Memorandum submitted by Lesley Roberts, Creative Partnerships School Coordinator and Chris O'Connor, Chair of School Council, Finham Park Secondary School, Coventry

 

School Co-ordinator Lesley Roberts

 

1. Our initial research question was to investigate whether behaviour and progress can be stimulated through a creative and transitional use of space, both inside and external to the school, with a view to improving teaching and learning. There have been two strands to this work. The first to empower students to create a stimulating environment that is conducive to positive behaviour and creative learning; and the second to explore creative approaches to the curriculum.

 

2. Over the course of two years students have worked with creative practitioners taking leading roles in shaping the school environment, through the conception and re-design of the toilets and the development of our outdoor classroom. The toilets, previously subject to vandalism and often avoided by younger vulnerable students, are now perceived as a more welcoming space and have suffered from less vandalism.

 

3. Ownership and citizenship have also been developed through the design and construction of an outdoor classroom. Students, working alongside Severn Trent Water contractors realised their vision of an amphitheatre, incorporating the collaborations between students and artists to display the results of cross curricular work. The function of this space is now the subject of further work, exploring how this forum can be used by classroom teachers and the school council in shaping our future learning environment.

 

4. We have also participated in projects that address creative approaches to curriculum delivery.

The music department have worked extensively with drumming artists to explore emotional intelligence. African drummers have led sessions with Key Stage 3 students, who have had to demonstrate excellent listening and team work skills throughout the sessions. These students have then led workshops with younger students, displaying tremendous increases in confidence and engagement with others. This project has had a huge impact on how music is taught across Key Stage 3. Next term we plan to extend our work with this artist in a whole staff CPD focussing on improving relationships between staff, students and colleagues.

 

5. Learning Moves was a project exploring kinaesthetic approaches to teaching Geography through the medium of dance. Students studying the theme of rivers, used dance to consider the growth of a river, with a specific case study on the human trauma of the Mozambique floods. Students, who don't usually access this curriculum easily, commented on how they felt greater empathy towards those affected. This resulted in a moving piece of installation performance.

 

6. 2007 - 2008: Creative Curriculum.

 

Next year we are moving away from project work and instead focussing on engaging more teachers in creative approaches to curriculum delivery. A core group of teachers from different subject areas will work together throughout the year to establish a framework for creativity that can de distributed to the whole staff.

 

7. We will specifically target year 7 teachers to work with both artists and colleagues to find meaningful connections between subject areas. Our intention is to unlock creativity among staff and students, challenging traditional lesson formats with the students as co-participants in learning. By investing directly in the delivery of lessons, we hope to have a wider impact on students so that creativity gets built into all aspects of the school curriculum.

 

 

 

Chris O'Connor - Chair of School Council.

 

8. I first came across Creative Partnerships in Coventry over a year and a half ago, when they worked with the Finham Park School Council on the toilet refurbishment project. Without their support, commitment and knowledge, the project would not have got off the ground. They arranged for a local artist, Janet Vaughan, to work with Gifted and Talented art students to create modern, stylish designs that young people would be proud of, in an attempt to address the graffiti and vandalism problem in the current toilets. Young people were even involved in painting and decorating the area, with a few lucky students having their silhouettes immortalised on the windows. The project culminated in a glamorous opening event, again organised by Creative Partnerships, with a 'Mocktail' Evening and tours around the new toilets for important people in the city and members of the press. The project was even promoted nationally, appearing on a Newsround feature length programme and newspapers.

 

9. The outcome of this project has not only been a set of fantastic new toilets, but also greater student awareness of Creative Partnerships, improved attitudes and respect for the school and other students and greater confidence for all those who took part. I was invited, as a result of the project, to present to the Coventry Ambassadors, a group of business leaders, making a speech on the night about how Creative Partnerships had worked with the school so effectively.

 

10. That was not the end of my work with Creative Partnerships and a few months later I was back on a brand new project, The Space of Possibilities, which wanted to present a young person's perspective of how they wanted to see Coventry in the future. The main event took place at Coventry's Ricoh Arena, attended by a group of students from Finham, and for the next 6 months we met with our own assigned artist, discussing our ideas for Coventry's future. On our designated 'day out' we travelled into the City on public transport, visited iconic landmarks that we felt represented the city and met with City Planners at the Council House. We then created a video of the day and presented it to councillors and students from schools all over the city at conferences at the Ricoh Arena and the Alan Higgs Centre.

 

11. I feel that working with Creative Partnerships has given me the confidence to present to a room full of business leaders, take a lead in a conference and deal with members of the press. Personally, it has helped develop my own skills and personality and I have seen first hand how it has done the same for others. I strongly urge you to allow them to continue this good work in Coventry and all over the country.

 

 

July 2007