2. Creative Partnerships began in 2002, as a way of bringing together
schools and practitioners from a wide range of creative backgrounds to
collaborate on innovative projects for children and young people.
As the delivery agency for Creative Partnerships in London, A New Direction has
seen thousands of young Londoners develop their creative skills, and engage in
their learning in new and exciting ways through taking part in the programme.
As Creative Partnerships comes to a close, and A New Direction gears up to take
on a new and strategic role for children and young people and the arts in London,
we present this set of Case Studies to celebrate the programme, exploring the
themes of: creativity and change (looking at whole-school change), co-construction
of learning, staff development and learning, creative teaching and learning, and
outcomes for the 21st century (looking at outcomes for young people).
A New Direction would like to thank all of the students, teachers, school staff,
practitioners, and Creative Agents who have given so much to the programme.
Congratulations on all you have achieved.
Steve Moffitt, Director
3. ‘There is a remarkably broad consensus on what would be in the curriculum if
it started with children’s present and future needs rather than what’s familiar
to policymakers or teachers. What’s required includes systematic reasoning,
creativity, collaboration and the ability to communicate, as well as mastery of
disciplines.’
(The Young Foundation)
In England, there has been a growing awareness amongst academics and educationalists
of the need for change. Social and emotional learning (within personal, social and health
education and citizenship) has been boosted in primary schools through the SEAL (Social
and Emotional Aspects of Learning) programme and in secondary schools through a
new framework for personal, learning and thinking skills (PLTS) that includes creativity,
critical thinking and community participation. SEAL and PLTS are voluntary, however, and
sometimes seen as an adjunct to the ‘real curriculum’.
This case study explores how Creative Partnerships’ Change Schools programme has
contributed to the development of young people fit for the 21st century. Drawn from the
experiences of four schools, the study is based on project observation and interviews
undertaken with young people, Creative Partnerships Coordinators and other school staff
in spring 2011 (towards the end of the projects). Additional evidence is drawn from project
documentation completed by the schools’ Coordinators and Creative Agents. The study
focuses on projects undertaken in the final year of the programme.
4. Berger Primary School, Hackney
Berger is a large primary school situated in an inner-
city housing estate. Pupils come from a wide range
of backgrounds and a high proportion come from
families where English is an additional language.
Ofsted judged the school to be good in 2009 and Enquiry 2010/11: How can we
noted: ‘What is immediately obvious to visitors to artistically interrogate outdoor
Berger Primary School is the positive influence of space for use with the curriculum
the school’s Creative Partnership on the vibrant
and enriching curriculum which has galvanised and raise attainment in literacy?
enjoyment in learning.’
Berger has a commitment to cross-curricular
learning and the first two years of Change Schools
saw the whole school working on a single topic.
In year one, architects worked with the school to
explore London’s buildings and bridges and in year
two, the school explored Earth and space with a
filmmaker.
Berger moved into its newly built school in
May 2010 which has a large outdoor space with
intriguing architectural features. With some of the
space still to be landscaped, the school wanted
to explore how they could develop an outdoor
curriculum. A second aim was added when the
school received its 2010 Year 6 SATs results; those
in English compared unfavourably with former years
and improving writing became a whole-school
priority. Two writers and a visual artist worked
with Years 3, 4 and 6. An initial, exploratory day of
workshops with the children was used to inform
the direction of the project. The writers focussed
on creative writing whilst the artist’s brief was to
create a 3D learning resource for the playground.
Children created and shared writing, story boxes,
story bricks and a large, decorated, sculptural tree.
5. Keys Meadow Primary School, Enfield
Keys Meadow is a large primary school that opened
in 2003. The proportion of pupils from minority
ethnic groups, and the numbers with English as an
additional language, are much higher than average.
Ofsted judged the school as good in 2009. Enquiry 2010/11: How can we
embed the use of multi-media in
Keys Meadow has worked with Creative school to promote our aspirations
Partnerships for five years (the final three as a
Change School). Each year, the school has increased to reach a wider audience and to
the number of children involved in projects, starting achieve our dreams?
with a single class and progressing to a whole-
school project in the fourth year. All projects have
explored creative teaching and learning through
a cross-curricular theme and all have encouraged
parental engagement. In the first year of the
Change Schools programme, the school focussed
on storytelling linked to topic work in Year 2 and
Year 5. In the second year, the school undertook an
ambitious whole-school project to develop thinking
skills, language and writing through work in music,
art, technology and story.
In the final year of the programme, the school
returned to the school motto ‘You can Fly’ and
an exploration of its symbolic meaning. The
Headteacher described how ‘local families are
stuck within their own circumstances and children
perpetuate this cycle.’ The school’s motto suggests
an alternative but the Head asked, ‘is there
something we can do to prove this to children?’
The project was inspired by Miles Hilton Barber
(who visited the school), an adventurer who has not
allowed his blindness to restrict his life ambitions.
His mantra ‘The only limits in our lives are those we
accept ourselves’, informed the project.
Having developed the skills and confidence to
coordinate a whole-school project in year two, the
school again expanded its ambitions, incorporating
6. the Creative Partnerships project within a whole-
school challenge to ‘realise their dreams’ Each
year group or phase decided on a dream project
that would push participants outside their comfort
zones and raise money for charity. Two filmmakers
worked across the school to explore how digital
technologies could be used to capture and promote
the projects and have a wider application across the
curriculum. In the Key Stage 1 project for example,
‘DOSH 4 GOSH’ , children wrote, staged and filmed
an adventure movie that they screened at a red
carpet premiere. As with the other school projects,
promotional videos were posted on Facebook and
YouTube. A theatre practitioner also supported
Year 6’s dream of staging a production at the local
Millfield Theatre.
7. St Michael’s Church of England Primary School, Lewisham
St Michael’s is a large voluntary aided primary
school. The school is socially and ethnically diverse
with the majority of pupils from Black British
Caribbean heritages. The school has above average
numbers of pupils from vulnerable circumstances. Enquiry 2010/11: How can we see
In 2007, Ofsted judged St Michael’s to be a good philosophy introduced to our
school. pupils through a fun and accessible
medium?
In the first year of the Change School programme,
St Michael’s undertook a whole-school project
addressing scientific problem-solving through
drama and story. In year two, the theme of ‘forests’
was explored through photography, film and
animation in a Key Stage 2 project.
The Headteacher at St Michael’s explained the
rationale for the third year’s project focusing on
philosophy and poetry.
‘There are two things holding our children back.
First, speaking: they don’t have an extensive
vocabulary and find it hard to express themselves.
Second: they don’t have positive ways to achieve
what they want; they need negotiation skills and
to know how to stand up for themselves in a non-
confrontational way.’
The school worked with a Philosophy for Children
(P4C) consultant from SAPERE and with two poets
from Apples and Snakes. The project commenced
in January 2011 with an assembly and a full-staff
Inset day delivered by all three practitioners. The
P4C consultant returned for two further days during
the spring term, modelling enquiry sessions with
each class. One idea adopted was for each class
to determine a ‘Question of the Week’. The poets
worked throughout the spring term with the four
classes in Year 4, 5 and 6 introducing a range of
methods to craft poems, inspired by and/or asking
questions.
8. The project culminated in a poetry evening when all
the children performed their poems to an invited
audience.
9. Rush Croft Sports College, Waltham Forest
Rush Croft Sports College is a small 11-16
comprehensive school. The proportions of students
from minority ethnic groups and those who speak
English as an additional language are much higher
than average. The school is a specialist sports
college and was judged in 2010 by Ofsted to be Enquiry 2010/11: What can we do at
satisfactory and improving. Rush Croft to create a passion for
The first year of the Change Schools programme learning?
coincided with the introduction of a new Key Stage
3 curriculum at Rush Croft; one that emphasised
skill development rather than subject content.
In the first year therefore, the school explored
cross-curricular practice with a Year 9 carnival
project. The whole of Key Stage 3 were involved in
the second year’s film project which challenged
students to respond to thematic questions using
photography, audio and film on mobile phones.
Reflecting on the school’s work with Creative
Partnerships the Coordinator concluded, ‘it has
been valuable but for limited numbers of staff and
students. Now we are looking for significant impact
in school.’ To support the strategic aims, one of
the school’s Deputy Heads took on the role of
Coordinator.
Inspired in part by Ken Robinson’s book, The
Element (which explores the idea of finding
a personal passion for learning) the project
commenced in January 2011 with an Open Space
Technology (OST) day facilitated by the school’s
creative partner, Scarlet Theatre. Scheduled on an
Inset day, all staff participated in the event and an
invitation was extended to students, parents and
governors.
The next phase was informed by issues and
interests shared during the OST day. A range of
projects and initiatives developed, some facilitated
10. by the creative practitioners, others lead by staff.
Practitioners (in sound, story and theatre) from
Scarlet Theatre worked with staff and students
to explore creative classroom environments, the
nature of learning and support for students with
English as an additional language. A Creative
Learning Team (including staff and students)
was facilitated by an additional practitioner,
educationalist, Jonathan Barnes. Perhaps the most
significant unexpected outcome from the OST was
the establishment of the ‘Respect Committee’. This
group, convened by two Assistant Headteachers, is
addressing issues of behaviour and discipline at the
school.
11. In the section above, quotes from two Headteachers curriculum. At Berger, the Year 6 children were
provide the rationales for creative projects that preparing for SATs and feeling the strain,
sought to improve the life chances of their students. 'I did some sessions with Year 6 and [the teacher]
In fact all four schools shared similar challenges of said this is the first time that we have done
tackling underachievement and raising aspirations. anything other than maths and literacy for ages and
Whilst all senior leaders stressed the importance of said it was so nice for the children to do something
attainment in core subjects, they also highlighted creative.'
the need to embrace a much broader definition of (Practitioner, Berger)
education; to develop 'capabilities needed in the
real world; in the 21st century; creativity, resilience, Employability
risk-taking, bravery...' The Head at Keys Meadow questioned traditional
(Head, Keys Meadow) models of education,
Why are these skills and capabilities important? 'The classic model of education is that knowledge is
imparted and then you're tested on it. But you use
'As a parent, it's the primary reason to your intelligence when you don't know the answer.
Children could go through school and achieve
send a child to school. I could educate the
academically but this doesn't prove anything or
child at home if it's just about knowledge. set them up for life. Are these the people who will
But social skills, team-working... holistic innovate and inspire; the people we need?'
learning is why we're here.'
Research offers answers to this question. Leon
(Coordinator, St Michael's)
Feinstein of the Institute of Education, for example,
reported that a child’s dedication and capacity for
Research internationally and in the UK has
concentration at the age of 10 has a much greater
confirmed the importance of these capabilities and
impact on earnings 20 years later than his or her
a number of initiatives have been set up to support
ability in maths. A sense of personal agency at the
schools develop new competence-based curricular.
age of 10 is also more important to life chances than
Some of the reasons for the importance of these
reading skills.
skills and capabilities were raised by participants in
these projects.
Social mobility through personal agency and
educational attainment
Wellbeing of children
At Rush Croft, all the staff interviewed for the case
The UK performs particularly poorly with regard to
study agreed on the central challenges facing the
the wellbeing of children . Resilience is seen as a key
school. Students live in a suburban environment
skill that enables children to cope with the stresses
dominated by gang culture. They see school as
of life. Creative activity helps to promote resilience
an oasis where they feel safe but, explained the
by encouraging risk-taking and challenge in a safe,
Coordinator, 'we need to change the trajectory of
supported and fun environment. Creative activity
young people's progress; raise their aspirations.
is also an essential part of a broad and balanced
Giving them a voice at school is vital.' A class
12. teacher explained the long-term aim, 'as adults, they
need to have some agency in their lives; understand
they can make choices; take decisions.' Senior
Leaders at the school have made a commitment
to increase student voice in the firm belief (based
on evidence from partner schools ) that this will
ultimately raise attainment.
The role of creativity
The Coordinator at Rush Croft reflected on the
benefits of creative practices, 'There's something
different about creativity, co-construction comes
in automatically. It's giving students a sense of
agency.' A class teacher commented, 'learning is
emotional; it requires emotional engagement and
creativity demands and develops this.' A second
teacher added, 'In the current climate you need
to be able to cope with change. Creative projects
introduce problem-solving, you learn to cope with
new experiences... expect the unexpected.'
The Coordinator at Keys Meadow reflected,
'Creative practitioners get children
thinking and curious; they inspire and
engage. They ask unusual questions and
bring a different approach to lesson
structure or behaviour management or
how to focus children... through physical
activity for example.'
13. There was evidence of wide ranging outcomes skills such as negotiation, project planning and
from arts-based skills to time-management. For the organisation. The Head developed a self-assessment
purposes of this case study however, the focus is on framework for pupils that translates the qualities
outcomes linked to social, emotional and creative of creative learning into 'I can' statements. He has
learning. started to use these as a basis for discussion with
Year 6 pupils and has added this area of learning
Teachers at St Michael's noted a marked and development in reports to parents. Many
improvement in the children's debating skills; an of these qualities were evident in the children's
increased ability to justify and own their views reflections about their learning recorded in the
with phrases such as 'for me....' The P4C consultant midpoint evaluation. Examples included,
reported progress in the children's understanding
and use of open questions and their ability to pick 'We have gone out to make a DVD to give people
up on cues to develop themes in a conversation. like famous people and the mayor to get them to
Children responded positively to these new help our project.' (Self belief)
opportunities. At the midpoint evaluation for
example, one child commented, 'We were having 'When you have ideas and you can combine them to
a discussion with [the P4C consultant] and our make a better idea.' (Imagination and collaboration)
teacher was joining in and I felt like we were having 'It doesn't matter if you do it wrong, you can delete
an adult discussion.' Another child added 'it's new to and do it again.' (Risk-taking)
talk like this.'
'How to work as a team because everyone has a
An unexpected outcome arose from the fact that job like cameraman, director, interviewer, sound
the two poets working at the school were men. The person.' (Teamwork)
Coordinator explained, 'they've been positive role
models for the boys; men expressing themselves 'Not to try and take over because other people have
through words.' One boy said, 'I'm surprised ideas as well.'(Collaboration)
because I never knew I could do poetry before. 'The first time we used the vado we did something
Didn't think I was that sort of person but they made really good but we accidently deleted it so we did it
it fun and [made me] confident.' again.' (Resilience)
At Berger, raising attainment in literacy was a key 'How to get on with it and learn by yourself
aim. A Year 6 pupil reported, what is best.' (Concentration, independence and
persistence)
'[The writer] taught us how to use our imagination
to make our story a lot better and using punctuation 'You shouldn't do lots of messing because you don't
and some 'wow' words that we had never actually have much time...you have to use your time wisely.'
used before.' (Discipline and self-awareness).
At Keys Meadow, children learnt a range of 'I was quite shy but I learnt to be more comfortable
filmmaking skills together with transferable and confident in front of the camera.' (Bravery)
14. The project at Rush Croft grew organically around Endnotes
people's enthusiasms and particular themes
emerged, many connected to personal agency 1. Yvonne Roberts (2009) Grit: the skills for success and how
they are grown. The Young Foundation.
and social relationships. After having spoken to
students participating in a range of initiatives, for 2. Freelance creative project manager responsible for
managing the process of a creative partnership within a
example, the Creative Agent concluded, school.
3. 61% of pupils reached level 4 or above which compared
'There is a strong sense that they want to be unfavourably with the previous three years’ results which
involved in a deeper dialogue about their learning. ranged from 71%-81%.
They really liked being asked to reveal different 4. Developed in the first Creative Partnerships project in
aspects of who they are and how they like to learn. 2006.
More strategies to develop co-construction across 5. Raising money for Great Ormond Street Hospital.
subjects and lessons is something they are really http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6NTDooZStDY
keen on.' 6. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bL7iVfXArKo&feature
Outcomes for students is inextricably linked to =related
staff development and learning. The Deputy Head 7. Society for Advancing Philosophical Enquiry and Reflection
at Rush Croft reflected on the success of the in Education
Change Schools programme, 8. Robinson, K (2009) The Element. How finding your passion
changes everything. Penguin Books.
'The reason we could do this project is the 9. An event that starts with an overall purpose but no agenda.
openness of colleagues to try something new. This Participants are invited to raise pertinent issues and pose
questions that become the focus of small focus groups.
is a creative school.' Participants are free to join any group and/or move between
example, the Creative Agent concluded, groups.
10. See the Young Foundation’s report Grit for a summary.
'There is a strong sense that they want to be 11. See for example, RSA Opening Minds and the Whole Educa-
involved in a deeper dialogue about their learning. tion network.
They really liked being asked to reveal different 12. In 2011 for example, Save the Children ranked the UK at
aspects of who they are and how they like to learn. 23rd out of 43 ‘more developed’ countries for children’s well-
More strategies to develop co-construction across being.
subjects and lessons is something they are really 13. Leon Feinstein referenced in Whatever it Takes, Paul
keen on.' Tough.
14. A sense of personal agency is a group of characteristics
Outcomes for students is inextricably linked to based on believing you have control over your own life.
staff development and learning. The Deputy Head 15. Through initiatives including Gaining Ground, run by the
at Rush Croft reflected on the success of the Specialist Schools and Academies Trust on behalf of the De-
partment for Education.
Change Schools programme,
'The reason we could do this project is the 16. Structured formative evaluation facilitated by Creative
Agents during a Creative Partnerships project.
openness of colleagues to try something new. This
is a creative school.' 17. Pocket-sized video camera.
15. A New Direction is an organisation that works with and for young
Londoners, providing powerful ways for them to access the best of arts and
culture.
We do this by working with London's creative and cultural sector, schools
and other partners, to generate more opportunities for young people to
take part in arts and culture and develop their own creativity.
Through our work, more young people are able to develop their own talents and
passion for the arts, and we are committed to helping more young people to identify,
experience and move into careers within the creative and cultural sector.
From Spring 2012, we will take a strategic lead for children, young people and the arts
in London, working alongside Arts Council England, and in partnership with Apples and
Snakes, the Lyric Hammersmith, the Roundhouse and Sadler's Wells.
A New Direction
Discover
383-387 High Street
Stratford
London
E15 4QZ
info@anewdirection.org.uk
www.anewdirection.org.uk
Photography: Christa Holka; Simon Way; Rush Croft Sports College
Designed by: Yejide Adeoye
