Mergtastic
Enquiry question
Can creative approaches benefit staff and pupils in the delivery of joint curriculum areas?
Brief description
The programme aimed to develop new styles of creative learning which could be built upon school wide. The maths & science departments joined up in an attempt to see if the traditional curriculum could be delivered in a non traditional style and together. The project had a CPD focus with whole staff INSET sessions delivered by Proper Job Theatre Company to enable all staff to understand what creativity was and how they might incorporate it into lesson planning. In the second phase, the staff planned and delivered a new creative approach, with observation and feedback from Proper Job.
Key outcomes
The school came to see the benefits of merging curriculum areas and developing a more project-based structure.
Although there was no immediate change in the behaviour of the pupils during lessons, there seemed to be a gradual cultural shift, noticeable in the way they attempted tasks they were given. To begin with, most pupils were appalled at the thought of being given free rein to work something out for themselves and they looked to staff to give them the answers. After a relatively short period of time, however, they started working collaboratively to problem solve and began to reject adult help or input.
Enthusiasm for this style of lesson became apparent as pupils started approaching staff outside of lesson time to ask if they would be doing CP lessons this week and which space they’d be using. It was noticeable that students responded well to lessons not in the normal classroom and placed high value on working in different teaching environments around the school:
‘[It’s] different from normal science and maths ‘cos we’ve gone outside and get to move around – in a normal lesson we sit on our chairs’.
Andrew Hinchliffe, Science teacher, reported:
‘I have found the project to be a great motivator, both for myself and the pupils. I have enjoyed the change in environment, change in topics and the team teaching. The resources that have been created are very good and I have already used one or two parts of certain lessons again with a Y8 class I teach. I hope that this firm base can be built upon next year to further remove the barriers between subjects.’
Sustainable impact
The school has created a bank of resources that will be used year after year, but also can be used for stand alone lessons within any year group at the school.
At the end of the programme, 17 Year 7 pupils, directed by Proper Job, played a prominent role at Creative Partnerships Sheffield's ‘Leap Conference’ on February 28th. With great confidence and exuberance, they set up stalls and ran maths games exploring probability with all 200 conference participants. Christopher Hunt, Maths teacher commented:
‘The largest boost in self esteem was the participation in the Leap Conference. They all thoroughly enjoyed the day but derived so much more than we can teach in a school... [For myself,] I have found the whole Creative Partnerships experience hugely engaging, stimulating and inspiring. It would not be an over exaggeration to suggest that the process, from start to finish, has changed my view on skills based education. I have immensely benefited from being given protected time to enable me to plan and prepare sessions that engage and stretch pupils who now see learning in both maths and science as fun.’
