1. Culture and Creativity
SCHOOL WORDS
…in the National Curriculum
Patricia Metham
Schoolgirls’ Bumper Book, Collins’ Clear-Type Press

2. Culture and Creativity
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Our agenda
A shared vision
Some facts of life: external pressures, working with boys
National Curriculum expectations – reading
Activities – library support for learning
Changing the culture

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The vision Why else would we be here?

4. Culture and Creativity
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The reality? ‘Shades of the prison house begin to close…
Intimations of Immortality, Wordsworth

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The reality? ‘Shades of the prison house begin to close Upon the growing boy…’ ‘Boy’? Is gender still an issue?
Intimations of Immortality, Wordsworth

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Barriers to success for boys
Poor behaviour?
Low levels of motivation?
Low self-esteem and reluctance to risk failure?
A reluctance to begin writing?
TNM Collection – out of copyright

7. Culture and Creativity
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Try reversing the sequence.
Barriers to success for boys include: 
reluctance to begin writing (because of…)
low self-esteem and reluctance to risk failure (leading to…)
low levels of motivation (prompting…)
poor behaviour.
Q: What can you do to dismantle these barriers?

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‘Shades of the prison house begin to close Upon the growing boy…’ But He beholds the light, and whence it flows, He sees it in his joy..’ Q. Where does this light flow from in your school? How do pupils respond?
Credit: Wikimedia.org
Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Electromaterials Science

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Does the National Curriculum do what it says on the tin?

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Does the National Curriculum do what it says on the tin? Does it help pupils to develop ‘culturally, emotionally, intellectually, socially and spiritually’?

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The Primary English NC is literacy-heavy. English Literacy Conjoined but UN-identical twins

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English Literacy
With a partner, construct a definition for literacy and one for English.
Be ready to share your thinking.

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Literacy:
a set of skills (speaking and listening, reading, writing)
essential to teaching and learning in all subjects
a shared responsibility
Literacy is a means to be used, not an end!
Q: How actively involved are you in helping pupils become adept and creative users?

14. Culture and Creativity
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English:
knowledge and experience across centuries and cultures
explored through fiction and non-fiction, poetry, story, drama, myth and legend, diaries, lit. crit., reportage…
written and spoken in English
It is a treasure house of culture and creativity.
Q: Are you more than curators?

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Begin…
at the beginning.
‘I like new words – they make my world bigger.’
Picture: Mile Oak pupil (with permission)
Words: a young reader supported by ‘Beanstalk’

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The Primary NC calls for all pupils to read widely across both fiction and non-fiction:
to develop knowledge of themselves…
and of the world in which they live
to establish an appreciation and love of reading
to gain knowledge across the curriculum.
No authors, texts or topics are prescribed.
Each school must make important choices.

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Choices
With two or three others, discuss which three texts are ‘musts’ for you in KS1 and in KS2.
If you are in a secondary school, what three texts do you expect or want Year 7 to have read in primary school?
What determines your choices?
In what order would you expect these texts to be studied? Why?

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Keep up the momentum.
‘I wish we had more time just to read for pleasure.’(Year 6)
‘We like to dive deeper and see more of a text.’ (Year 10)
Picture: Mile Oak pupils (with permission)

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The NC for KS3 calls for all pupils to read:
whole books, in depth
for pleasure and information, across subjects
good fiction and non-fiction
pre- and post-1914 poetry, prose and drama
two Shakespeare plays
film and digital texts
‘seminal’ world literature.
Lots of choice!

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Choices
From a primary or a secondary point of view, consider what are your KS3 priorities or expectations.
Which Shakespeare plays?
Which pre-1914 prose text?
Which post-1914 drama?
Which seminal world literature?
As a group, agree on one text for each category.

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Freedom to choose brings accountability!
What is your role?
What part do you play in the selection and
presentation of fiction and non-fiction?
How do you evaluate your impact?
Compare your profile with others on your table.

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The key question is always: ‘What is the impact on pupils’ learning?’
Seedling inside light bulb – clip art provided by Microsoft

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Creative approaches
Look at the EYFS and Year 10 case studies (Hand-out 1a and 1b).
With two or three others, consider how either the primary or the secondary NC-linked activity could be enhanced through additional resources and reading.
How would you evaluate the value of the additional resources you have suggested?

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Project-planning
Look at Hand-out 2.
Keeping the NC expectations in mind,
discuss with two or three others how you might contribute to the history activity for
either Key Stage 2
or Key Stage 3.
Be ready to share your ideas.

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Creativity and culture in the National Curriculum?
Nobody says it’s easy!
License details
Reproduction of 2D artwork in public domain

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Challenge
14% of children and young people in lower income homes rarely or never read books for pleasure.
10% of pupils aged between 8 and 16 say they do not enjoy reading at all.
National Literacy Trust Children’s and Young People’s Reading in (published 2014)

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Challenge
31.5% ‘struggle to find books that interest them’.
Levels of enjoyment drop in KS4 for boys and for girls:
KS2 boys 59% KS4 boys 30% KS2 girls 73% KS4 girls 44%.
National Literacy Trust Children’s and Young People’s Reading in (published 2014)

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Challenges
to change the culture
to raise expectations
Who’s responsible?
Who really cares?

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Between us we have:
the vision
the expertise
the opportunity.
Archimedes’ lever: Mechanics Magazine published in London in 1824.