When your workplace is free of restrictions - with glass walls and wide-open spaces in place of stuffy classrooms and cramped corridors - creative inspiration abounds.
And the staff at Admiral Lord Nelson School (ALNS), Tes’ Creative School of the Year, pride themselves on thinking outside of the box.
The Portsmouth academy applies a creative mindset to every aspect of school life, from behaviour management to social, moral, spiritual and cultural education.
And Julia Wisbey, senior leader for personal development and director of performance at ALNS, believes positivity is the first step to success.
How to foster creativity at your school
1. Celebrate everything
Find opportunities on a local, national and international scale to showcase what you do well. Look at what young people achieve and make sure that you shout about it. Look for the positives and celebrate everything.
2. Know your core values
ALNS is proud to have a Rights Respecting Schools Gold Award from UNICEF, which puts the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child at the heart of the school. Ms Wisbey says it is important to value personal development - you should aim to send young people out into the world who want to make a difference, are able to solve problems, can think creatively, and love working with other people. Try not to focus exclusively on academic results.
3. Build a creative curriculum
Make sure that creativity is not seen as something that stands on its own. Your curriculum should tie up every aspect of creativity, from maths to science, drama, music and personal development. Look at where creativity sits within your curriculum and “explode it” - make it the core of everything you do.
4. Challenge yourself
Focus on how you can get even better. Always look at what you can do next - how can you challenge your pupils and staff, and learn from your mistakes? Life-long learning should trickle through your school, from teachers to pupils, so young people want to rise to every challenge.
5. Encourage creative leadership
Donate time, resources and facilities to creative projects. Give staff the freedom to allow children to learn in different ways. Be driven as leaders to make change - don’t feel you have to conform to every single target set for your school, and value your pupils.
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