Westwood sought to develop a purposeful learning community of creative thinkers and workers. It wanted to increase Literacy standards and attainment across the school, enhance student voice and extend it to the community and to encourage staff to find the confidence to take risks, innovate and grow with their students. It wanted to look at how pupils can be empowered, to be able to collaborate meaningfully with staff to develop and deliver a creative curriculum that fits the community and wider engagement focus of the school. The loss of BSF had a benefit in that the focus on these aims came more to the fore. The project was thereby focussed on the SIP target – to develop creativity within teaching, learning and the environment. The project was designed as a catalyst for change in approaches for learning for staff and pupils by exploring changed learning environments and their impact on learning when assessing progress and achievement. Westwood had been doing this as a school to help inform their BSF plans, however with the funding cut for this they decided that we would try to develop some of our findings. We also observed how strong student voice was whilst BSF plans were being made and how involved pupils wanted to be and we didn’t want to lose this creativity and involvement.
“We feel more confident when we are speaking and performing in lessons. We also feel as though we are more aware of how we learn things and can think more about the learning in a lesson”. Pupil
“(The creative practitioner) has let us be more and more involved in the planning for the weekly sessions and always used our evaluations to help plan what happens next. She gives us really good feedback as well so we both know what is going on”. Pupil
“In terms of teaching and learning creatively pupils have developed their knowledge hugely. Their ability to plan and deliver staff workshops and plan and deliver primary school sessions is evidence of this” Teacher
“Pupils have been exceptionally engaged with the project. On Thursday mornings they are all very keen to find out what the schedule for the day is. The amount of work done outside the classroom, both at home and at break times and lunchtimes is also indicative of the ‘enjoyment factor’. Pupil journals also demonstrate how engaged with the project pupils are”. Teacher
The school originally planned to do a project around pupil voice in preparing for a new building (via BSF). However, the collapse of the BSF programme at a very late stage led to a whole scale re-assessment of the school’s needs, taking into account all the consultation work that had gone on with pupils around the school environment, and also acknowledging the huge disappointment that the programme’s termination had left in staff. Consultation about BSF had shown how committed to changing and adapting the learning environment staff and pupils within the school were. The school was keen not to have these consultations wasted and believed that a reshaping of the project could give them the chance to realise some of their ambitions. Also considered was the feedback and experiences of staff and pupils about the internal school environment and the possibilities and opportunities for displaying work, specifically having areas for ‘work in progress’ rather than finished products and evaluating impact this could have on learning. Past experiences have also shown that when the school has worked on improving the environment with members of the wider community this has really helped to bring the community together and improved the school’s communications with them.
The focus then became "How can we use creative approaches to make change enriching, working in partnership with artists and creative partners who will help us to become agents of change?"
The project became one around the setting up of a Theatre in Education group within the school. It’s key aims were developing pupil voice and confidence, within a designated creative space, working on improving key literacy and communication skills, and working within and for the wider community. Creative practitioners 'Youngblood' (Julia Wells and Adam Matthews) were selected and they then came into school every Thursday for a period of five months.
The project started with taster sessions for all year 9 pupils. Pupils were invited to apply to be part of the company. This was a real exercise and pupils worked hard on the attractive application forms provided by Youngblood Theatre company who spent a considerable amount of time reviewing and returning the forms with lengthy and personal responses. These application forms set a standard for the whole project and all the pupils who applied were invited to participate and they felt that they had earned their place in the company. This selected group then consisted of writers, performers, set and costume designers and a stage management team. The TiE group was run as a professional company and all materials produced for them and by them had to reflect this. A turning point for the pupils came when Adam Matthews performed ‘David’s Story’ which had been performed for the Holocaust Memorial commemoration in the City. This took place within the classroom with very minimal set and costume and revolved around one person telling a story. This really inspired the pupils and gave them a very real sense of what could be achieved within their own classroom.
Many of the children performed managerial and influential roles within the group, often these children were not those who would naturally stand up and take charge. The opportunity for these children to take these roles allowed them to see what they could achieve but more importantly gave others around them the chance to see what their peers were capable of and produced a mutual respect within the group. The repositioning of pupils, not only within different groups for the learning, but with different roles within their peer group was therefore key to the success of the project.
A staff consultation at the beginning of the process outlined how the project would function within school. Staff supported the project by supporting pupils involved in terms of timescales and to help with the research for the primary work. The opportunity was given for all staff to become involved. There followed initial meetings with a variety of members of staff, some for the creative planning of the project and others for more logistical reasons, for example, spaces for rehearsing and working and financial and practical support from caretakers.
A creative hub (an open space) called The Imaginarium was identified and created; a transformed classroom that operated as a centre for all involved and interested staff and the resident student team. The Year 9 Students developed and created their very own performance piece which they performed in school, in the Imaginarium, and then took out to the local feeder schools to promote the creativity, originality and potential of Westwood School. Students researched, planned, wrote, shared, questioned, marked and sold their ideas to others and finally using performance and drama workshops presented and shared their learning. They also created a final community sharing session where all aspects of the work, performance and curriculum related were on show for all staff, parents and the wider community. This was key as a way to show staff what was on offer and what impact a freer use of space can have on the teaching and learning. The pupils researched and produced every aspect of this sharing from the invites, to the food to the imaginative evaluation materials. Every element of this process followed exactly how a professional Theatre Company promotes their work from researching/contacting interested schools and exploring potential themes, to developing a Marketing Strategy and Education Pack, and within this process, preparing job descriptions and recruiting a company.
The practice of drama teaching allowed learning to be explored across a range of subjects enhancing a broad and subject specific understanding. Year 9 students’ studies in Functional English, Maths and ICT were additionally targeted, thus feeding the project directly into the curriculum.
For the children the most significant dimension of the project was the ability to take control of their own learning and creative journey. The sense that it was their project really impacted on their enjoyment and engagement within the project as well as altering their views on learning throughout the whole school curriculum.
During the project the personalised response of the creative practitioner encouraged more withdrawn children to start to participate more in school. A particular highlight followed Child A’s submission of an application form to take part in the project in which she revealed that she wanted to be 'cleverer'. J’s response encouraged Child A to take control of what she wanted to do with her life and take control and make changes. Child A has since concentrated on her handwriting, seen success and won a calligraphy set. Child B’s father is a storyteller and the freedom to talk about the imagination café really helped her develop her own confidence and express a pride in her personal life.
For staff the shift in adult directed to children directed planning and leading learning was a major change which has irreversibly changed how staff are now thinking about and planning learning. The staff meeting in which pupils performed their piece on creative learning really changed staff perceptions and created a real talking point. The creativity tool kits, developed by the practitioner with the pupils, and handed out to staff were really inspiring and generated a huge amount of interest.
As the groups were not ability based many pupils had not worked with each other before. This gave staff a really good opportunity to see how pupils from higher sets worked with pupils from lower sets. The application process meant that all pupils felt they had earned the right to be there and this had a very positive impact on confidence. Pupils from lower sets grew in confidence hugely due to working with and being listened to by pupils from higher sets. Another interesting development was the reception given to pupils from lower sets by pupils from higher
sets. At first there were one of two pupils who did not fully take on board what others were saying, they didn’t feel that the contribution being offered by them was valuable. Over time these opinions changed drastically by most pupils within the group. As a group the pupils worked much better together.
The school gathered a range of data relating to attendance and attainment as well as more anecdotal evidence from staff and pupils. Attainment data was based around functional skills predictions, mock exams and ultimately results. For all data collected regarding pupils within the project we also had a control group made up of pupils within the same year group but not taking part in the project.
It is clear from the dataset that the children involved within the project have made good progress within the three functional skills subjects; ICT, Maths and English. The students own evaluations show that they have an awareness of how their learning has developed across the curriculum. Staff comments and pupil journals refer to an increase in commitment to work and engagement across the school.
Pupils liked the group element of solving problems because they felt they could discuss things which made the solution easier and quicker. They understood how collaboration could help them understand what individual strategies work best for themselves – how they could begin to unpick and understand their own learning.
Comments and quotes from pupils and staff about what they felt they learnt included “The survey results showed that we (pupils) learnt best when we did things and so that is how we have tried to communicate new information to each other and other people.”
Pupils were prepared to speak in group sessions and voice opinions, understanding the difference between opinion and right and wrong answers. Pupils were prepared to lead group working and to take responsibility for decisions made.
Teachers commented positively on the quality of collaborative learning and the engagement of the pupils. They observed how pupils responded positively to self direction and peer teaching and learning opportunities.
They commented that pupils responded positively and movingly to the Holocaust Memorial Day performance and were able to link this work with the History dept, following up with creating learning resources and thus applying their functional English curriculum requirements to a real situation.
Pupils achieved 100% attendance and even stayed behind after school to chat with practitioners and offer suggestions and volunteer help. Staff were instrumental in shaping and designing the project. Following a questionnaire based on learning about the Holocaust 79% of pupils across year nine who took part in the project voted that their creative experiences were the main catalyst for learning and that they learnt more in these sessions than any other.
The sharing event held within a staff briefing regarding creativity was led by pupils. At first staff opinion was that the sharing was a performance and not a learning experience for them. The end result was that it was in fact both. Staff were both impressed and grateful for the experience and the chance to learn creatively themselves. The creativity kits handed out were exceptionally popular, so much so that non-teaching staff not present at the meeting heard about them and requested them. The kits have also been used in lessons with pupils at KS4. Maths, Science and Technology have members of staff that are interested to investigate further this area of work.
For some staff the impact has been in their own risk-taking - staff have openly discussed children who have surprised them when work has been showcased. This shows a real acceptance of how some pupils learn differently and how pupils can excel when working creatively. Staff have documented in journals the impact of planning and delivering sessions with pupils and how different perspectives have altered their own planning.
Showcase events have been instrumental in demonstrating to staff the importance of developing creative teaching and learning. Staff and practitioners have also looked at schemes of work and the changes that can be made in terms of producing more professional looking documents for children to work with. Seeing the impact of the materials J has used with the children has made a huge impression on staff, who have already started to develop documents of their own.
The Imaginarium sparked a range of questions relating to pupils responses to environment. The staff meeting held by pupils generated a huge whole school response and many members of staff reported trying various things, in particular in response to the creativity toolkits. Conversations have been had between Art, ICT and English regarding the standardisation across the school of certain pieces of work, such as: newspapers, letter writing, information booklets, posters and adverts. A whole staff meeting was later planned on how to ensure the quality of these documents meets exam board requirements. This has stemmed from the professional documents produced by the Creative Partner and the cross curricular functional skills focus of the project.
Westwood continues to seek to understand the impact of its learning environment on its students and how it can manage and evaluate this. The Imaginarium is now a fixed asset although it will always need a school champion who will continue to seek to use and promote the space as a further resource. The school is looking at alternative funding to extend the development of spaces beyond the initial Imaginarium.
The school plans to invite its primary feeder schools into the school to experience the skills and peer teaching confidence of the students as they start their GCSE BTEC courses. It plans to hold plenary meetings with senior management to gauge how much further support this approach needs and whether the methods and teaching and learning strategies that have been introduced can be embedded further across the school. There is a further wish to develop the potential of opening up the concept of the Imaginarium beyond the Communications Faculty. The original plan had been to use a more neutral and convenient space on the ground floor. Plans changed and the compromise was a large classroom in the communications block although this has placed this development firmly with the communications faculty which has possibly sent signals that this initiative is not for the rest of the school (although that was never the intention). However it has opened up the potential of replicating such spaces across departments enabling a daily visible face to the work.
The concept of using drama and a real life activity to support functional English Maths and ICT teaching is clearly highly successful and discussions now centre on how this might be promoted throughout the whole faculty and how this work can continue without outside intervention.
Project Title: Agents of Change
School: The Westwood Academy, Coventry
Creative Agent: Claudette Bryanston