Thurrock Trailblazer Evaluation 2015/16

Little Thurrock Primary School
“Hope is a photographer but she also taught us some drama. Artists aren’t all
the same, they all do differently”
Samuel, Year 4 student
School details
Little Thurrock Primary School is a 5-11 primary school. The Cultural Champions
are Amelia Wood and Emily Pretlove.
Why did Little Thurrock join Trailblazer?
The programme offers a range of resources that have supported the school to
develop a creative curriculum. The CPD offer was particularly important to
them.
What whole school priority was linked to Trailblazer?
To achieve an improved and better-rounded arts and cultural provision ensuring
the integration of this in the current curriculum, explicitly use arts and culture as
a springboard for raising achievement in other curriculum areas.
What was their action research question?
If arts and culture are integrated into the curriculum, will children recognise
them as distinct areas of learning?
What did they do?
The children who took part in the different projects were immersed in a range
of enriching activities, including trips, specialist teaching and visits to the opera.
The control group were taught using current curriculum topics, with no
additional arts and cultural experiences over and above those they would
normally have.
Who took part?
A number of KS2 children who were all part of at least one of the Trailblazer
projects. They were not picked on the basis of attainment, instead children were
selected who would be more willing to share their experiences as part of the
research.
The difference that has been made:
● Pupils have grown in confidence and are more-able to perform.
● Pupils are also more likely to rise to and enjoy challenge.
● Pupils have become more articulate and developed their thinking skills;
thinking creatively, developing ideas at a much higher level.
● Staff have added to their bank of engaging activities, closely linked to the
arts.
49