We have been working with Barbara Priestman School & Technology College, Sunderland since 2009, developing innovative approaches to teaching and learning alongside staff and pupils. This long-term creative partnership has fostered professional development opportunities and placed creativity at the heart of school life. The next two years will see us nurturing a peer-based theatre enterprise with learners with Autistic Spectrum Disorder. The emphasis will be on supporting the development of creative thinking skills and evaluating the impact of this approach on the young people’s ability to think flexibly.
We worked with Goole High School on a series of Creative Enquiry residencies during the Spring and Summer terms as part of their Creative Partnerships programme. The focus was on helping staff and students to identify where key Teaching and Learning improvements could be made, then using our creative enquiry approach to come up with innovative solutions. During one of our residencies, a group of teachers and young people worked with us to create a stimulus to provoke new lines of enquiry.
Cockerton approached us to support the creation of their vision for the school. We involved all staff and children in a creative consultation to find our what really mattered to them about their school and their aspirations for the future. Everyone had the opportunity to contribute through a creative and democratic process. Our Vision is a short film presenting key themes from the school vision; devised, acted and directed by children at the school on a sunny September afternoon.
Download our ‘Creative Enquiry Based Learning’ PDF
Next Creative Enquiry Based Learning One day course on Thursday 22nd March at Toffee Factory Newcastle. Contact us to book a place or for more information.
Download our ‘Creative Enquirer’s Toolkit’ PDF
Next Creative Enquirer’s Toolkit One day course on Friday 23rd March at Toffee Factory Newcastle. Contact us to book a place or for more information.
Last year, we were asked to devise a new professional theatre production by Sunderland Children’s Trust, as part of the national Targeted Mental Health in Schools programme.
TaMHS is a three-year pathfinder programme aimed at supporting the development of innovative models of therapeutic and holistic mental health support in schools for children and young people aged 5 – 13 at risk of, and/or experiencing, mental health problems; and their families. Continuum toured schools in the area and captured feelings of isolation, abandonment and anxiety. Lost without her dad, her brother and everything that she’s used to, she will do just about anything to get out of there, back to town, back to her home and maybe, just maybe, she’ll eventually get some signal for her mobile phone.
We were commissioned by the Customs House in collaboration with South Tyneside Council to work with their Children in Care Council. Last summer, we worked with the group to produce a short film called Do You Know Who I Am? which was conceived, developed and acted by the young people themselves. The film follows a young person’s quest to find himself and explores themes of family, friendship and diversity. In an unfamiliar landscape he finds his explorations into the past take curious twists and turns. He might not like what he finds but true family may be closer than he thinks.
Film and accompanying workshop for young people / professional development programme available – please ask us for details.
The Whose Curriculum Is It Anyway? creative enquiry project was supported by Creative Partnerships. Abbey Hill School & Performing Arts College in Stoke-on-Trent asked us to work with them to find out how children with Autistic Spectrum Disorder and moderate learning difficulties could take control of their own learning. Children used role, problem-solving and thought more flexibly than they ordinarily would have done as staff approached teaching and learning more creatively. By contributing ideas and opinions, pupils began to lead their own curriculum and allowed their imaginations to flourish.
DVD available for schools, Local Authorities and learning organisations – please ask us to send you a copy.
