Curious Minds

Pendle Vale College is a new BSF school and this first project as a Change School centred around working with the English, Design and Media departments to explore ideas for new signage for each curriculum area. The project aimed to develop students’ understanding of Creative Partnerships and creative learning, and to develop a sense of shared ownership of the new learning environment. It was hoped that the project would:

• Develop skills for learning, particularly through the exploration of a skills-based learning approach at KS3, to prepare students to be more independent learners by the time they enter KS4
• Encourage a greater level of risk to be taken in lessons, to engage learners and develop ‘more of the teaching to be as good as the best’.

Teachers and practitioners held initial discussions to discuss developing a programme of work around the new school space. The pupil Creativity Council were involved with this element of the programme, being inspired through a visit to Mid Pennine Arts in Burnley and a visit to Liverpool, and through further meetings with the practitioners.

Sessions with two year 10 Graphics classes explored themes around ‘the spirit of Pendle Vale’ and ‘pupil individuality.’ An initial pitch was made to the classes to encourage them to think of ideas in preparation for the sessions. The practitioner and the teacher explored the concept visually, using photography, cut and paste techniques and large-scale mirrors. The ‘peeps' characters were created at this stage, encapsulating individual pupil’s identities and interests.

Media and English teachers worked alongside the practitioner to develop the project. The English element of the project was more teacher-led, using the project to inspire their poetry schemes of work for the coming term.

A series of 20 ‘peeps’, large scale character cutouts, were created from pupils’ final designs, and were installed in two zoned areas in the school building.

A Talkaoke event by People Speak was also used to gain insight into pupil and staff perceptions of the project.

• Working with a graphic designer gave pupils a genuine insight into the relevance of their study. Pupil attitudes to the subject areas became more focused and professional as a result of the work with the practitioner.
• The project increased pupil ownership of the new learning space. Pupils felt they had made the school their own; “it makes the school look funky, smart and less boring.” (year 9 pupil)
• The project developed more cohesive learning amongst the group. “Everyone got to put their ideas forward and discussed as a group what to do.” (year 10 pupil)
• The programme enabled an exploration of the use of spaces for learning outside the classroom and provided an opportunity for teachers to team teach, moving in and out of roles. Teachers report ‘feeling fired up’ by Creative Partnerships.

• ‘Zoned In’ will continue as a thread throughout the programme and similar projects will  now take place outside the Creative Partnerships programme through external funding applications.
• The school will continue to explore both formal and informal ways of engaging pupils in decision-making.
• The installation of the ‘peeps’ inspired another project using the characters as an alternative mechanism for delivering enterprise education with a year 10 class.