The Innovate to Create project is a two year creative learning project, pushing and testing new ideas around performance and interdisciplinary work within schools. The project is being delivered by a partnership of four schools across the European Union. The partnership includes Regent High School, a co-educational comprehensive school in North London which holds Gold Artsmark status and offers students an exciting and diverse range of creative and cultural learning opportunities throughout their school life; Kodolanyi Janos Kozepiskola es Kollegium is based in Szekesfehervar in Hungary; IES Mossèn Alcover is a State School, situated in Manacor, Mallorca, with around 800 students and Bertha von Suttner School is an inclusive secondary school of 1200 students situated in Kaiserslautern, Germany. The project will fulfil a need within all four schools to inspire disadvantaged students to re-engage with their learning and fulfil their potential, going on to achieve higher level qualifications and gaining necessary skills and experiences to enable them to access higher education or employment. Innovate to Create will see students and staff experimenting with digital technologies and performance as never before, giving all participants skills relevant to the 21st Century and jobs in the creative and cultural sector. It will also develop students' creativity skills, which are transferable to all subjects and future goals. The project has five main objectives: 1) To develop new creative learning methodologies which extend student and staffs skills and knowledge of digital technologies and their use within the creative process. 2) To increase the value students place on their own heritage, the local community and within broader European context 3) To test new ideas around peer learning (on a local and international level) for both students and staff in order to extend knowledge and skills. 4) To explore interactions between creative and cultural professionals, staff and students to test new ideas of performance, music and art. 5) To test the use of digital technologies as a tool for pan European communication. Innovate to Create will offer 140 students aged 15-18 the opportunity to take part in exciting and engaging workshops and lessons which test ideas around performance, digital technologies and interdisciplinary work. Students will use the theme of democracy and the history of how artists explore and question politics as a starting point to create new and unique work. Students will be offered multiple opportunities to communicate and work collaboratively with students in the partner countries through virtual mobilities and also during face to face student meetings, which are a vitally important element of the project. The project will see students develop a deeper understanding of other cultures and knowledge of other European countries through activities such as online communication, social networking, video conferencing and written communication to build partnerships, professional networks and long lasting friendships. Students will be able to take part in peer learning opportunities through activities set up with partner schools and also partnerships with higher education institutions. Over 20 staff members will work alongside professional creative practitioners to extend their knowledge and skills and take their own professional development further. Innovate to Create aims to achieve the following impact on a local and regional level: Participants: - Improvements in student attainment - Increase in self esteem and motivation to learn - Increase in student aspirations and understanding of options after leaving school, including further study or work. - Deeper understanding of cultural diversity and an increase in the development of positive attitudes towards European values and each others cultural heritage. - Increase in digital competence - Successful application to higher education and improved employability - Increase in creativity skills - Increase in ability to express and share positive feelings of the local and regional environment Staff: - Better understanding of good practices, policies and systems in schools across EU - Improvements in staff motivation and increased self worth within the workplace - Ability to develop new and innovative methodologies for use in future teaching - A deeper understanding of other European cultures and a positive attitude towards European values Wider Community: - The project will inform practice in other schools and sow seeds for future project ideas. - Audience members will experience new and innovative creative work in practice - A deeper understanding of international partnership working and its benefits Creative partners: - Long lasting relationships will be built between partners and schools that will last beyond the lifetime of the project. - Partners develop a better understanding of the schools and their students cohorts
The Innovate to Create project was a two year cultural and creative learning project, exploring and testing new ideas around performance and multimedia work within schools. The project was delivered by a partnership of four schools across the European Union. The partnership included Regent High School, a co-educational comprehensive school of 1000 students in north London that has extensive cultural learning expertise and offers students an exciting and diverse range of creative and cultural learning opportunities throughout their school life; Kodolanyi Janos Gimnazium es Szakgimnazium, based in Szekesfehervar, Hungary, with some 700 students; IES Mossèn Alcover, a state school situated in Manacor, Spain, with around 800 students; and IGS Bertha von Suttner Kaiserslautern, which is an inclusive secondary school of 1200 students situated in Kaiserslautern, Germany. The project has fulfilled a need within all four schools to inspire disadvantaged students to re-engage with their learning and fulfil their potential, going on to achieve higher level qualifications and gaining necessary skills and experiences to enable them to access higher education and/or employment, in particular in the cultural and creative industries. Innovate to Create has seen students and staff experimenting with digital technologies and performance, giving all participants skills relevant to the 21st century and jobs in the creative and cultural sector. It has also developed students' creativity skills, which are transferable to all subjects and future goals. The project had five main objectives: 1) To develop new creative learning methodologies which extend student and staff skills and knowledge of digital technologies and their use within the creative process 2) To increase the value students place on their own heritage, their local community and the broader European context 3) To test new ideas around peer learning (on a local and international level) for both students and staff in order to extend knowledge and skills 4) To explore interactions between creative and cultural professionals, staff and students to test new ideas of performance, music and art 5) To test the use of digital technologies as a tool for pan-European communication. Innovate to Create offered 144 students aged 15-18 the opportunity to take part in exciting and engaging workshops and lessons which tested ideas around performance, digital technologies and interdisciplinary work. Students used the theme of democracy and the history of how artists explore and question politics as a starting point to create new and theatrical works. Students were offered multiple opportunities to communicate and work collaboratively with students in the partner countries through virtual experiences and during two face-to-face student mobilities. The project saw students develop a deeper understanding of other cultures and knowledge of other European countries through activities such as online communication, social networking, video conferencing and written communication to build partnerships, professional networks and long-lasting friendships. Students were able to take part in peer-learning opportunities through activities set up with partner schools and also partnerships with cultural organisations. 20 staff members worked alongside professional creative practitioners to extend their knowledge and skills and take their own professional development further, and the core staff group met to share and explore ideas in three staff meetings. Innovate to Create aimed to achieve the following impacts at local and regional levels: Participants: - Improvements in student attainment - Increases in self-esteem and motivation to learn - Increases in student aspirations and understanding of options after leaving school, including further study or work - Deeper understanding of cultural diversity and an increase in the development of positive attitudes towards European values and each others' cultural heritage. - Increase in digital competence - Successful application to higher education and improved employability - Increase in creativity skills - Increase in ability to express and share positive feelings of the local and regional environment Staff: - Better understanding of good practices, policies and systems in schools across EU - Improvements in staff motivation and increased self-worth within the workplace - Ability to develop new and innovative methodologies for use in future teaching - A deeper understanding of other European cultures and a positive attitude towards European values Creative partners: - Development of long-lasting relationships between partners and schools that will last beyond the lifetime of the project - Development of a better understanding of the schools, their students and cohorts The project achieved each of these objectives successfully and has provided students and staff with new ways of thinking and creating.