Walking with Artists

Created by the NCA and delivered in partnership with the National Union of Teachers (NUT), Walking with Artists addressed two main barriers to delivering the arts in primary schools, as identified by the NCA and the NUT after consultation with primary school teachers from across the UK. The first was that many teachers do not feel confident in their own artistic abilities and are therefore wary of delivering the arts to their pupils. The second was that teachers often encounter difficulties when trying to establish a creative partnership between their school and an artist or arts organisation in their local area.

Walking with Artists worked by bringing teachers and artists together to engage in practical artist-led workshops and focused group discussions, demonstrating the potential of creativity in learning and providing an opportunity to devise practical interventions and solutions to shared problems.

The Walking with Artists scheme ran four half-day pilot sessions between September 2003 and February 2004, supported by Arts & Business. Proving a great success and in response to demand, a further 10 sessions were organised, taking place between March and July 2005, with the support of NESTA (the National Endowment for Science, Technology and the Arts) and the National Lottery Awards for All. 

Walking with Artists report September 2005

Creative Schools, Creative Classrooms - WWA teaching resource

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