Islington Creative Schools Pilot

Islington Council Arts Development Service is excited to be partnering with East London Cultural Education Partnership (ELCEP), Islington Cultural Education Partnership (ICEP), Sound Connections and Cubitt Artists to deliver Creative Schools brokerage for four Islington primary schools in 2017.

Over the 2017 Spring and Summer terms, children in four primary schools in the St Mary’s ward — Canonbury, Laycock, St Mary’s Church of England and William Tyndale — will be working with 12 leading arts education providers. St Mary’s Church of England Primary will also be registering to become an Artsmark school as part of the Creative Schools project.

Islington Creative Schools is a pilot scheme, a new tool developed by ELCEP to enable schools to commission arts providers for a programme of bespoke activities that address school needs, excite children and stimulate creative approaches to learning.

The arts organisations include Islington based groups The Bomb Factory, Candoco Dance, Little Angel Theatre, Young Actors Theatre Islington, Breakin' Convention, and the Estorick Collection of Modern Art; wider London organisations Barbican Guildhall Creative Learning, Salmagundi Films, and Discover Children’s Story Centre are also involved.

Each school engaged in a detailed needs assessment with the Creative Schools educational consultants to identify which key school improvement priorities could be supported by an arts project; a total of 73 arts and cultural organisations from across London were invited to propose project ideas for the schools.

A full evaluation of Islington Creative Schools, carried out in partnership with Islington Cultural Education Partnership, will be shared at the end of the pilot scheme.

For more information about Islington Creative Schools, please contact Segun Lee-French.