Studley Infants School wanted to work with pupils, staff and parents to develop a creative curriculum, owned and shared by all, that enabled pupils to better understand and be more engaged with what, why and how they learn, leading to increased motivation and better performance in subjects. They sought to enable parents to be more involved in their children’s learning, and to develop staff skills in seeing how a closer reflection on what and how they teach can develop their practice and share understanding across the school and its community. They sought to build upon the beginnings of a more inventive way of working (that had begun in the Reception classes) and through the growth of reflective practice and school wide sharing weave this across the whole learning environment
“Those (PITRIC) words have unlocked (one child’s) self-esteem, and emotional intelligence. We’ve got images for his learning journal - pictures of him collaborating; before he would have found that really difficult. His self-esteem has risen. It was getting to the point that we were always negative about him. It’s given him the chance to find things that are positive.” Teacher
“C wrote a note that could be read – I have seen him writing his name before and odd words – but to write a letter to Bob (the alien) was amazing – with no encouragement or support needed.” Teacher.
“It’s been good for me – I’ve got to have things really structured. Listening to what they (children) come out with and what they already know – certain children have come out with things I’d never have thought they would. I have to see everything, know where everything is going. I’ve been out of my comfort zone. But I can see where it’s going – I’m more confident to let children lead more and not jump in too soon.” Nursery Teaching Assistant.
The project had two original keys strands:
A trio of practitioners (one Foundation stage – two KS1) were recruited to work flexibly across the school, working alongside staff to develop planning, model child-led activity and activities with/to engage parents, and who can support meaningful reflection with staff and pupils.
The programme was developed to be aligned with a number of SIP priorities; to support & develop a deep understanding by the staff of how children learn; to raise standards so that children’s attainment matches their potential, to provide an enriched and improved learning environment enabling a child-focussed curriculum, and to extend partnerships within the locality.
Early in the programme staff additionally attended an INSET day provided by the local authority, focussing on BLP. However, it was felt that this had been delivered in a way that did not link to their wider creative approaches, and many staff were not able to see that value of it in terms of how they might use it in their classroom. Consequently, although the idea was to start using BLP alongside the Cre8us work, in practice this did not happen. However, the work the previous year had highlight a need for a common language to support reflection, and the previous practitioner had introduced the PITRIC model (problem solving, investigation, thinking skills, reflection, imagination, collaboration - first developed by advisors in Solihull LEA) which was simpler and which teachers found more relevant.
The Enquiry Question at the heart of the project was originally defined as “How can a child-led approach to developing creative teaching and learning improve children’s engagement and therefore achievement in their learning?” However, with a change in Headteacher, at Christmas, it was apparent the focus needed to shift to re-boost staff morale, which had dropped significantly in the autumn term, in anticipation of the unknown that was a new Head. It had also became evident that staff confidence in being child-led was more disparate than previously realised, and that some teams were not communicating effectively (staff had been moved around at the beginning of the year so all teaching teams were new). It therefore became important to give staff confidence in their own existing skills, and to support the development of new teaching teams, whilst helping them to develop understanding of what being child-led means – what it looks like and how it can be supported - and the impact it can have. This resulted in there being less of a direct focus on learning journals, although staff continued to work on these throughout the programme and the work undertaken did feed into journals. Instead, more emphasis was put on giving children more ownership, observing children and/or developing reflective language. The dimension of working as co-constructors of learning became more relevant, as the school wanted to see how involving children more in making decisions about their learning would impact on their engagement in learning. The focus also shifted to working on changes in staff practice, with planning becoming more open and child-led, to enable this co-construction to happen. This also naturally meant that a focus was given to the creative skill of risk-taking for staff, as for many this way of working took them out of their comfort zone, as they had to ‘let go’ more. Staff also needed to continue the sharing of learning that they had so valued the year before as they had seen how it helped to influence practice and helped them develop their own practice in different ways.
Baseline data was gathered in the following ways:
The artists appointed were all practitioners who were highly reflective, and they brought expertise in this area.
Louise Bardgett, a movement and dance artist who specialises in working with early years, worked in Nursery, drawing on her movement expertise but also bringing in aspects of changing physical environments, storytelling and using film that she has developed through working with other creative partners – or was developing in this project. She worked with staff initially to look at the learning environment, and following early observations to encourage children to value and use the reading area more. With the children – and in response to their interests - she developed the reading area on a space theme. She used film as a stimulus, and they developed stories together. This was later taken outside, with Louise acting in role as a sleeping giant. Different groups of children followed a map to find the giant and then each group interacted in different ways, depending on how the children reacted. Staff and children also took the role of the giant at times, with the giant’s hat acting as a prop to enable this. Although staffing arrangements (job share and issues of having some children morning or afternoon only and consequent impact on timetabling) meant finding shared reflection time was hard to organise, Louise constantly fed back reflections and shared planning with staff to help develop and extend understanding of child led approaches.
Nicola Richardson, a visual and carnival artist worked in Reception and began by showcasing some of the large scale carnival costumes she had made previously. She then worked with children in small groups to enable them to design and make their own costumes, based on their interests and ideas, which she helped them to explore and take further. This led to both collaborative and individual costumes being made. The nature of the free-flow set up in Reception meant that staff were not always able to be directly involved, but they developed a system of checking in and reflecting with Nicola and children to ensure there was on-going learning for staff. Nicola also did some work with Year 2 to help them think about where they needed support.
Nikky Smedley (a storyteller who had worked with the school the previous year) worked with Year 1 and after initial observations and conversations, many areas for development were identified. As a new team, it emerged that the staff were not communicating well and had different needs and expectations. Common areas for development were identified as the learning environment and learning journals (reflection). Nikky began with a storytelling session around monsters, which led into encouraging the children to share their ideas and noting where this activity might lead - other tasks and areas of play and exploration. It also led to encouraging children to think about their learning environment and how they would like to change it – this included Nikky interviewing children and giving feedback to staff about how children felt. She also gave the children a way of being able to share more easily, even for the shyer ones, by using a cardboard box television which they put over their heads to become the reporter or presenter. Ideas about changing the classroom were put into action with children leading. Nikky introduced Flip cameras as a way of children recording and sharing their ideas, explorations and discoveries. She also introduced simple reflection processes, using the language of PITRIC and ‘Nikky time’. This became the most significant aspect of the work, particularly in one class, and children developed physical reminders for this language which, alongside actions Nikky introduced, helped them to remember and understand that language, which they began to use extensively to think about their learning. This helped staff to see the children in a new light and to see just what they were capable of and how they as teachers could be more child led and still meet learning needs. The PITRIC language had a direct and significant impact on the on-going development of learning journals in year 1, with children able to make more meaningful contributions. Nikky then later worked in Year 2, to help teachers find a more child-led approach to their end of year performance. As an Infant school this marks a significant moment for the children as they prepare to leave for Junior school, and staff wanted this to reflect the more child-led way of working that they had moved towards. Nikky again used her storytelling expertise to enthuse the children: she helped them to see that stories are all around them and they do not have to come from books but can be created. She then worked with them to draw on their own memories of being at Studley Infants to create a performance piece that they owned and which reflected their time at the school. Staff worked with children to put their group pieces together to make a performance for parents that involved all children.
The creative agent led an INSET day focussed on parental engagement – what the school understood by it, what they wanted it to be, and how they could achieve it. This happened on the first day of the new Head being in post, and was useful in identifying how people thought about parents and what they needed to know (or not) about them. But what became apparent during the day was that staff had many other concerns which were stopping them from being able to prioritise this, and this became a focus for the new Head, to ensure staff were focussing on. They later participated in an INSET session where they debated and clarified the school’s ethos, drawing on well-documented previous discussions, to think about how the school could present itself more effectively to the outside world, to help parents and wider community understand the approaches taken by the school.
Although in retrospect the school was quite ambitious in what it sought to achieve, it felt that significant impact has been seen in most of areas with pupils ultimately working as co-constructors of learning with teachers and creative practitioners. The children became more involved in making decisions about their learning and therefore becoming more engaged. They were much more involved in influencing their own learning, as a result of teachers working with creative partners in different ways, and standing back and letting children take more of a lead. Children actively engaged in changing environments in Nursery, and enjoyed developing the giant story – each group taking it in a different direction. In Year 1, Nikky enabled children’s voice to be heard through the interviews she undertook, and children absorbed the PITRIC language and developed their own physical reminders of what these meant, which they could then access in the classroom. Children also took a lead in determining changes to the classroom environment in year 1. In Reception children developed their own costumes and in year 2 they worked with Nikky and teachers to develop their own performance - children in year 2 were clear that they had learned how to tell their own stories by drawing from their imagination. High levels of engagement were seen throughout, across all year groups, with staff noticing children who would not normally get involved doing so and even taking a lead. “Maisy came up and did it – she wouldn’t normally have volunteered to do it in front of whole class!” Year 1 Teacher. Using video to enable children to capture and share their ideas, and giving them the language of learning to be able to talk about what they were learning, were both seen as valuable tools which helped give children more of a voice and more influence.
The use of PITRIC in year 1 proved highly effective, with children understanding this reflective language and applying it appropriately. It enabled them to think and talk about their learning more effectively. Year 1 staff were able to give many examples of individual children using the language of learning, with most of them really understanding it. Even those who were not entirely clear were keen to use it. “They’re all doing it – 80-90 % of them are doing it, 50% of them are doing it spontaneously, and the rest when asked. This enabled staff to work with children to develop their understanding of how they learn and then to enable children to be more involved in the process. In the last couple of sessions I really noticed the change and impact on children – on how they learn and how I can involve them more in the learning process.” Year 1 teacher (based on class observations).
This in turn gave new life to the work around Learning Journals, which teachers had struggled to keep up with, and see a real value in, this year. “We’re beginning to see children thinking about what they are doing, and considering if it’s worth photographing. We’re back into the existence of journals – we need to poke the fire on these again. Children are now more careful about what they are putting into the journals – making a considered choice.” Teacher.
Staff observed children enjoying learning more, sustaining work longer, trying harder things. High levels of engagement were identified across the school, with children being really motivated by activities they can influence and lead, and by the ‘wow’ elements the artist each brought. Both staff and artists noticed that different children responded differently to the same activities or stimulus, and being able to take it in their own direction was important. Staff felt that children had been very engaged – for longer than normal and more than they would have anticipated. Their interest and their curiosity were engaged by using the new area and exploring different spaces and tools. They also felt that the approaches used were giving children who are below average ability lots of confidence (in relation to one child in particular – see quote above).
Motivation led to better performance in subjects with staff across the year groups identifing that the work with creative partners had an impact on speaking and listening, and gave some children who would not normally contribute in a large class setting the confidence to do so. “It has had an impact on speaking and listening. Children like stories more when there are actions. They do listen more and are more focussed. One child kept his mother waiting so he could finish writing ‘problem solving’ to go in his journal – he would not normally want to write.” Year 1 Teacher.
In Nursery, using hats to go into role has been useful to support speaking and listening: the practitioner modelled this and children picked it up: staff recognised it as a significant tool they can use to support speaking. “E was in role as the ‘shy giant’ – when (the practitioner) asked was she ready to come out of it, she lifted head with real pride. Next day she stood and talked and talked and talked for ages. C started singing Fie Fi Fo Fum – little quiet G said ‘that’s from Jack & the Beanstalk.’ She had never spoken before.” Nursery Teacher.
SATs result for this year show that the creative approaches taken by the school have had an extremely positive effect on boys’ learning, with results being well above national average in reading and writing. However, results for girls are below national average, and this is something the school needs to explore further. The new Head had identified inconsistencies in the tracking systems in the school which mean insufficient data was captured to really measure progress since the beginning of the year. This is now being addressed within the school as a key priority in the SIP for 2011/12.
Staff felt that they were engaged in risk-taking, though it varied from person to person, both in extent and nature. For some staff, letting children lead more was a real risk, as they like to feel more in control. Over the last two years this has begun to change with staff more confident to do this, but the artists involved this year took things further, giving children more influence. Seeing the value of what that risk-taking brought was significant in enabling them to take those risks. In year 1, confidence levels varied in relation to the project, but two members of staff who were less confident with the approach were keen to explore the use of PITRIC and the cameras more, even though this took them out of their comfort zone. This was because they recognised that what Nikky was doing was engaging the children and moving them forwards, so they saw that the risk was worthwhile. Other staff reported that the project had made them think more about what they make available to children, and they were being more open in this now, taking more risks with what they offered to children in terms of resources.
Staff across the school have been letting children lead more, and developing their understanding of what being ‘child-led means’. Teachers felt more confident to be more open ended because they could now see that it did not mean ‘losing control.’ The practitioners gave them ways of working that enabled them to see how they could be more open-ended in their planning, but still cover what they needed to cover and support purposeful learning. Staff reported that they were now challenging their previous assumptions, and making changes to their practice. The interviews Nikky led with children had helped Year 1 staff to think about what resources they used, or activities they offered, and how children can be involved in determining that. Staff valued the use of more open-ended resources, which could be interpreted in different ways, according to the children’s ideas.
They also developed a better understanding of what co-constructing was or could be – sometimes using a child’s idea immediately, sometimes letting them determine where a story went, sometimes putting provocations in based on observed interest, sometimes spotting an interest and helping to extend learning.
The new Head and the creative agent began working together, in consultation with staff, to develop literature to aid parental understanding of the new approaches and its impacts. Foundation stage have since produced a leaflet for parents to help develop understanding of their approach, and there are plans for a KS1 leaflet to be produced. Original plans included involving governors more in creativity and developing their understanding of this, but with the change of Head, this became less of a priority for this year (although it is a priority for the Head and SMT for the future).
The school has identified that in order to continue the work achieved to date, and to continue to embed and extend it (especially for new staff) they need to establish structures and routines to keep up with reflection and Key Stage meetings, and have identified coaching training as a useful partner in this. They are creating more opportunities to observe each other’s practice (in place from the new school year), and are planning to spread the PITRIC language of learning across the whole school so there is a shared common language to help children understand their learning better and to be able to talk about it with each other and with staff. They are aiming to share this with parents so they can support it too. This drive is supported wholeheartedly by the new Head and supported by an SMT which has more ownership of the SIP.
The PITRIC roll out will be supported by further work with Nikky Smedley, and supported by the cluster work they are undertaking as part of their legacy programme (with other local partners schools including the Junior they feed to). This cluster work will specifically look at the language of learning. Other aspects are being built into timetabling, with cover provided through an SMT member teaching mornings only to enable her to release others for observing practice or to support other members of staff. Some changes in staffing combinations have also been made to maximise cross-fertilisation of learning and understanding. The new Head has shown real commitment to the programme and been very supportive – she has made time for practitioners, sat in on lessons and continues to ensure that sharing happens through staff meetings. She is using performance management processes to support the continuation of the approaches and to ensure the impact of the work sustains.
Project Title: Creative Disturbance 2010-2011
School: Studley Infant School, Warwickshire
Creative Agent: Philippa Cross