTED. OFSTED provides the Government with the inspection-based information and the professional advice it needs to develop and carry out its policies for education and to know how those policies are working out in practice.
16. In all full Section 10 inspections, OFSTED inspect and report on all areas of the curriculum, particularly the National Curriculum, throughout compulsory education. OFSTED are also introducing a lighter touch inspection model for schools of proven effectiveness. In these short inspections, inspectors will sample the subjects of the curriculum and report on strengths and weaknesses, but will not produce specialist reports on subjects. Data from Section 10 inspections is also augmented by other inspection work by specialist HMI.
17. The Inspection Framework places particular stress on inspecting the quality and range of opportunities for learning provided by the school for all pupils at all ages and in all subjects. Cultural education is specifically mentioned as part of the direct requirements of the 1992 Act. The criteria on teaching and learning have been strengthened, to ensure a clear focus on teachers' use of assessment within their teaching.
18. Specialist areas, including the arts, will continue to be inspected by specialists in full inspections. OFSTED determines the numbers and specialisms of HMI in the light of its overall needs and periodically reviews the skills it requires. Specialist subject knowledge, including that in the arts, is one of the key criteria employed for selecting new HMI.
19. Your Report highlighted that many of the concerns raised with your Committee during the course of its work were based on anecdotal evidence and you recommended that OFSTED and the QCA should collaborate in establishing the current standards in, and provision for, creative and cultural education in schools. In conjunction with the QCA's further work on creativity and the arts, OFSTED will be looking closely at their wide-ranging inspection evidence to establish the current position.
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Teacher Training and Professional Development
20. Your Committee has also asked the Government to ensure that teachers and other professionals are encouraged and trained to use methods and materials that facilitate the development of young people's creative abilities and cultural understanding.
21. We recognise that teachers need to be better equipped to have the confidence to teach creatively. We have announced a review of Initial Teacher Training standards, curriculum and the requirements of Circular 4/98 (Requirements for Courses of Initial Teacher Training) to be carried out by the Teacher Training Agency and report by the end of 2000. The review will provide a good opportunity to look at this issue and take into consideration the Committee's recommendations. New more flexible modular provision will be available from September 2000 for those wishing to train as teachers. New modular provision will be better matched to individual needs and circumstances of all those with potential to gain Qualified Teacher Status, including those currently in employment who wish to change careers.
22. One of the key commitments in the Green Paper, Teachers: Meeting the Challenge of Change, is to improve development opportunities for teachers and head teachers to meet national, school and individual priorities. We have proposed that a national Code of Practice be developed for all major providers of publicly funded-training for teachers. We will be drawing up a draft Code for consultation soon. Clearly this will be an opportunity to consider the place of creative thinking and creative teaching in the continuing professional development of teachers.
23. One of your specific recommendations referred to classroom assistants. In September we announced a further £130 million in 2000-2001 for an additional 15,000 classroom assistants, on the road to the goal of an additional 20,000 by 2002. These will help to support the teaching of subjects across the National Curriculum, including art and design.
24. You also recommended that accredited professional qualifications for instrumental/vocal music teachers should be developed. The QCA are currently developing such qualifications which should be in place later this year.
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Partnerships and Resources
25. Your Committee has also asked the Government to promote the development of partnerships between schools and outside agencies to provide the kinds of creative and cultural education that young people need and deserve.
26. Partnership and the dissemination of good practice are essential for raising standards in education and are key themes of the policies set out in Excellence in Schools and more recently in Excellence in Cities. Education Action Zones, Specialist Schools and Colleges, Beacon Schools and study support initiatives are all aimed at building partnerships and supporting and disseminating good practice and the exchange of knowledge, expertise and facilities between schools during and outside the school day. We have recently announced the creation of 20 new specialist Arts Colleges, bringing the total to 49.
27. At the recent North of England conference, David announced, on behalf of us both, the expansion of summer schools for eleven year olds and of summer activities for sixteen year olds. Both offer the opportunity to draw on a tremendous wealth of artistic and cultural endeavour, building on best practice (for example, the West Yorkshire Playhouse) in linking imaginative and innovative work with both leisure and educational activity. We hope to boost the integration of artistic and cultural work with broader personal and educational goals.
Cultural Organisations
28. Your Committee emphasised the role that a wide range of cultural organisations can have on reinforcing and extending what is learnt in the classroom. Museums and galleries can inspire children and bring the curriculum to life, developing new ways of thinking and learning and provide opportunities to express imagination and creative talents. Earlier this week, Jacqui Smith, Schools Minister announced a £650,000 boost to the £2.5 million already put into the DfEE Museums and Galleries Programme which develops greater partnership between schools and museums and galleries. The additional funding means that a further fifteen projects will be added to the forty already being supported over the next three years. Good museums and galleries provide an invaluable resource for schools. A further £0.5 million will be targeted at stimulating the level of education activity in small museums and galleries to raise the overall provision across the country. To encourage further partnership, we are preparing a statement of the Government's vision and objectives for the educational role of museums and galleries. This will be aimed at stimulating activity in both the education and museums sectors and provide a framework to guide present and future work.
29. Libraries have always played a well recognised role in supporting schools. As well as being storehouses of knowledge and information to augment classroom learning, they have already begun to expand educational services such as after-school clubs and homework centres, ICT resource centres and local history websites. The DCMS/Wolfson Public Libraries Challenge Fund - £3 million per annum over the last three years - has supported innovative projects which have seen partnership between libraries, schools and other community organisations develop and strengthen.
30. All the cultural organisations funded by DCMS have educational aims which they are required to deliver in return for subsidy. The arts organisations that are funded through the Arts Council and the Regional Arts Boards (RABs) are all required to develop educational aims, in making use of the extra £125 million that we have provided for the arts over the next three years. As a minimum, we are ensuring that they will deliver an additional 200,000 education sessions.
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31. In addition to funding, the Arts Council is pursuing a wide range of measures to support arts education and develop better links between schools and arts organisations. For example they recently collaborated with the RABs on the publication of Partnerships for Learning - a guide to evaluating arts education projects. They are also working with the QCA to develop joint guidance on building partnerships between schools and arts practitioners and organisations, which will be published in the Spring.
32. We have been working closely with the Arts Council to find ways to extend access to groups who do not have much contact with the arts. The Arts Council have committed £5 million a year to a New Audiences Fund to pilot ways of doing this. A number of the Fund's projects are aimed specifically at increasing the scale and depth of children's engagement with the arts. One example is the New Generation Audiences project which promotes ICT-based communications between schools and arts organisations, including on occasion the provision to schools of blocks of free tickets. We are also working with the Arts Council and arts organisations to embed the principle of concessionary tickets for children and young people.
33. The Arts Council have also committed £1.3 million to a three year action research programme, based in two Education Action Zones, which will focus on the impact of the arts on young people and the instrumental role of the arts in combatting social exclusion. This project will enable us to assess the impact of a range of policies on the ground, and to build on this to further develop creative arts education policy.
34. We recognise that schools and cultural organisations sometimes find it difficult to find their way around the funding mechanisms currently in place and our Departments propose to work jointly on developing a directory of funding opportunities as your Committee suggests. Artsmark
35. Your Committee specifically recommended the creation of an award to recognise good practice in arts education in schools. Our Departments are working with the Arts Council, the QCA, and other partners, to develop an Artsmark award. The award will enable schools to get recognition for the good work already going on across all art forms, in school and in out of school hours activities, and to disseminate that good practice more widely to help raise standards. It will encourage partnerships between schools and arts organisations, and will help to raise the profile of the arts within schools. Once developed the award will be funded and run by the Arts Council. Informal consultation on the scheme will start shortly.
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Music Education
36. As we indicated earlier in our response (paragraph 2) we have taken decisive action in this area. The Music Standards Fund is helping Local Education Authorities to provide more music from diverse ethnic backgrounds across the country; to use modern technology, for example, in the use of recording studios; to provide opportunities for young people to sing in choirs, with boys in particular being encouraged; to give children a foundation year during their time in primary school, for example, in West Berkshire; to start brand new music services where they did not exist before, for example, in Northumberland and St Helens; and to support in service training for teachers in music. The role of the National Foundation for Youth Music (NYFM) is to complement Local Education Authority provision to ensure that all young people get the opportunity to make music. We are also carrying out a review of music education, in partnership with NYFM, which includes research into instrumental music services. As part of this OFSTED is undertaking a survey of Local Authority provision of specialist music teaching. The findings will inform our policy post-2002, when the current arrangements end. We will want to work further on the recommendations of your Committee and will respond positively to ongoing suggestions and representations. This is an area in which we can make real progress.
Community links
37. We are keen to develop wider links between schools and their local communities. Schools are already encouraged to allow the use of their facilities by community groups and we are providing advice and good practice examples to schools on how to expand and develop these links. We are also exploring ways of improving the stock of facilities to encourage a greater range of school and community arts, creative and sporting activities.
Study Support
38. Building partnership is a strong theme of study support which embraces a wide range of activities including sports, arts, drama and other creative activities. Last year we published Extending Opportunity: A National Framework for Study Support which shows how schools and their partners can develop and extend the range of out of hours learning activities on offer to young people. The national framework also provides practical advice and guidance for all those involved in study support, whether as local and national policy makers or as providers working with young people in schools, community centres, museums and galleries or other settings.
39. Dedicated funding is also available to promote effective study support partnerships. The New Opportunities Fund (NOF) is putting £205 million into supporting out of school hours learning projects across the UK by 2002. Many of the grants awarded by NOF so far include projects involving sports, arts, dance, music, design technology and media studies. In England, from April 2000 the Standards Fund will also include a study support element. In 2000-2001 this will amount to around £20 million, with £60 million being available in 2001-2002. We are also encouraging creative partnerships between schools and a wide range of public, private and voluntary organisations by providing £2.5 million to fund innovative and inspirational out of hours learning pilot projects over a two year period from April 2000.
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40. Your Committee specifically mentioned the role of mentors. A range of projects involving mentors have been funded by NOF in the first round of out of school hours learning grants announced in October last year. The National Endowment for Science, Technology and the Arts (NESTA) has also recognised the important role of mentors in encouraging young people to develop their interests and skill and is working on developing a mentoring scheme to support the creative and innovative individuals selected to take part in its Fellowship Programme. In addition, NESTA is working to establish its education programme, which is intended to promote and support educational projects which increase understanding of how creativity is a positive force for change.
41. The initiatives we mention here are not a comprehensive list. As you know there are innumerable organisations, both large and small, throughout the country which are working with Government, schools and communities to enhance educational experiences. We are determined to provide them with the encouragement and support that they deserve.
Conclusion
42. You have said that the key message of your Committee's report is the need for a new balance in education. Over the past two years we have been working hard to put in to place policies which create the conditions in which children can get a rounded, balanced education. We have had to face up to the effects of years of decline, and we are addressing the problems by investing new resources imaginatively. Our emphasis on literacy and numeracy is not an indication that we do not value other subjects in the curriculum or recognise the importance of creativity. Indeed, we are convinced that they are all mutually reinforcing.
43. The range and diversity of the Committee's recommendations have meant that it has taken some time to provide you with a considered response. However, as you can see the report has already had an important influence on our thinking and a range of initiatives are already underway or planned.
44. We have ensured that your report has been disseminated widely, through a large number of printed copies and by being available on the DfEE website. Your consultation, preparation of the report, and its dissemination have had a substantial impact on both government and its agencies in terms of both their responses and their practice. This impact is also evident at local and school levels.
45. As your report makes clear, good teachers and many high performing schools are already doing what you have recommended. Our job is to help the rest to do so too. Your report provides an important contribution to getting this job done and will provide us with inspiration as our thinking continues to develop.
DAVID BLUNKETT
Secretary of State
Department for Education and Employment
Sanctuary Buildings
Great Smith Street
London
SW1P 3BT
CHRIS SMITH
Secretary of State
Department for Culture, Media and Sport
2-4 Cockspur Street
London
SW1Y 5DH
These documents are available online in Adobe Acrobat (.pdf) format.
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