Engage Empower Enrich

Freemans Bay School in New Zealand is leading the way in implementing the government’s ‘innovative spaces’ learning strategy. Terry White shows us how an effective, learner led curriculum strategy can be fully supported using imaginative architecture.

front view of freemans bay school, new zealand

Freemans Bay School is situated in the heart of Auckland, New Zealand. With a transient, multi-cultural population of 400-500 students aged between 5 years and 11 years, the school has successfully worked to overcome some major challenges relating to managing the most diverse range of cultures and socio-economic groups in the city.

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      string(368) "... Learning Without Limits, which uses art to develop critical and creative thinking. We hope that with these products we have provided a platform for that creativity to take flight!																							Intrinsic Motivation is a consultancy specialising in culture change in schools and pedagogic approaches which motivate young learners, even the most ..."
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      string(5479) "Imaginative Minds at theCreativity and InnovationConferenceCome and see us on Stand 12Imaginative Minds Ltd, publisher of Creative Teaching and Learning magazine offers a wide range of online journals and information services, books and resources, helping to make education more imaginative and inspiring.Our journals, books and resources support professional development, to innovate and enhance the teaching of creative and thinking skills in the classroom. There is no better to place to start than with Intelligent Learning. This is a teaching practice course on DVD, offering an enquiry based dialogic approach for the whole curriculum, in which the developing questioning capability of the children gives them ownership of the subjects they are discussing and can allow them to lead their own learning of the curriculum.The role of imagination and story telling (theorised so brilliantly by Kieran Egan) is strongly represented in our packs Arctic Stories, A River Child and Who’s Running the Country? They also employ Community of Enquiry, the approach adopted by Philosophy For Children to underpin the teaching of cross-curriculum projects.The approaches summarised above could be described as Learner-Led Learning. But within this we must recognise the role of teachers in investing children with basic cognitive and conceptual tools and with knowledge. Listening, speaking, and visual literacy skills form a strong element to our publications, as do writing and debating skills.  Our best selling range of six Listening Skills books (three of which have a focus on Maths), have proved a huge success in helping teachers develop effective listening skills for children with a range of abilities.A creative curriculum, is active, led as far as possible by the students and involves the acquisition of knowledge but in a context-relevant way. It requires teachers to be far more creative than does traditional teaching, and this is very much in evidence in Learning Without Limits, which uses art to develop critical and creative thinking. We hope that with these products we have provided a platform for that creativity to take flight!																							Intrinsic Motivation is a consultancy specialising in culture change in schools and pedagogic approaches which motivate young learners, even the most resistant. Our mission is to help schools create a generation of independent and able learners and we are committed to empowering school leaders to achieve this by innovating in the way that schools are run, and by encouraging their teachers to innovate in the classroom in order to unlock the potential in their pupils. We believe this is particularly important in an education system, which is now struggling to deliver the consistently high standard of independent thinking, and self-belief demanded of students in Higher Education and employment.The one thing that’s distinguishes every really outstanding classroom is that every pupil’s internal motivation to learn is activated. We also are certain that the principles and practices that allow this to happen can be learnt by most teachers, if the right information and support is provided. Imaginative Minds produces some of the best materials on these topics in the market today and the Professional Learning Community is a great way to access these materials for use by all in your school.The key factor in facilitating this classroom culture is leadership that creates and maintains a culture in which the state of intrinsic motivation is found and maintained by staff and students alike. This state when achieved within a school is mutually reinforcing – motivated children motivate staff and vice versa. Giving leaders, staff and students tools with which to measure and improve culture is the second core part of our offer. When such a culture is in place – the ideas, knowledge and practices published by Imaginative Minds becomes invaluable to staff and students. Our consultancy offers both the tools and the consultancy support in a cost-effective and practical package to allow leadership to assess cultural issues and guide the school culture through effective intervention. We offer a range of consultancy options and training to achieve this and have considerable experience of tailor-making our approach to the particular circumstances and capacity of each school or collaborative of schools. Our offer includes an advanced leaders programme suitable for all middle and senior leadership, which has proved to be an effective way of changing the culture and capacity to change, of schools in many different contexts.In our presentation we will share the details of our approach, which we have found successful, in creating sustainably outstanding schools in the most challenging of circumstances.  We will share some of the models we use and discuss with you the options available for engaging with our approach as a collaborative or as part of our network of schools.Presenters will be:Nick Zienau – Director of Intelligent Action Ltd – an independent education consultant for 21 years working internationally and in the UK on leadership and excellence in education, Chair of the Society of Education Consultants.Howard Sharron – Author and Publisher – CEO of Imaginative Minds and author of Changing Children’s Minds: Feuerstein’s revolution in the teaching of intelligence.Email Sandy Ghose to request further information: enquiries@imaginativeminds.co.uk"
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Creative Teaching & Learning

Creativity and Innovation Conference

19 Sep 2011

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Creative Teaching & Learning

Creativity Websites

1 Jun 2011

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Creative Teaching & Learning

Creativity across the primary curriculum

30 Dec 2010

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Digital Learning

Creativity In The Classroom

24 Nov 2010

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Leadership Briefing 5.06 (54)"
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      string(4119) "ResourceCREATIVITY IN THE CLASSROOMOriginal DocumentCreativity In The Classroom. This new report by Adobe reveals the high value placed on creativity skills in school leavers by employers and universities – skills such as creative thinking or the ability to present information in a creative and compelling way. Despite this, the research shows there is little evidence of it in students applying for jobs or university placements.KeywordsCreativity skills, school leavers, employers, universitiesSummaryThis new report by Adobe reveals the high value placed on creativity skills in school leavers by employers and universities – skills such as creative thinking or the ability to present information in a creative and compelling way. Three quarters (77%) of those surveyed cite creativity as an essential or important skill, in addition to core skills such as numeracy and literacy.Despite this, the research shows there is little evidence of it in students applying for jobs or University placements. 52% of University lecturers claim the majority of prospective undergraduates they interview do not demonstrate strong creativity skills, with one in five (20%) claiming just a few students can demonstrate this skill. This trend is even more pronounced in the workplace where the majority (74%) of employers say that ‘less than half’ the people they interview display these skills. Alarmingly, only 4% of employers and 10% of lecturers feel they see strong creativity displayed in all candidates.Main Points:· Creative skills have never been so important, desired by businesses which need to continue to innovate to remain ahead of the competition – whether that be by designing a cutting-edge new product or creating a visually impactful, winning sales pitch.· UK employers and University lecturers place a high value on creativity skills in school leavers according to this research by Adobe, demonstrating how important it is that these skills are instilled in students. The majority (77%) of those surveyed say they view creativity as an essential or important skill, in addition to core skills such as numeracy and literacy.· However, there is a discrepancy between the demands from the workplace and University and schools with the research showing there is little evidence of these skills in students applying for jobs or placements. · Less than half (48%) of lecturers claim they interview prospective undergraduates with strong creativity skills, with one in five (20%) claiming few students can demonstrate this skill.  Just one in 10 (10%) of those applying to University demonstrate creativity to their interviewers.· This trend is even more pronounced in the workplace, where a third (32%) of employers say that only ‘a few’ interviewees can demonstrate this skill. Just 4% of those interviewed said they always see creativity demonstrated by interviewees.· One of the most highly rated creative skills is the ability to take a creative approach to solving problems, with 46% of those surveyed saying they look for this in potential recruits. Other desirable creative skills include:· Digital and online creativity skills, for example the ability to use design editing tools to create online content – rated as important by 35% of respondents.· Half (52%) of those surveyed believe creative thinking, for example generating new ideas, is an important skill.· A talent for presenting work well rates highly for both employers and lecturers with 30% saying the ability to create visually appealing work is a key skill.· The ability to innovate is also rated a key creative skill, with 50% of employers and 58% of lecturers looking for it in interviewees.The research shows that two thirds (66%) of those surveyed feel schools should be doing more to encourage creative approaches to work in their students.ActionNotesAuthorRaspal Chima, Imaginative MindsDate CreatedNovember 2010Enquiries to:raspal.chima@yahoo.co.uk (Authoring Unit)Month / YearPage 1 of 1©Birmingham City Council"
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Leadership

Creativity In The Classroom

26 Oct 2010