In 2021, Arts Council England launched its Creativity Collaboratives, eight clusters of schools throughout England funded to embed creative thinking in every subject of the curriculum. And earlier this year, the global testing organisation PISA launched the Creative Thinking 2022 test. Finally, England is catching up with some of the exciting developments we can see in Scotland, Wales and across the world.

On the first day we hada joint session by leaders, researchers, and practitioners from OECD, GIoCT, and representative schools. This conference focused on global best practice and considered the areas of focus for the next year. We considered the offer at primary, secondary and tertiary levels, and invited international experts and representatives to the summit as in order to publish the annual report, “Creative thinking in schools across the world: A snapshot of progress in 2022”.

The second day focused on promoting and evidencing creativity in schools, from individual subjects to interdisciplinary learning, with a focus on sharing innovative approaches being used in schools. Delegates had the opportunity hear world-class speakers and take away a host of practical ideas for embedding creative thinking in schools drawing on exciting examples from across the world. The conference encouraged conversation and interactions between education practitioners through a series of workshops, where representatives from featured schools in the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, China, OECD Partner States and the United States shared case studies, discussed best practice and lessons learned, and explored strategies that can generate impact both within and beyond campus.