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4th July 2009

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Rosen launches children's manifesto

22.07.08 Caroline Horn

Action for Children's Arts, an umbrella body for arts organisations, has launched the UK's first Manifesto for Children's Arts, backed by children's laureate and ACA patron Michael Rosen.

In a pre-recorded broadcast at its launch on Monday 21st July, Rosen said the manifesto would give "momentum, power and a sense of unity" to arts-based organisations working with children. "So much more needs to be done to meet this country's obligations with respect to Article 31 of the UN Charter on the Rights of the Child," he said.

ACA argues that Britain is failing to meet Article 31, which states that "Every child has the right to ...participate freely in cultural life and the arts", and that member governments should "encourage the provision of appropriate and equal opportunities for cultural, artistic, recreational and leisure activity".

ACA chair David Wood hoped the manifesto would be "an agenda for action" in the provision of arts for children aged nought to 12 years. It includes a number of action points for different organisations, political bodies, schools and the media with the government urged to adopt "consistent, long-term policies with regard to Article 31", and make financial provision to support those policies.

The Department for Children, Schools and Families was asked to put "creativity, play and the arts at the heart of the curriculum", and the Department for Culture, Media and Sport to "provide consistent, long-term funding and strategic support" giving all children access to the arts.

Schools were also required to "give children time to play". Action points for the four UK Arts Councils included ensuring that work for children and families had equal status with work for adult audiences. Other arts organisations, local authorities and the media were also asked to better support children's arts.

Beverley Hughes MP, Minister of State for Children, Young People and Families, pulled out from attending the event but supported the launch with a video message admitting that opportunities to enjoy the arts and culture were "not shared out as evenly as we would like".

However, she pointed to Jim Rose's ongoing review of the primary curriculum, which would help establish how to encourage teachers to be more creative, and to the forthcoming requirement that every child experience five hours of culture every week.

Jeremy Hunt, shadow secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, said that the educational debate has become "mired" in a choice between arts and music or literacy and numeracy, with the recent focus on numeracy and literacy coming at the expense of children's creativity.

Caroline Horn children's Home Michael Rosen