HEARTS (Higher Education, the Arts and Schools) project was established with the intention of strengthening the arts element of initial training of primary school teachers. During the academic years 2004/6, six higher education institutes (HEIs) were given financial and practical support to introduce new programmes of arts work into their curricula. Findings include: (1) Increased collaborative working was a key outcome of HEARTS for staff in the HEIs; despite time constraints within the context of initial teacher education, the project demonstrated that there could be greater professional dialogue between tutors, and efforts should be made to enable this more widely; (2) Current cohorts of student teachers who have studied only under the national curriculum and have largely experienced teaching to pre-determined outcomes expressed surprise that it is possible to enable pupils to explore and find their own creative outcomes; and (3) Trans-disciplinary and cross-curricular learning, with the arts as a central focus, were a feature of all of the HEARTS projects and were examples of how subject areas can come together meaningfully, for both teachers and learners. HEARTS demonstrated the potential of partnership and cross-curricular working. Students felt "regenerated and enthused", with more confidence in the arts as part of their training, and strengthened conviction about the value of arts in education. This is important reading to all those training to teach, to teacher educators and to all those keen to see arts incorporated as a significant part of the teacher training curriculum. (Contains 2 footnotes.) [This report was written with Mike Newby. HEARTS is an initiative funded by the Esmee Fairbairn, Calouste Gulbenkian, and Paul Hamlyn Foundations, Training and Development Agency for Schools (TDA), and the National Endowment for Science, Technology and the Arts (NESTA).]