Schools are bidding farewell to Creative Partnerships but what does the future hold? DAVID WHETWTONE looks at a scheme which introduced youngsters to the arts

SCHOOLCHILDREN across Sunderland and Durham have been working with artists, authors, film-makers and a host of other creative professionals as part of the Creative Partnerships scheme.

This week they are inviting people to see what they have been doing and appreciate what they have learned.

Today, for instance, you can see how children at Wheatley Hill Community Primary and Nursery School worked with author Simon Bartram to document the opening of their new library space.

At Eppleton Primary School in Hetton-le-Hole you can attend a tea party celebrating pupils’ work with glass and textile artist Effie Burns.

At Catchgate Primary School in Stanley, meanwhile, there’s a video and photographic exhibition documenting a concert held in the school with band The Real Macaws.

These are just three of the projects initiated under Creative Partnerships in Sunderland and Durham, involving hundreds of children.

Creative Partnerships was set up nearly a decade ago with the idea that schoolchildren in less privileged parts of the country would benefit from taking part in creative projects run by professionals.

Now, though, it is being wound up, the Government having decided to withdraw funding.

It is going the way of Find Your Talent, a pilot project set up to find out what it would take to provide high quality cultural experiences for all children and young people.

Both schemes were run by Creativity, Culture and Education (CCE), an organisation based in Newcastle which until recently was the biggest client of Arts Council England, receiving £40m a year to invest in Creative Partnerships and a further £10m for Find Your Talent.

Chief executive Paul Collard said Find Your talent was scrapped a year ago by the incoming Government while Creative Partnerships is winding down with no more funding from March next year.

You would hardly expect him to be happy about this, especially since it was he who suggested it would be better if the Arts Council handed the running of these schemes over to a separate organisation which wasn’t also the source of the funding.

He voiced his displeasure last year, saying Creative Partnerships had benefited more than a million young people and thousands of schools.

“Whilst we know that the arts should not be exempt from the difficult decisions facing the country in the tough economic climate, it is disappointing that a programme which is expected to generate nearly £4bn net positive benefit for the UK economy – the equivalent of £15.30 of economic benefits for every £1 of investment in the programme – is bearing the brunt of the cuts in funding,” he declared.

“Since its launch in 2002, Creative Partnerships has had a positive impact on the attendance, aspirations and attainment of children and young people, particularly in schools with challenging circumstances.”