Creative Learning Pioneer confirms Patronage for Earlyarts

Earlyarts, the award winning professional development network for people working creatively with young children and families, announced today that Sir Ken Robinson is to become their first patron.

In his acceptance letter Sir Ken praised the track record of Earlyarts to date and endorsed wholeheartedly Earlyarts’ values and aspirations for children and families across the country. He was particularly supportive of the social enterprise model Earlyarts is developing to build up longer term support for the sector in times of increasing uncertainty, observing: “Earlyarts has established an impressive track record in a relatively short time and are clearly meeting an important need among practitioners of all sorts. I especially approve of Earlyarts’ values, and also of the ways in which Earlyarts are proposing to develop the work and impact of early arts.”

Ruth Churchill Dower, Director of Earlyarts says: “We are delighted that Sir Ken has accepted, we consider him to be one of the top gurus in arts education and a pioneer of creative learning on an international scale. His values of unlocking and nurturing children’s creative potential resonate strongly with the Earlyarts ethos, which promotes a creative play-based, co-constructed approach to learning, supporting each child in finding their element.”

Sir Ken Robinson has worked with governments in Europe, Asia and the USA, with international agencies, Fortune 500 companies, and some of the world’s leading cultural organizations. In 1998, he led a national commission on creativity, education and the economy for the UK Government. ‘All Our Futures: Creativity, Culture and Education’ (The Robinson Report) was published to wide acclaim in 1999. In 2003, he received a knighthood for his services to the arts. He speaks to audiences throughout the world on the creative challenges facing business and education in the new global economies.

Earlyarts has recently expanded to bring its success in raising the quality of meaningful creative practice with young children to a national audience. The nationwide platform operates through a series of Professional Development Hubs in every region, run by ‘Pathfinders’ - consortia of local arts, cultural or early education organisations. The aim is to bring together the myriad of creativity and early education networks to join forces across the country, and share their collected knowledge of what makes a difference to children’s lives. Earlyarts Pathfinders are building a strong network of ‘champions’ for creative learning who will be better skilled to  improve practice on the ground for many years to come. Earlyarts services can be seen at www.earlyarts.co.uk .

Earlyarts plays a key role in promoting the positive impacts of creative learning for young children and families. The network works closely with the national arts, cultural and early years bodies to ensure complementarity with their cultural, learning and workforce development strategies.

Ruth Churchill Dower adds: “Making a significant impact on young children’s learning requires a sea-change in the way we train the adults who teach or care for our children and families. Earlyarts Pathfinders know their communities well and can respond quickly to the training needs of local arts, cultural and early years professionals. Earlyarts members are inspired by each other’s passion, commitment, ideas, values and approaches, seeing excellent practice across the country and understanding their fit, and responsibility, within the bigger picture. Our members say that it’s a great network to be part of, a dynamic team to work with and a powerful catalyst for change."

Further information, including details of membership and training opportunities, can be found at www.earlyarts.co.uk.