In 1996 the Scottish Arts Council established a fund to place Arts Education Co-ordinators (sometimes called Creative Links Officers) at Advisor level in local authority education departments. The sole job purpose was to strategically develop and implement achievable and sustainable arts education in schools. This was to be achieved by creating links between education and arts, heritage & culture in order to enhance and extend all areas of the curriculum. Aberdeen City Council was the first local authority to recognise its worth and establish such a post (2000), and is currently recognised nationally as being at the forefront of arts education evolution.

Then in 2002 the Scottish Government, as part of the National Cultural Strategy, initiated the Cultural Co-ordinators in Scottish Schools (CCiSS) Pilot Programme The aim of the pilot was to identify ways of maximising the contribution of arts and culture to children and young people’s education, and to maximise the creative potential in schools in a strategic fashion. The first phase (two years) of the programme has demonstrated that arts education and the cultural dimension of school education can be a powerful context for learning across subjects and issues. Funding is now secure to extend the pilot until the end of 2009. Aberdeen City Council appointed three full time, discipline based cultural co-ordinators from teaching and arts backgrounds.

These staff now form the Arts Education Team, whose strategic focus is: to challenge, develop, enhance, advise and monitor the way that, arts, heritage and cultural activities that take place in Aberdeen City's schools; to link the best in arts, heritage and culture to education in City schools; to co-ordinate the interface between policy and practice; to make strategic links both locally and nationally; and to attract funds for arts & heritage projects in all City schools

The Arts Education Team's service (i) is solely focused on school education; (ii) is exclusively for children of school age (3-18 years); (iii) is for pupils as part of the school day; (iv) supports and enhances the curriculum (Curriculum Framework for Children 3 to 5, 5-14, Standard Grade, Higher & Higher Still, Extended 5-14 curriculum, Curriculum for Excellence); (v) supports and organises CPD and other school staff development opportunities; (vi) supports and enhances the work of Curriculum Development Officers; (vii) forms partnerships with schools to seek funding for artist residencies for schools (100% success rate); (viii) designs, enables and monitors a range of school-based projects which enhance learning in many curricular areas beyond the expressive arts; and (ix) advises teachers on creativity in education.

The Team is responsible for the following festival: