Teaching Creative Writing Through Cultural Experiences

Curious Minds, the bridge organisation for the North West, has developed the SLiCE (Specialist Leaders in Cultural Education) programme with Teaching Schools and their alliances in conjunction with cultural organisations. This programme of investment enables schools to play a key role in raising the quality of creative and cultural education across the region.

This year, the Royal Exchange has been a cultural partner with Tate Liverpool and St Ambrose Barlow RC High School. They have developed a lively, practical and inspiring Continued Professional Development (CPD) course for Primary and Secondary teachers, which invited them to consider how they could use cultural experiences to inspire creative writing and improve literacy in their schools. Working with professional playwright Kellie Smith and installation artist Michiko Fujji, the teachers watched SCUTTLERS at the Royal Exchange; went to an art exhibition by Leonora Carrington at the Tate and developed new schemes of work inspired by these live cultural experiences.

Bernadette Furey (SLiCE), who is Assistant Head teacher in Charge of Creativity and Research at St Ambrose Barlow RC High School, explained that: “it is really important to make teachers aware of all the amazing resources right on their doorstep, which can inspire them and their pupils to improve creativity in their schools and even help them teach literacy”.

Over the coming months, Bernie will be undertaking some action research that will include monitoring the impact that the CPD has had on the teachers and schools involved. You can follow her progress and read her final research report in the autumn of 2015. For more information about the SLiCE programme, please visit:
www.curiousminds.org.uk/whatwedo/adviceandsupport/slice/