Sir John calls for a greater recognition of creativity in schools
Sir John Sorrell and his wife Lady Frances Sorrell
Mon, 21 Jul 2014 14:39:00 BST
“...I think everybody in this country should have the opportunity to be creative as well as literate and numerate,” says honorary award recipient Sir John Sorrell
Pictured right: Sir John Sorrell (left) receives his honorary award from the University's Chancellor Professor Sir Patrick Stewart at the graduation ceremony.
CREATIVITY should be on par with literacy and numeracy as a vital component of the school curriculum, argued the famous designer and philanthropist Sir John Sorrell when he received an honorary doctorate from the University of Huddersfield.
Widely regarded as the UK’s premier champion of the creative industries and co-founder of The Sorrell Foundation, with his wife Lady Frances, Sir John has launched a campaign to transform education with a greater recognition of the importance of creativity.
“I agree with the notion that everybody needs to be literate and numerate and I completely agree with the drive to literacy and numeracy in schools,” explained Sir John. “But I would like to add another word – creativity. I think everybody in this country should have the opportunity to be creative, literate and numerate.”
Sir John explained that he was not thinking purely in terms of cultural subjects such as art, design, music and drama.
“I mean creativity across every subject. Science is creative. But we put things in silos, so if you do art you can’t do science, which is complete nonsense, or if you do maths you can’t do drama, which is crazy.
“To have a rounded personality and a full and rich life you need to study all of these things,” said Sir John, who added that he had “huge respect” for teachers.
“They are my heroes in society. They do such a tough job and passionate, brilliant teachers are the best people you can meet. But there is not as full a recognition of the importance of creativity in education as I would like to see.”
Saturday Clubs
The Sorrell Foundation has created a successful network of Saturday Clubs, which teach and encourage art and design among teenagers. When she accompanied her husband to his award ceremony, Lady Frances Sorrell spoke about the origin of the clubs, based on Government-backed classes that she and Sir John had both attended in their teens, inspiring them to study art and design and then launch what became one of Europe’s largest and most successful design agencies.
It is hoped that by the end of 2014 there will be 40 Saturday Clubs around the country. One of the most successful of the 33 already in existence is run at the University of Huddersfield, and Lady Sorrell praised the “amazing” work of its co-ordinator Miss Joanne Pigott and also Liz Jack, who is Marketing and Recruitment Officer, within the University’s School of Art, Design and Architecture.
A new goal, revealed Lady Sorrell, was to spread the Saturday Club concept so that it covered other subject areas such as science and engineering.
Special guests to the University of Huddersfield's Saturday Club have included, Peter Griffith, Lead Industrial Designer for Nokia and Designer and Artist, Lea Jagendorf.
