Five hour 'find your talent scheme' moves a step closer with ten pilot areas named

047/08
29 May 2008

Joint DCMS/DCSF press release

Ten areas around the country are to pilot the Government’s £25 million Find your Talent programme to give young people the chance to encounter a range of high-quality cultural experiences for five hours a week both in and outside of school. 

Children in the pilot areas will be able to discover and develop their talents in the cultural sphere.  In time, the Government wants all young people to have the right to experience five hours of arts and culture every week.

The ten lead organisations chosen as pilots are:

  • Bolton Borough Council;
  • The Creative Foundation (serving Shepway District and including Folkestone, Hythe and Romney Marsh);
  • Customs House (North and South Tyneside);
  • Hampshire County Council;
  • Leeds Children’s Services;
  • Leicestershire County Council;
  • ‘Liverpool City Region’ Partnership (serving three Merseyside neighbourhoods);
  • North Somerset;
  • Telford and Wrekin Council; and
  • Tower Hamlets.

The pilots will trial different ways of offering young people a range of cultural experiences both within schools and in professional art settings.  Different approaches will be used, based on partnerships between schools, local authorities and arts organisations, so that creative practitioners will spend time in schools, as well as children getting the chance to gain experience outside the classroom.

The areas, from 141 that applied, will become the first Find Your Talent areas and build on existing investment and experience, currently taking place around the country.   

Find your Talent will include giving young people the chance to:

  • perform on stage and attend top quality performances, exhibitions at museums and galleries, and heritage sites;
  • get hands-on experience of the creative industries including film making, radio and TV;
  • learn a musical instrument, and take part in a musical performance in front of an audience;
  • produce creative writing and appreciate authors and how they work;
  • learn about - and practise –  new media and digital art; and
  • develop art and craft skills.

Culture Secretary Andy Burnham said:

“Find Your Talent is a truly exciting initiative that could open minds and change young lives. Enjoying and exploring culture and the arts is not a luxury, or an add-on, for young people.  It matters in its own right, and can be a way of developing essential life skills like communication and creativity, and contribute to personal development and self-esteem. Too many young people still leave school without ever really finding out what they could be good at: the things that could be the basis of a fulfilling life.

“These pilots will kick off the long process of putting that right.  Their importance cannot be overstated.”

Ministers will now also be working on proposals to galvanise the enthusiasm for the initiative from all over the country.  

Andy Burnham continued:

“I’ve been encouraged by the quantity and quality of the applications we’ve received since we first launched this initiative.   The level of interest proves the cynics wrong and shows this scheme has struck a chord with many.  It would be a real shame if this momentum was now lost, so we will also be looking at ways to harness that energy, and I hope to have firm proposals to do that in time for the pilots’ launch in September.”

Children Schools and Families Secretary Ed Balls said:

“Giving young people the opportunity to take part in cultural activities will not only enrich their lives – but also help them learn. Schools already offer many cultural activities in school hours, for example in music, art, and English in the curriculum, and there is already much cultural activity taking place outside school and beyond the school day. The five hour offer is about building on this and giving all children and young people the opportunity to take part in cultural activities.

“The pilots will explore different approaches to making a reality of Find Your Talent. We will work closely with schools as the pilots are taken forward to ensure a bureaucracy-light approach. But it is not just about schools: a whole range of bodies including museums, theatres and local arts organisations will be involved, working in partnership with schools.”

Elizabeth Reid, Chief Executive of the Specialist Schools and Academies Trust, one of a number of organizations which advised Ministers on selecting the pilots added:
 
“The Specialist Schools and Academies Trust has always been a strong supporter of the principle of a systematic cultural entitlement for all children and young people.  We are proud that arts specialist schools are bringing their expertise to all ten pilots, building on and further developing the committed good practice of many specialist schools across the country.  The pilot partnerships will demonstrate what is possible when organizations work together to develop young people’s talent.”
 
Notes to Editors

The Find Your Talent initiative was originally announced on 13 February 2008 by the two departments.  Details can be found in DCMS News Release 009\08.

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