Developing Creativity In Our Curriculum and In Our Children  

Both of our Federation Schools are very excited to announce that we are taking part in an innovative ‘Arts Council’s Creativity Collaborative’ three year project.   Following the turmoil of the last two years, there is an imperative to return to focused & formal education with initiatives linked to narratives such as ‘catch-up, tutoring and testing’ high on the national agenda.   As a school, we feel it is important not to lose sight of what we also KNOW to be important in how children think, learn and grow.  Our school’s mission statement is ‘To Educate Today’s Child for Tomorrow’.  In this constantly changing world, where there are increasingly very few absolutes, we believe that our children will be best served by us if we teach them to be independent, adaptable and creative learners & thinkers. 

With this as our driver and focus, we have been part of a bid with a network of schools across London (we use that local train line to our advantage) to develop teaching for creativity; focusing on school cultures, values and shared language. The London Creativity Collaborative network includes schools across all phases, including special education and Sixth Form, and will tackle social and economic disadvantage, where we believe creativity is needed most. The following partner organisations will enhance the project and have already begun working with us: 

• National Theatre 
• V&A 
• John Knowles Ritchie (JKR) – global design and branding agency
• A New Direction

The Creativity Collaboratives programme emerged from the Durham Commission on Creativity and Education, a joint research collaboration between Durham University and Arts Council England, convened to look at the role creativity should play in the education of children and young people.

The project is led by The St Marylebone CE School, Westminster. They are coordinating the schools and partners, as well as working with Durham University and UCL to evaluate the three year project. With the other 13 schools that are taking part, we have been divided into four sub-groups and are working closely together to trial teaching for creativity strategies.  In our Federation schools we are researching creativity in our approaches to the teaching of Geography. 

Developing creative thinking in our children remains a high priority in our schools and sits as a development point on our Federation Development Plan. 

Sir Nicholas Serota CH, Chair of Arts Council England wrote a letter in July, at the end of our second year, to all participants taking part, please see the link below. It is incredible to think that two years have passed; we ,as a school, have grown so much in those two years and we are extremely excited about the project moving into its third and final year. Expect to hear lots from the children about their learning and how they are thinking creatively across all curriculum subjects.