Teach-Primary-Issue-19.7

BECKY JACKSON that every child, whatever their background, can realise their potential. As part of this collaboration, we embedded a new way of working, which centred on explicitly identifying and teaching creative habits in every classroom. To ensure consistency and shared understanding, staff meetings were led by the Creativity Team – one of the three school development teams to which every teacher at Cragside belongs. These teams regularly take turns leading staff meetings, focusing on practical, hands- on explorations of what the approach will look like in day- to-day teaching, and ensuring all staff are actively engaged in shaping and implementing meaningful change. Our vision at Cragside Primary is to provide children with an education that empowers them to change the world for the better. A fundamental part of this is making sure all our pupils have access to high-quality creative arts. This focus was inspired by the words of Durham University academic Professor Stephen Gorard, who said: “Schools, in their structure and organisation, can do more than simply reflect the society we have; they can be the precursor of the kind of society we wish to have.” This belief drives our commitment to ensuring that every child, regardless of socio-economic background, additional needs, or English as an additional language, should have equal access to meaningful creative arts experiences. For us, this means removing barriers, so In order to give creative arts access to as many pupils as possible, it was important for us to begin forging links across our region. We began by getting involved in the North-East Creativity Collaborative, a three-year initiative launched in 2021 to foster creative teaching approaches across all subjects, funded by Arts Council England ( tinyurl.com/ tp-ACENEcollab ). This involved us working in close collaboration with other schools. A new approach to the arts has not only opened up creative opportunities for children – it’s transformed a school’s entire outlook HOW THE IDEA WAS BORN GETTING STARTED ALL ACCESS At Cragside Primary School in Newcastle, the creative arts are available for everyone, regardless of whether they have cultural capital at home. EXPERTS ON BOARD The school maintains strong connections with a wide range of artists and arts organisations such as Scottish Opera and Newcastle University. 36 | www.teachwire.net CURRICULUM Building an inspiring