Background to the projects

All of the partnership case studies featured on this website took place as part of Deutsche Bank's Enriching Curriculum Learning (ECL) project. This is a three-way partnership between the bank, London schools, and educational arts organisations.

Through ECL, Deutsche Bank supports a network of 30 schools in underprivileged boroughs of London. Rather than funding the schools directly, it works with educational arts organisations to deliver projects that:

• enhance and extend educational experiences for teachers and pupils
• give pupils greater access to the arts and cultural opportunities
• broaden pupils' horizons and raise their aspirations.

The Deutsche Bank schools are provided with opportunities from The National Theatre, Natural History Museum, Globe Theatre, National Gallery, Science Museum, ContinYou, Museum of London, East-Side Educational Trust, Design Museum and the London Philharmonic Orchestra. The common theme with all of the projects delivered is workshops in schools, development for teachers and, crucially, visits to venues – some of the most impressive in the UK. Five of the organisations completed the evaluation.

The bank ensures that the ECL programme covers as much of the curriculum as possible. By doing this it is reinforcing its belief that arts education can be effectively used to support and enrich all of the curriculum.

The education teams at all ten of the ECL arts organisations recognise the need to speak to teachers, find out the pupils' needs and tailor the project accordingly and that this is an important part of each partnership, particularly during its initial stages.

Having provided initial direction, Deutsche Bank stands back and lets the organisations work in their own way, while remaining on hand to provide support if needed. At the end of the year, the organisations produce an evaluation report summarising their work, and highlighting what they have learned and describing their plans for the future.

To ensure that ECL is as effective as possible, Deutsche Bank works closely with The Prince of Wales Arts & Kids Foundation. Arts & Kids works to create and strengthen partnerships between the corporate sector and arts organisations by providing expertise, resources and profile to those businesses that support the arts and young people.