Programme Development

Creative Partnerships develops programmes characterised by project work as their core developmental activity – constructed and delivered through an enquiry-based approach. Establishing your enquiry or core question is therefore one of the most important aspects of programme
development.
Your enquiry may relate to a broad variety of themes including: developing creative approaches to teaching and learning, changing the school ethos, getting more parents involved in the life of the school or dealing with behavioural problems. Your enquiry should relate to issues identified in your School Improvement Plan. In addition, if you have carried out a self-assessment exercise using Creative
Partnerships’ Creative School Development Framework (an optional activity for Enquiry Schools), you will probably have identified organisational and structural issues in your school that you would like to address. Your Creative Agent will help you to structure your enquiry, ensuring that your core question is relevant, focused and sufficiently challenging for your circumstances.

The following themes are offered as starting points for establishing your enquiry. In many ways they are variations of the question ‘How can teaching and learning be organised so that creativity can thrive throughout the school?’

Leadership and ethos
• How is leadership for creativity developed in the school and what role do children and their families play in this process?
Curriculum development and delivery
• How is the curriculum organised and managed to support creative learning?
• What is the impact of meaningfully engaging pupils in decision making about their own learning?
• How can a flexible approach to the use of time impact on learning?
• How do special events and experiences grounded in the real world impact on creative learning?

Teaching creatively
• How are diverse learner needs met by creative responses?
• How can particular areas of under-achievement be addressed?
• What role does ICT play in creative teaching and learning?
• What is the particular contribution of creative professionals within teaching and learning delivery partnerships?
• How can young people work as co-constructors of learning and how does this impact on their creative development?
• How can the curriculum be explored so that learning is dynamic, contemporary and relevant?

Teaching for creativity
• How can specific creative skills and attributes be fostered and enhanced in learners?
• What is the teacher’s and the creative practitioner’s role in modelling and demonstrating these behaviours?
• How can these skills and attributes help prepare young people for future economic success?
• How can young people progress on to careers in the creative industries?

Staff learning
• How does a school establish a creative learning community, where teachers constantly reflect on practice?
• How is that learning enhanced through partnerships with the creative and cultural sector?What difference do environments and resources make?
• How do the use of indoor and outdoor space, the design of classrooms, the use of visits and the role of display contribute to developing creative learning? The most useful questions are always specific and focused. The themes above are starting points for thousands of potential lines of enquiry; your challenge will be to establish an enquiry that will motivate you and the project participants and generate learning that will have long-term impact on your school community.