Memorandum submitted by The Cornwallis School, New Line Learning, Maidstone, Kent

 

1. The Cornwallis is an innovative non selective school in Maidstone Kent, we are currently part of a federation of Schools that include Senacre and Oldborough. In September we will become two Academies and will have two new schools built. As a school we are at the forefront of educational innovation, we have embraced the use of ICT in learning, Personalised Learning programmes, Emotional Intelligence for pupils and staff and Creative Learning. We have been involved with the Creative Partnership scheme for two years and have used creativity to develop and improve several key areas in the school.

2. We believe that creative ways of learning are at the heart of raising achievement. Pupils' involvement and enjoyment of different approaches to learning has lead to an increase in pupils' active participation in lessons, and has seen an increase in enthusiasm for subjects, and raised results in many subjects. To this end the school has taken on a project based learning approach at Key Stage three and we are committed to developing creative teaching and learning throughout the school.

 

3. Creative learning has improved our school in several significant ways, firstly it has helped us to raise attainment, this has been most apparent in Modern Foreign Languages where results have improved from 18% A-C to 45% last year and a prediction of 60% this year. The department took on board new ways of working, allowing the pupils' greater freedom in project based approaches. They also worked with the Art and English departments to think of new ways to challenge the pupils and increase enthusiasm for the subject.

 

 

4. Creative learning has lead to increase professional development opportunities for staff. The school now has a 'Creative Champions' working party that is responsible for monitoring the implementation of creative learning, they also run CPD sessions for staff. As a school we have worked closely with the Box Clever Theatre group to allow staff greater access to professional CPD and encourage the widespread use of creative learning. This has also lead to an increase in cross curricular work and allowed staff to provide more challenging tasks for pupils.

 

5. The Cornwallis is currently a Specialist Schools Trust training school and as such our English and Geography departments deliver INSET to schools across the country, the main focus is the use of ICT in learning, however sessions we have run include 'Creative use of ICT in poetry lessons' and 'Designing your own Town- creative use of planning programmes'.

 

 

6. As a school we have made great progress in introducing and monitoring the skills based curriculum, one of the reasons this has been possible is that pupils are used to project based learning and creative learning and so have embraced the news methods of teaching and learning, this will continue to be a priority as we move to Academy status. Staff and pupil input into the design of our new school has included the need for more open plan learning areas to allow space for creativity and innovative ways of working, this continues the pilot projects we have conducted on open plan learning environments and team teaching, both of which are already well established in the school.

 

7. Through our involvement with Creative Partnerships we have been able to run two extensive projects, the first saw History and Science producing a 1960s transformation park, where pupils were encouraged to research the 1960s and build a variety of structures that highlighted innovation and achievements of the period. The project encouraged teachers to be more creative when introducing new topics (please see attached media file). This was extremely effective as it allowed us to share good teaching practice across the subjects and allowed pupils freedom to explore their own ideas and interests whilst appreciating how the 60s help transform our society. It also raised the profile of the Science department within the school.

 

 

8. Our most recent project focused on enterprise skills and team work, pupils took part in several lead in sessions with our artists that prepared them for a focus day. These small focus groups allowed pupils direct contact with the artists who worked with both staff and pupils to create personalised T shirts. The benefits of these sessions included an emphasise on building relationship between staff and pupils, they also provided sustained creative input this ensured that by the final focus day pupils felt able to take risk and push their own learning boundaries to the limits.

9. The Cornwallis is committed to supporting and developing the use of Creative Learning, our involvement with the Creative Partnership has increased our working knowledge of introducing creativity and encouraging pupils to develop their own skills. We are aware that our pupils need to be equipped to face a growing and changing world and that the creative and thinking skills they learn with us are equally as important as academic success.

 

July 2007