The Wroxham School – A School of Creativity
56 schools have so far passed through the rigorous selection process to become Schools of Creativity. Representing all phases of education, these schools are part of a growing 'excellence network' in which creativity has moved beyond single projects to become a core part of their philosophy and practice. As part of the programme, they now receive funding support to help them promote their outlook and approaches; inspiring and building creative capacity in other schools across England.
A Hertfordshire primary, The Wroxham School in Potters Bar, was until quite recently a very unlikely candidate for 'School of Creativity' status. "When I came here in 2003," explains headteacher Alison Peacock, "the school had been in special measures for two years and in an effort to exert control, it was as if fun had been banished from the classrooms and the curriculum." She set about transforming the culture to one in which learning and enjoyment became synonymous. "You cannot turn a school into a creative environment without putting in place certain crucial building blocks and top of the list for Wroxham was restoring trust: trust in the staff so they could feel safe to experiment and innovate and trust in the children: encouraging and valuing their views and handing responsibility back to them for their success in the classroom and beyond."
"Once you have captured children's enthusiasm - it is essential to follow through and take risks," says Year 5 teacher Liz Robson. It is just this kind of considered adventurousness and experimentation that is now part of the weft and weave of Wroxham. If a child really excels at creating picture books about such things as wellington boots, then there's a good chance at this school the funds will be found to see his work is properly published. If the latest outstanding Ofsted report suggests improvements could be made to the library, then Wroxham's 'why not' culture kicks in; the feedback becoming the impetus to buy, convert and decorate a double-decker bus into a reading/resource centre: a focus for a year of cross curriculum projects for the children and prompt for all sorts of bridge-building with parents (especially dads) eager to lend a hand with the bus's transformation.
And in the same way a themed French day has grown in just two years to encompass a close relationship with a French school achieved via regular weblink communications and Eurostar trips. This spirit also governed the decision to turn a small patch of formally neglected woodland in the grounds into a 'forest school' where children could get dirty and build dens; experiencing the sort of open-air freedoms that is increasingly absent from young people’s lives. "Play is risky, play takes you to places you have never been - are we really prepared to let this happen within our schools," asks Alison Peacock. At Wroxham the answer is definitely ‘yes’.
Along the way adjustments had to be made tackling problems so that den building did not become an excuse for conflict between classes and groups of friends. Identifying the problems and sorting them out was achieved in large part via the children's own circle time, which at Wroxham has been refined into a highly successful mechanism for capturing 'pupil voice' - run by the children and configured so each circle contains children from all year groups and all have an equal opportunity to contribute. "We have learnt to be responsible," says 11-year-old Nathan, "everyone gets a chance to speak." Emily, aged 11 agrees: "A teacher sits in, but does not tell us everything - this is our time."
"Another key element of the trust you have to build is that of parents," says Alison Peacock, "and the great thing is that by now our parents are happy to support us to the hilt - even if it's a bus we are bringing onto the school grounds, because they understand what we are doing and want to play a part." It's a view endorsed by parents themselves: "I hated school and used to hide in a cupboard when I had to go," explains Mandy Stevens, "but I find it hard getting my boy to leave the school - he is determined to join the after-school club and I am not even a working parent needing that kind of cover."
This 'handing back' of responsibility is not something that occurs at Wroxham in discrete pockets of time. It is part and parcel of every class with each child able to look - in addition to more conventional forms of adult support - to a specific 'learning partner' among their peers for advice and assistance. In this way a real circle of virtue exists in every Wroxham classroom with children reinforcing and consolidating their learning by having to explain it to others while those that are puzzled or even discouraged gaining confidence and inspiration from their contemporaries. In addition, pupils learn in an environment of self-challenge thanks to a system that allows them to choose the level at which they wish to work at any given time. "Every topic is broken into challenges ranging from Level 1 to Level 4," explains Year 6 teacher Jo Turner, "and I have to say I cannot think of a time when children last opted to work below their capacity."
As a School of Creativity, Wroxham has taken on the duty of sharing its experiences and successes with other schools. And to this end it has embarked on a suitably imaginative means of celebrating and communicating its philosophy and approaches. "The school is always hosting visits," explains Creative Partnerships Creative Agent Lee Allen. "But there is always a chance that a single day or a few hours spent here will not reveal all that is going on and so a key part of our School of Creativity funding is helping to build a 'virtual Wroxham' site through which all can have access to a growing body of filmed interviews, demonstrations and classroom practice - and not the kind of highly edited teaching in exemplary settings that typifies certain kinds of good practice that's broadcast elsewhere."
The first batch of edited film for the virtual Wroxham site has just arrived and it completely endorses the hope that it will prove a powerful mechanism for spreading the virtues of risk-taking and creativity far beyond the school’s walls. "I love my school - we are always doing wacky stuff," says one child in interview. "We have lovely teachers and great things to do", says another. "It feels so good helping someone else," says Millie - giving as compelling an endorsement to the learning partners scheme as could be achieved in pages of detailed report-writing.
What then makes Wroxham an ideal example of a School of Creativity? It could be its willingness to run with children's ideas and enthusiasms, seeking partnership with them and trusting them to come up with solutions to their own problems as a community. Alternatively, it could be the school's openness to ideas: its embrace of imagination and freedom - giving pupils and staff the space in which to experiment safe in the knowledge that not everything will succeed and that growth and learning are born out of overcoming obstacles. And that the school has found a way to capture these sometimes intangible elements of its outlook so that they can be shared and spread is also a key part of the formula.
But in the end, perhaps the most compelling symbol of Wroxham's specialness is the child you pass intensely focused, reading and cocooned in the side-car attached to a 1950s Soviet army motor bike bought on eBay and now parked in the school's library that says it all. And not because the vehicle's presence is so extraordinary, rather it is the child's complete unselfconscious adaptation to this unusual reading spot that stands out, suggesting not only the joys of life at a school where creativity is paramount but also a reminder how quickly children can adapt to the surreal and how essential it is to maintain the momentum. Keeping a school creative is a matter of constant vigilance and imagination - a journey without a known destination and one that thanks to its 'virtual' showcase, Wroxham will be able to share far and wide.
