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Creativity Collaboratives Update

This week, we would like to spotlight our Learning Community, which is the core of our Penryn Creativity Collaboratives journey. We would like to take this opportunity to thank all of our industry and cultural partners who are enriching our learning about teaching for creativity in the classroom.

Our teachers often worked in partnership with members of our Learning Community, who inspired and contributed to the wider teacher CPD (Continued Professional Development) opportunities, alongside training and mentoring from academics at the University of Exeter.

Action Research Reports

Miss Mitchell developed her Action Research Report alongside Pendennis Shipyard during 2022/2023, while Mrs Westhead utilised the expertise of the team at Cornish Lithium to support their understanding of why creative skills are so important in a future workforce.

Mr Childs extended the work in STEAM with Allen and Heath and the IET, exploring the role of industry partners in the curriculum at Key Stage 3 and Key Stage 4, developing real-world projects to enrich students’ knowledge and understanding.

Both Mrs Herring and Mrs Manclark built strong networks with The Writers’ Block (KEAP), taking part in workshops with Anna Murphy and Wyl Menmuir to explore how to develop ideas and thinking in our English lessons.

More

The Penryn Creativity Collaborative is focused on exploring how teaching creativity across the curriculum leads to young people who are better prepared for their future in a changing workforce.

During Year 2, we explored approaches to teaching and learning across the partnership, resulting in 13 Action Research reports written by teachers. During Year 1, we developed a Penryn Partnership Model of Creative Skills with the University of Exeter, including five skills: Dialogue and Collaboration, Empowered Action, Generating New Ideas that Matter, Honing and Developing an Idea, and Imagination and Play.

This was grounded in research, which included exploring – nationally and internationally – what the most anticipated skills our young people will need in their future workforce. One teacher said: “This study has confirmed to me that making the time and space for creativity in the secondary classroom is vital if we want to equip teenagers with all kinds of skills that they so clearly need for the future.”

Getting Involved and More Information

We will continue to share our journey in the coming weeks. If you’d like any further information, or work in a local industry or cultural sector and would like to join our Learning Community, please e-mail us on creativitycollaboratives@penryn-college.cornwall.sch.uk

Don’t forget, you can access our Year 2 Report by clicking here.