Memorandum submitted by Amanda Wood Assistant Head, William Edwards School and Sports College, Grays, Essex
Summary
This contribution to the inquiry comments on the impact a Creative Partnerships programme has had in a secondary school. The response contains information concerning the impact on : · teacher training and methodology; · student engagement; · the implications for the curriculum; · the wider curriculum; · the links between creativity and work related learning; · embedding creativity within the philosophy of the school.
Introduction
William Edwards School and Sports College is an 11-16 educational provider in Thurrock, Essex. It has specialist sports college and training school status. The school has been involved with Creative Partnerships for 18 months, and is benefiting from a range of projects that run throughout the school. The coordinator within school is an Assistant Head from the leadership team. This person liaises with teachers from the school and the Project Managers from CP to ensure effective and safe practice. The school has recently (Feb. 07) been credited as 'Good' by Ofsted.
Contribution to inquiry
1. Creative Partnerships' involvement in school has had its main impact on teacher methodology and training. The projects have been designed specifically to support The National Strategy for Secondary School Improvement framework, and to have a direct impact upon student engagement and progress. One strong strand of the project has been 'Cosmic Planners'. This project brought together teachers and practitioners to plan and deliver starter and plenary sessions that built upon prior learning, developed collaborative learning skills, and encouraged students to 'think outside the box'. It supports Assessment for Learning in a significant way, and by carrying out audits we have seen both staff and students reflect upon the better use of learning objectives, talk based learning, and modelling. 2. Creative Partnerships are now developing specific platforms for training staff within the school. Whilst the initial training for staff was a relatively low level exploration of 'what is creativity and why do we need it?', the training is now being refined and delivered at a much higher level. Current projects include a Local Authority Maths Adviser, Creative Partnerships' practitioners, and Maths staff coming together to develop teaching methodology that is aimed at engaging students in the 'awe and wonder' aspects of maths. In addition, a learning DVD is being developed to build upon the whole school commitment to learning to learn / thinking skills and assessment for learning. There will be a specific focus upon new teachers / NQT's in the training DVD, with the emphasis upon tapping in to creativity to support thinking skills, self esteem and student motivation. 3. Developing aspects of student voice and the planned display of students' work through Creative Partnerships work has had a motivating effect upon students. The projects that have contributed to this area of student development have been 'iwonder', 'alight' and 'icapture'. Both projects have targeted specific learning areas, such as curacy and film making, but have also given students an insight in to marketing, bid writing and decision making forums. Much of the students' work and learning is being displayed around the school in various forms. Their film making, various lessons and presentations are exhibited through plasma TV screens around the school, whilst more traditional forms of static display have been transformed by the students in to 'wonder walls' and learning exhibitions. 4. Projects such as 'Space 4 8' and emotional literacy montages are having an impact upon the wider curriculum and they support initiatives such as SEAL and 'Every Child Matters'. Students are being exposed to environments and people they might not otherwise have an opportunity to experience, and are being taught how to reflect upon their skills and qualities in light of these experiences, and how to harness creativity to drive forward their own learning and their social and emotional development. There is still much work to be done in this area, most specifically in widening the experience to a global perspective. 5. The school has pledged to support the latest Creative Partnerships initiatives that include Royal Opera House involvement, the 'Soapbox' campaign, and working with the Royal Shakespeare Company to develop the capacity of teachers and students. In an area that might be said to suffer cultural deficit, the links with these companies provides a school such as this with profound opportunities for developing practice and giving students experiences that are integrated learning pathways rather than occasional 'bolt on' opportunities that may be enjoyable but rarely have significant long term impact. In this respect the impact that much of the Creative Partnerships' work has had on the students at this school has been strong because it has not been exclusive; it is one strand of an integrated approach to developing the academic and life chances of each student.
Recommendations
In order that Creative Partnerships continues to have a positive impact on schools :
· funding must continue to allow practitioners and teachers to develop programmes for extending students' learning opportunities; · structured sabbaticals might be brought in to the process, encouraging teachers and practitioners to work alongside each other in their exclusive environments prior to working together in the classroom. This might allow a greater sense of understanding between teachers and practitioners, and enable more long term, effective planning to take place; · efforts should continue to make links with other parties, as has been done with the RSC, to support the programme.
July 2007
|