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Empowering children through creative writing
For the past 4 years, Writing on the Wall has been delivering a pioneering creative writing programme in 8 primary schools called Super Heroes: Words are our Power.
Early in the project, Curious Minds was commissioned as evaluation partner and critical friend and our evaluation report, authored by Dr Steph Hawke, Curious Minds' Head of Learning and Impact, was published earlier this year.
Here, Steph summarises her findings - breaking down the key features of the project and the evidence of impact that she, with the Writing on the Wall project team, have documented.
Super Heroes
Super Heroes was a ground breaking four-year project (2019-22) which aimed to ignite children’s creativity by placing professional writers in 8 primary schools across Liverpool. Poets, authors, comic book writers, spoken word artists and playwrights used various creative writing strategies with classes across Key Stage 2.By working closely with teachers, Super Heroes aimed to inject creativity into the curriculum and spark children’s imaginations. Despite the challenges posed by the pandemic, the project successfully pivoted towards remote and online delivery methods to meet its goals.
The project focused on nurturing children’s creativity and fostering a love for writing. By starting with the children’s own strengths, identities, interests and experience, the project encouraged them to express themselves in writing. The project also provided continuous professional development and learning for teachers, promoting creative approaches to teaching and learning.
Theory of Change
The Writing on the Wall team worked with Curious minds to develop a Theory of Change for the project. Theory of change is a model that defines the goals of a project and the steps taken to achieve them.
Activities
Outputs
Outcomes
Goals
The project achieved the following outcomes:
- Sustained relationship between children and writing.
- Increased engagement of children as learners.
- Development of children's confidence and creativity.
- Enhanced children's aspirations.
- Encouraged schools to prioritise creativity
- Actively promoted diversity and representation in schools.
Pandemic Pivot
The COVID-19 pandemic disrupted the Super Heroes project after only two terms of in-person delivery. However, the project quickly adapted to the new circumstances by implementing remote and online delivery methods.Through innovative video content, pre-recorded lessons and Zoom sessions, Super Heroes continued to engage children and connect them with creative professionals.
The pivot towards online allowed Writing on the Wall to pilot new ways of delivering creative learning, and the result is a bank of resources. The project’s resilience in the face of the pandemic’s challenges has actually provided a lasting legacy.
Diverse Stories for a Diverse World
In response to the international #BlackLivesMatter movement, and the need for increased diversity in children’s literature, Super Heroes commissioned a collection of stories from a diverse group of writers. The resulting anthology, Diverse Stories for a Diverse World, provided illustrated stories with a set of teaching resources that reflected different experiences and backgounds.Across the Super Heroes programme, teachers were supported to explore wider societal issues through writing, and to promote inclusivity in the classroom.
Through their interactions with diverse writers, children taking part in the Super Heroes project were inspired to write about their own experiences, and they were encouraged to feel more comfortable sharing their work. Children’s aspirations were raised as diverse writers provided valuable role models. The project fostered children’s engagement and resilience, improving their confidence and motivation to write.
Literacy and Beyond
Super Heroes as a project cannot make claims for improvements in children’s progress and attainment but it did play a significant role in developing their writing skills.The project also encouraged teachers to explore diversity in the literature they introduce children to, and helped encourage children to put a diversity of characters and settings into their writing. Through Super Heroes, children were given the freedom to write about their own experiences and celebrate their own identities.
Words are our Power
Super Heroes successfully revitalised creativity in education by bringing professional writers into contact with teachers and children. Despite the challenges posed by the Covid 19 pandemic, the project adapted to online delivery methods; the team at Writing on the Wall and the teachers involved showed resilience, flexibility and creativity in tackling the pandemic’s obstacles.By inspiring children, promoting diversity and fostering a love for writing, Super Heroes empowered children to realise the value of their own identities and stories.
Curious to know more?
Curious Minds' evaluation support package uses a Curiosity Powered approach, taking organisations step-by-step though a systematic development of an evaluation framework; identifying aims, objectives, outputs, outcomes and indicators of success.If you are interested in working with Curious Minds to evaluate the impact of your creative learning project, please contact steph.hawke@curiousminds.org.uk.
With thanks to the following:
Writing on the Wall staff who have led, worked on or contributed to this project, and to the writers, artists, volunteers and emerging writers who have supported us.The staff and pupils of Banks Road County Primary School, Blackmoor Park Junior School, Broad Square Primary School, Holy Cross Catholic Primary School, Leamington Community Primary School, St Michael and All Angels Catholic Primary School, St Cleopas CofE Primary School and Springwood Heath Primary School.
Also to Paul Hamlyn Foundation which funded the Super Heroes project.
