The Elliot Foundation Academies Trust - East Anglian Schools Create and Design Reflection.
The journey so far...
How are you working as a trust to deliver Create & Design?
Through the appointment of an Arts Ambassador in every TEFAT academy in East Anglia, we are working as a Trust to deliver the inspirational and exciting ROH Create and Design programme based around the ballet of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. The Create and Design CPD training delivered by Sarah Waterman (Project Manager) and Ruth Paton (Designer) has provided the vehicle through which our schools are working hard to put the Arts at the very centre of our curriculum offer.
Each academy is on an individual journey to achieve the various levels offered at Artsmark (Silver, Gold, Platinum) and the project has provided invaluable CPD opportunities including how to approach designing for the stage with children. In addition to this, the 10 week unit has given teachers a model delivery sequence for their pupils; one on which future projects can be based.
As a Trust a particular emphasis is placed on aspiration and how to develop this in all our young pupils. All levels of this project offer authentic insights into the range of roles within the ROH company, promoting the many career opportunities within the arts. In the eyes of our pupils and staff, it makes the impossible feel possible!
What are the intended outcomes in working in this way?
The aim of this work is to develop an effective approach to collective working. We believe that by working together we can increase arts opportunities and develop cultural capital for children; engaging their families and developing teachers as arts leaders. The work with Sarah and her team has meant we have felt supported every step of the way with the programme being reviewed and tailored to match the developing creative needs of each school. Arts Ambassadors from the different East Anglian settings meet regularly for peer learning opportunities and to share the creative practice which is taking place in each academy.
What are your early experiences of working on the programme so far?
The programme has inspired the development of an Arts community within our Trust which is being used to provide an effective way to share resources, knowledge and expertise. As the various units unfurl, teachers are (to borrow the words from Alice) going further and further ‘down the rabbit hole’, becoming more and more inspired to make cross curricular links within and outside of their classrooms. Colleagues have been so inspired by Alice’s Adventures that they are extending the theme into creative writing sessions, music, PSHE and dance to name but a few.
The creative and flexible nature of this programme has meant it is very easily accessible to all pupils. Differentiated outcomes have provided low-threshold, high-ceiling learning opportunities and, as a result of this, awe-inspiring creative designs are flowing from our young people.
In conclusion, this amazing journey into Wonderland has provided our children with the opportunity to become ‘curiouser and curiouser’ when it comes to the Arts. Watching the children’s excited reactions to receiving the commission letter for the set design brief from Kevin O’Hare, listening to the ballet music tell the story for the first time or standing proud independently presenting their stage model to their peers is absolutely priceless!
