Excellence in English

A new report from Ofsted argues that <a href="http://www.cypnow.co.uk/go/education/article/1069997/creativity-classroom-allows-better-teaching-english-finds-ofsted/" target="_blank">creativity in the classroom allows for better teaching of English</a>. The publication, entitled <span style="font-style: italic;">Excellence in English</span>, examines 12 primary and secondary schools which are rated outstanding in their teaching of English, to explore how their approaches to the subject can be adopted by other institutions. Arranging for theatre trips and setting up reading groups are just two of the initiatives which impressed inspectors.<br /><br />To access both the full report and a summary version, <a href="http://www.ofsted.gov.uk/Ofsted-home/Publications-and-research/Browse-all-by/Documents-by-type/Thematic-reports/Excellence-in-English" target="_blank">click here</a>.

Excellence in English

A new report from Ofsted argues that creativity in the classroom allows for better teaching of English . The publication, entitled Excellenc...

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Born Creative

A major new report from the Demos think tank entitled <span style="font-style: italic;">Born Creative</span> is published today, and explores the issues surrounding creativity in the early years. The publication comes at a sensitive time, as the Creative Partnerships and Find Your Talent programmes which were aimed at children were axed in the recent spending review. Among the recommendations of the new report is the suggestion that there should be <a href="http://www.nurseryworld.co.uk/news/rss/1040568/Creativity-children-protected-new-political-climate/" target="_blank">greater emphasis on creativity in the EYFS</a>.<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Born Creative</span> is comprised of a series of essays by well known children's experts such as Bernadette Duffy, Anna Craft, Tim Gill and Michael Rosen; to access the full text, <a href="http://www.demos.co.uk/files/Born_Creative_-_web_-_final.pdf?1289392179" target="_blank">click here</a>.

Born Creative

A major new report from the Demos think tank entitled Born Creative is published today, and explores the issues surrounding creativity in t...

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Creative Summer

The Guardian is launching a new series entitled Creative Summer, which will explore how teachers, teaching assistants and pupils are finding new and different ways to learn in the classroom. The series begins today with <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/education/2009/jun/02/john-hegley-creativity" style="font-style: italic;" target="_blank">'Deckchairs Don't Fly'</a>, in which poet John Hegley shares some of his tips for engaging with a young audience. Readers are also invited to <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/education/mortarboard/2009/jun/02/creativity-your-thoughts" target="_blank">share their contributions</a>, while all creativity-related features from the Guardian can be accessed from <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/education/creativity-in-the-classroom" target="_blank">this link</a>.<br /><br />The blog has already addressed the subject of creativity on a number of previous occasions. To view all previous relevant posts with information about useful websites, reports and TV programmes, just look at the 'Hot Topics' menu in the right-hand column and click on the 'Creativity' link.

Creative Summer

The Guardian is launching a new series entitled Creative Summer, which will explore how teachers, teaching assistants and pupils are finding...

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Creative Classrooms

A new article on the BBC website by education columnist Mike Baker talks about the <a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/education/8064306.stm" target="_blank">benefits of creative classrooms</a>. This has been prompted by the publishing of new research by the <a href="http://www.creativitycultureeducation.org/" target="_blank">Creativity, Culture & Education</a> charity, which examines the exam results of pupils who have taken part in the Creative Partnerships programme, compared with those that have not been involved. According to several documents which make up the research (<a href="http://www.creativitycultureeducation.org/research-impact/showcaseresearch/changing-young-lives-research,65,AR.html" target="_blank">click here</a> to access them), "the results of this study suggest that Creative Partnerships is contributing to improved levels of attainment."<br /><br />The <a href="http://www.creative-partnerships.com/" target="_blank">Creative Partnerships</a> programme was partially born out of the landmark 1999 report <span style="font-style: italic;">All Our Futures</span>; this too, is <a href="http://www.cypni.org.uk/downloads/alloutfutures.pdf" target="_blank">available online</a>.

Creative Classrooms

A new article on the BBC website by education columnist Mike Baker talks about the benefits of creative classrooms . This has been prompted ...

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Creativity Week

It's Creativity Week on <a href="http://www.teachers.tv/" target="_blank">Teachers TV</a> (Freeview Channel 88), which should interest some of the many students who've made enquiries about this topic in the past. All week the channel will be showing programmes dealing with all aspects of creativity within teaching and learning, or if you can't watch them as they're being broadcast, then they are available at all times through the Teachers TV website. <a href="http://www.teachers.tv/search/node/creativity" target="_blank">Click here</a> for a full list of creativity-related programmes.

Creativity Week

It's Creativity Week on Teachers TV (Freeview Channel 88), which should interest some of the many students who've made enquiries ab...

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Creativity in Schools

An new report from the Parliamentary <a href="http://www.parliament.uk/parliamentary_committees/education_and_skills_committee.cfm" target="_blank">Education and Skills Commitee</a> has flagged the <a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/education/7069614.stm" target="_blank">importance of creativity</a> as part of a balanced curriculum. The full report is entitled <em><a href="http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm200607/cmselect/cmeduski/1034/1034.pdf" target="_blank">Creative Partnerships and the Curriculum</a> </em>and can be read in full online; among the other documents it makes repeated reference to is an Ofsted report from last year - <a href="http://www.creativitycultureeducation.org/data/files/ofsted-creative-partnerships-report-15-15.pdf" target="_blank"><span style="font-style: italic;">Creative Partnerships: Initiative and Impact</span></a>.<br /><br />The Childhood and Education blog has covered the topic of creativity in education before; to see what other documents are available on the Web for this topic, try looking at this <a href="http://bcftcschildhoodeducation.blogspot.com/2007/05/creativity-in-education.html" target="_blank">previous post</a>.

Creativity in Schools

An new report from the Parliamentary Education and Skills Commitee has flagged the importance of creativity as part of a balanced curricul...

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Creativity in Education

A couple of weeks ago I attended an interesting talk by one of our students about the importance of allowing children to express themselves creatively; now the latest issue of <a href="http://www.tandf.co.uk/journals/titles/03004279.asp" target="_blank"><em>Education 3-13</em></a> brings together a collection of articles on the same topic. So what resources are available for the researcher in this area?<br /><br />The answer is 'quite a few'! It's probably sensible to start with a look<em> </em>at <em><a href="http://www.cypni.org.uk/downloads/alloutfutures.pdf" target="_blank">All Our Futures: Creativity, Culture and Education</a></em>, the 1999 report which continues to be influential on subsequent efforts to promote creativity in education. Two years later the author Anna Craft produced <a href="http://www.euvonal.hu/images/creativity_report.pdf" target="_blank"><em>An Analysis of Research and Literature on Creativity in Education</em></a><em>, </em>which is an excellent introduction for those who are new to the subject. 2003 then saw the publication of Ofsted's <a href="http://www.ofsted.gov.uk/assets/3377.pdf" target="_blank"><em>Expecting the Unexpected: Developing Creativity in Primary and Secondary Schools</em></a>.<br /><br />Clearly all of these reports have had an impact, as there are now two excellent websites which are dedicated to promoting creativity in education. <a href="http://www.ncaction.org.uk/creativity/" target="_blank">Creativity: Find It, Promote It</a> contains a mass of information including a database of useful documents, while <a href="http://www.ltscotland.org.uk/creativity/" target="_blank">Creativity in Education</a> is a Scottish site with links to useful research and information about policy developments. Two further reports published last year - <em><a href="http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/+/http://www.culture.gov.uk/images/publications/Nurturingcreativityinyoungpeople.pdf" target="_blank">Nurturing Creativity in Young People</a></em> and <a href="http://www.hmie.gov.uk/documents/publication/hmieegpipc.pdf" target="_blank"><em>Emerging Good Practice in Promoting Creativity</em></a> - should help to complete the picture.

Creativity in Education

A couple of weeks ago I attended an interesting talk by one of our students about the importance of allowing children to express themselves ...

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