Creative Learning

We use a range of creative approaches in order to inspire, improve pupils’ confidence and perseverance, develop their problem solving skills and ability to reason and to help them become more engaged in the learning process. These approaches help to develop pupils’ understanding through questioning, reasoning and discussion and enables them to connect ideas together. They are also used to illustrate concepts through concrete, pictorial and abstract representations in order to develop in-depth understanding, to vary the way information is presented in order to avoid mechanical repetition and to enhance pupils’ fluency in quickly and efficiently recalling their learning. This is a small sample of our pupils’ work from this academic year.

Pupils have participated in a rich and varied curriculum enrichment programme of visits and workshops provided through projects such as Storytelling Week, National Poetry Day and World Book Day, led by the English & Arts faculty leads, Corinna and Georgie and a range of on-going community partners such as author, Lucinda Jarrett, Adele the storyteller from Read for Good, Oxford University Museums and the Museum of Oxford. The work above was inspired by the literary texts: Stick Man, Romeo and Juliet and The Hunger Games which were studied during Storytelling Week and these photographs illustrate how pupils were encouraged to deepen their understanding of the texts through transformation and visual representation.

In science, teaching staff have helped pupils explore their understanding of concepts through the use of practical apparatus, popular toys and fun approaches such as ‘Slinky Science’ and ‘Superhero Science’. Many pupils are working towards their GCSE exams and some have achieved bespoke AQA Unit Awards in the ‘Science of Slytherin’ and ‘Superhero Science’. The curriculum has been enriched through a range of visits and workshops facilitated by the Maths & Sciences faculty lead, Hugh, and science teachers Liz and Lorna. New links and partnerships have enabled pupils to access workshops on the ‘Science of the Sea’ provided by Abingdon school and a programme of 1:1 visits, live links with a Zookeeper and extended learning opportunities outside of lessons with Cotswold Wildlife Park. 

In maths, teaching staff have been working with an advisory teacher from the Maths Mastery programme to adapt and embed the use of apparatus to represent abstract concepts in order to help pupils gain a deeper understanding. These photographs illustrate how visual representations of equations, games and cross curricular activities have been used to help pupils explore, and embed, key concepts. Maths & Sciences faculty lead, Hugh, has also shared fun and engaging approaches to maths through his ‘Mathematical Magic’ workshops.