Memorandum submitted by Jennie Carter, Headteacher, The Churchill School, Kent

For teachers, Creative Partnerships in Kent is like the oxygen mask in aircraft.

"If the pressure in the school rises, Creative Partnership understanding will drop down out of the small overhead compartment called the brai). As that happens, remember that how you feel will affect how you think and behave. You might have to breathe deeply and use inner speech to talk yourself down. Relax, and breathe normally. If you are seated next to someone who might need some assistance, such as a child, an individual with limited physical or mental capabilities, you should put on your own Creative Partnership mask first, then breathe normally as you assist the other person. That way, if the other struggles against help, you will have a steady flow of emotional intelligence and creativity as you fight the person to get their mask on".

In short, teachers have to be intellectually fit themselves in order to teach.

 

1. Risk-taking is the hall-mark of good learning. Emotional well-being and involvement is vital in the promotion of learning. We use Ferre Laevers scales to measure emotional well-being because staff understand that without the backdrop of secure relationships, and the knowledge that failure is part of learning, children cannot make leaps in their learning.

 

2. Pupils who have experienced the partnership since the Foundation Stage (now in Y5) are set to achieve 90% Level 4 and above in 2008. This is significantly above previous year groups who only reached the national average.

 

3. Children who are co-learners adopt the role of teacher on occasion and this status encourages them to ask questions and monitor their progress towards a defined goal. Such focused learning fuels self-motivation and this encourages learners to acquire new skills and set higher goals.

 

4. Having a model of an "expert" transmits the passion of the learner as well as the need for developing skills necessary to succeed. The awe and wonder nurtures spirituality which transcends the learning experience.

 

5. Listening to pupils using meta-language and joining in with the, "How does that step go again..," led to a greater partnership and equality between pupil and adult learners in the classroom. Teaching assistants used to be so "busy" attending to the organisation of learning (Have you got your pencil/book/written the date and learning intention?) that they failed to hear the meta-communication in pupils which allows the adult to act in the "zone of proximal development" (Vygotsky). Because they have used that form of self-talk as learners, they now model meta-cognitive talk which, I believe, has dramatically improved learning in the school.

 

6. Creative work needs time to develop otherwise the inspired work of the expert seems unattainable. After a glimpse of what is achievable, children need to work through the adversities and this takes time. Flexibility in the timetable is essential and lessons need to be blocked to provide more time so that children can draft and redraft, design and discard, and measure the progress of their increasing ability towards their goal.

 

7. Resources are an issue because experts need funding and without transport, the weekly YR visits to the woods could not have taken place. However, love of learning in a real context inspires schools to celebrate their practice and draw in others who also want to make the world a better place. Without this reaching out, Personalised Learning will be hard to achieve. This year, with the help of our village, we have installed a £20,000 Snoezelen and have funding and planning permission for a £5,000 polytunnel so that we can go into market gardening.

 

8. Every Child Matters is at the core of creativity. These additions will have us reach pupils with high anxiety (principally those with autism) and those pupils with naturalistic intelligence. It will give real economic awareness.

 

I should be happy to provide any other evidence you require in support of the continuation of this organisation which is the life blood of my school.

 

 

 

July 2007