Additional capacity, through appointment of an associate lead school, supported promotion and engagement of all our network schools. Regular school visits from creativity leads, in both the lead and associate lead schools, was not only an opportunity to notice effective practice and amplify it across the network, but promoted open conversations. This resulted in an increase in confidence among collaborative members who began to demonstrate a real willingness to share their work with others. Peer learning groups were established and school visits organised to further enable participants to learn from one another and explore effective practice.
Increased practitioner delivery, from both external supporters and schools in the network, helped to further shape the culture and climate for the network. For example, every school had the opportunity in network meetings to share something that was going well. This has supported participants' transition towards becoming authentic leaders of creativity.
Recognising the need to support head teachers and their buy-in was addressed. A group of senior leaders visited schools in Wales to explore models based around the principles of creativity, serving to strengthen the continuing dialogue around leadership and culture to support teaching for creativity.
A second cycle of longer enquiries took place where creative practitioners worked alongside schools, in order to further develop pedagogical approaches to creativity and reflect on learning environments.
The network and partner Creativity, Culture and Education, commenced development of a Creativity Toolkit consisting of a set of frameworks and models that support schools to develop the conditions for teaching for creativity. This will be developed further in year three.
The value of youth voice was explored, resulting in the creation of the role of our Young Creativity Champions, where children become advocates for creativity, exploring where creative thinking is happening in schools and the benefits this brings.
Our schools also took steps to understand their wider contribution to growing the network further and to promoting the work that was developing.
In order to successfully develop school-level creative professional learning communities, each school nominated at least one Creativity Lead whose role would be central to encouraging teaching for creativity across and within each collaborative school. Integral to this was the establishment of cultural norms (Professor Louise Stoll, 2022) including the necessity to challenge one another and distribute leadership. Schools participated in deep and complex professional learning as they began to make sense of creativity and what this may look like in their setting. The confidence to support and challenge one another was also cultivated.
Our Creativity partner and consultants, Professors Bill Lucas and Louise Stoll, worked with individual schools to assist in the formulation of a whole school theory of change for teaching creativity and to develop their capacity to lead creativity, so it became embedded in school.
Schools also engaged with creative practitioners who came from a wide range of disciplines, including science, engineering, the arts and creative industries, exploring and testing out pedagogical approaches in their own classrooms. Both successes and challenges were reflected upon in order to inform future planning of deeper enquiries in year two that would involve staff beyond the Creativity Leads.
Year 2 Film - Cambois Primary School
In year 2 Culture Bridge North East gave us some funding to make a film showing the work being done by Cambois Primary School, one of the schools in our network, with regards to developing the teachers' imaginative and creative skills by working with creative practitioner Sophie Crocker. She was working with the teachers as a critical friend, observing, discussing with pupils and reflecting on practice.