London’s renowned Saatchi Gallery is known for championing the work of previously unheard-of artists, offering a springboard to fame. Living up to this reputation, in March this year the gallery will feature work by some of the UK’s youngest and least-publicised artists – displaying creations from a cross-disciplinary project completed by Year 4 learners at NACE member and Challenge Award-accredited Pencoed Primary School.
 
Titled “Creating our Welsh identity”, the project started with a focus on learners identified as at risk of underachieving, including the more able – but its success led to elements being rolled out across the entire year group, and the school.
 
Class teacher Chloe Maddocks, who coordinated the project, explains more…

The context:

Promoting creativity and creative thinking is part of our school vision, and we recognise these as key life skills. However, this was an area we felt we could develop further.
 
We developed the “Creating our Welsh identity” project with the aim of raising academic attainment, improving learners’ self-esteem and confidence, and developing their creative skills – combined with a focus on numeracy and links to the year group topic. We also wanted to explore learner and staff perceptions of what it means to be creative, and to develop this thinking and awareness of broader creativity.
 
Having scoped out the project, we successfully applied through the Arts Council of Wales for a grant of £10,000, to be split between Year 1 (2016-17) and Year 2 (2017-18).

The project:

Running for the duration of the spring term, the project was linked to the Year 4 theme, The Stuarts. Initially, we selected 18 learners, targeting those at risk of underachieving. Due to the project’s success, we subsequently adopted some of the broader approaches across the rest of the year group and throughout the school.
 
At the start, learners did some research around the history of the Union Jack. Exploring symmetry, measuring and shapes, they then created their own version of the flag using fabric and donated materials, incorporating aspects of their own identity. Members of the community volunteered to teach learners to use a sewing machine, so they could stitch on their initials. The group also created personal identity drawings, based on research into the history of their family, incorporating words and symbols that represented them inside an outline of their body.
 
Numeracy was embedded from the start, right through to the end. We incorporated this in planning so all 60 learners within the year group were also taking part in the numeracy tasks. We looked at which National Literacy and Numeracy Framework (LNF) strands we could include, as well as planning our maths, language and topic lessons around the project. Focusing on real-life problems and tasks that reinforced specific numeracy strands – pricing activities, comparing costs from different supermarkets, profits and budgeting – allowed learners to relate to the importance of numeracy in everyday life.
 
More able and talented (MAT) learners were selected to act as leaders of certain parts of the project and were given the task of planning and coordinating the celebration event. All activities were differentiated to provide appropriate levels of challenge, and weekly evaluations allowed staff to tailor sessions to meet learners’ needs.

Learner engagement:

During the project we worked alongside Haf Weighton, a textile artist from Penarth. Haf brought some lovely ideas and had a wonderful working relationship with both the adults and children involved. She was selected by the learners themselves through an interview process, inspiring them with her style of art and her passion and love for her work.
 
Throughout, the learners were a key influence in determining the project’s direction, and were particularly active in devising the final outcome – the afternoon tea party. I had weekly conversations with them, in which they were able to evaluate their own work and the work of Haf, as well as discussing ways for the project to develop.

Celebration and exhibition:

To celebrate their work, learners hosted an afternoon tea party for parents and carers, sharing the project outcomes and showing off what they had learned throughout the topic. Around this event, learners had the opportunity to:

• Work alongside a candle maker
• Work alongside members of the community to create cushions and print
• Research what types of foods would have been served at a Stuart tea party
• Research the history of afternoon tea
• Take a trip into Pencoed village to purchase food
• Work out pricing, budget and profit
• Be filmed and interviewed by Heno, S4C

On the day of the party, parents and carers had the opportunity to sit in on either a literacy or numeracy lesson, tailored to the theme of the Stuarts.
 
Through Haf’s connections, we’ve also been able to reach a much wider audience. The artwork created was displayed in our very own exhibition in the HeARTh Gallery at the Llandough Hospital. Haf also shared details of the project at the Knit and Stitch Show in London, and – after the success of the project was shared online through our school website and Twitter – the prestigious Saatchi Gallery was very interested to work alongside Haf and to share the learners’ work.

Impact:

The impact for learners was far greater than we initially anticipated. All made progress with their weekly Big Maths scores and overall numeracy skills. They were also able to see the benefits of numeracy in everyday tasks, benefitting from the cross-curricular approach.
 
As well as developing a multitude of literacy, numeracy and creative skills, there was also an improvement in learners’ general confidence, wellbeing and self-esteem. For MAT learners, independent thinking and problem solving improved, and all learners felt a strong sense of pride and achievement in their work. Opportunities to see their work displayed, and to share their learning with parents and carers, provided inspiration to broaden their horizons and aspirations for the future.
 
There’s also been a wider impact, as we’ve shared the excellent practice across the school. In addition, the project has raised awareness about the importance of creativity among learners, staff and parents, showcasing how much can be achieved.

Next steps:

We are now in our second year of this project, and intend to continue running projects in this way. We’ve also been involved in school-to-school collaboration and shared our experiences in networking events across the Central South Consortium to promote this project to other schools. And of course we’re also planning to take the learners to the Saatchi Gallery in March, so they can experience the exhibition first-hand!
 
Chloe Maddocks has been a full-time teacher at Pencoed Primary School for four years, teaching Years 3 and 4. As coordinator of the “Creating our Welsh identity” project, she’s enjoyed opportunities to develop her leadership and project management skills, learner engagement, and share expertise with peers at other schools. She’s passionate about showing how creative skills can be incorporated into cross-curricular learning.
 
Pencoed Primary School has been a NACE member since 2014 and achieved the NACE Challenge Award in July 2015. With approximately 600 learners enrolled, the school is dedicated to developing networks of good practice and continually reviewing and improving its provision for all learners within an ethos of challenge for all.
 
Do you have an inspiring project to share with the NACE community? Contact us to share a case study.

Lesley Hill, headteacher of NACE member Lavender Primary School in North London, shares her school’s approach to ensuring the curriculum remains broad, engaging and meaningful – alongside a successful focus on good outcomes for all learners.

“Lavender” School conjures images of a delightful school in a leafy suburb. It is a delightful school, but we have our challenges. The number of children with English as an additional language, and of those eligible for FSM, are both above national averages. We also have a high number of children with need. However, challenges are not just about closing gaps, and when it comes to curriculum one particular challenge is to hold on to what is important.
 
In the late 80s, I was an advocate of themes, of helping children see links in learning and maximising creativity. Although I understood the need for a national curriculum (to avoid children potentially repeating the same topic year after year!), I had serious concerns about a rigid, dictated and narrow curriculum that would merely feed standardised tests.
 
A few decades (and curriculum reviews) on, and I don’t believe that prescription has to stifle creativity, or that children have to learn within a narrow framework to get results.

Empowering learners to make choices… and mistakes

For some years, most of our subject teaching has been done through cross-curricular topics and we insist on at least one pupil choice topic per year. Classes or year groups vote on different themes and teachers ensure that the statutory knowledge and skills are covered within the topic. In KS2, we aim to include children in the planning process by asking them to consider how the required topic content could be taught.
 
Our use of pupil voice helps to engage and motivate our learners, but we also want them to have ownership over their learning. The introduction of growth mindset five years ago made a marked difference in terms of attitude, and was particularly empowering for those higher-achieving learners who find it so hard to “get something wrong”.

Developing skills for self-evaluation and reflection

Learning to learn strategies were also embedded and this culture enabled us to introduce fast, effective feedback a year ago. Teachers do not write in any books, but mark verbally during lessons, through 1:1 or group conferencing. Children peer- and self-assess and write reflections on their learning against success criteria. The self-evaluative process needs higher-order thinking, and allows learners at all levels to develop those skills.
 
Meta-cognition is promoted through peer work and is particularly successful for higher achievers when working with lower achieving or younger children (such as through our Reading Buddy scheme). Talk partners are therefore picked randomly to allow a range of peer-work experience. Group and paired feedback has been successful across the curriculum. I opened a sketch book recently and read, “I spoke with my partner and we thought that I should put more shading and detail on the petals.” Our “drafting and crafting” approach is used across the curriculum, enabling children to reflect on all learning, not just the core subjects.

Encouraging creativity at home

The fact that we value all subjects is visible in our homework policy. Learners have the usual spellings and number facts to learn, but also work on given topic themes. Because the titles are quite open (such as “Enfield Town”), children can access them and deepen their learning according to their own starting points. On home-learning day, you might see children carefully manoeuvring a model volcano, clutching a home-made booklet about local history or a USB stick with a slideshow about chocolate. They might just have a sheet of notes that have been prepared for a “lecture”. They share these projects at school, paying special attention to their presentation skills, which are then peer- and self-evaluated.

Extracurricular experiences and engagement

Visits and outings are built into our curriculum. We develop enterprise and aspiration through trips to businesses and institutions, such as Cambridge University, and by inviting in key people. We value working with others, getting involved with school cluster creative projects wherever possible. Last year, we were able to buy in a British Sign Language (BSL) teacher from a partner school to teach sign language to every class from nursery to Y6. We also encourage entries to events such as the annual Chess Tournament and Mayor’s Award for Writing, and are in the process of organising a spelling bee across our partner schools.
 
Home-school partnerships are important to us. Family days, where parents come in and work alongside their children, as well as exhibitions and information fairs, help us to share our wider curriculum. One event saw parents being led on a tour through the WWI trenches and, last year, families came in to learn the school song (written by the children themselves). We also work to build wider community links through events such as bulb planting with the local park group, or charity choir performances. Our School Council representatives are confident and vocal when considering local and wider issues and how we can support others.

What does it all mean?

Lavender's results are very pleasing across all key stages. Our GLD, phonics, KS1 and KS2 combined outcomes remain above national figures, with progress data of our higher-achieving children being better than national in all subjects.

OK, so Year 6 do have to do practice tests and more homework than most, but you'll still catch them sneaking into my office during a unit on mystery texts, going through my bin, and desperately trying to work out if I'm actually a spy. Despite budget pressures, I will continue to find the money for Herbie's insurance (our school dog's work with the most vulnerable children is priceless) and I’ll always value our subject leaders for the passion and drive they bring to our curriculum.

Data will always be top of my agenda, but it's there alongside breadth, depth and enrichment. A broad and balanced curriculum doesn't have to be at the expense of good outcomes for our children.
 
Lesley Hill is headteacher of Lavender Primary School, a popular two-form entry school in North London, part of the Ivy Learning Trust and a member of NACE. She has taught across the primary age range and has also worked in adult basic education and on teacher training programmes. Her current role includes the design and delivery of leadership training at middle and senior leader level, and she also provides workshops on a range of subjects, such as growth mindset and marking. Her book, Once Upon a Green Pen, which explores creating the right school culture, is due to be released early next year.