Creativity for learning is much more than an allocation of more time for humanities and the arts. It is about developing pupils’ creative thinking and behaviour through a broad, rich curriculum involving cross-curricular projects.
A culture of creativity flourishes where it is rooted in learning and teaching, the planned curriculum and throughout the school environment. It may be evident, for example, in a welcoming school that has a strong sense of community, where confident pupils show enjoyment, excitement and enthusiasm in a climate of respect and trust.
At NCSL, we have been exploring creativity from different perspectives since 2002, when the first seminar took place. The aim was to enable school leaders to develop creative learning with greater clarity, focus and coherence.
This seminar, supported by the Innovation Unit at the DfES, DEMOS and QCA, began to explore what creative learning and the creative school might look like. This work started to develop a shared understanding of the sort of learning that enabled children to connect areas of experience in innovative and imaginative ways. A number of practical suggestions emerged, which can be found in the post-seminar report.
Access the post-seminar report from this event 
(87kb, 8 pages)
Following an Ofsted survey, “The curriculum in successful primary schools”, which found that schools can have a broad and rich curriculum that promotes creativity while securing high standards in literacy and numeracy, a second NCSL seminar explored case studies of effective practice and the challenges that school leaders face.
Access the post-seminar report from this event
(106kb, 6 pages)
We have undertaken seminar work with 33 of the successful schools identified in the Ofsted survey mentioned above to produce material showing how creativity as an integral part of the curriculum contributes to raising standards in all subjects. These schools have found their own ways of developing creativity for learning.
 | Our work has been
gathered together to produce Developing creativity for learning in the primary curriculum
This is a practical guide on how to encourage creative learning through curriculum change so that schools can gain the confidence to review and develop their own practice. |
Further publications on creativity in schools can be found by visiting our publications pages.
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