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Report by Valerie Noble, GTC Network Link Adviser
The unveiling of an original sculpture took place in the Peace Garden of Daniel House Pupil Referral Unit (PRU) in Hackney during May 2005. This project was developed as part of the school’s work with Creative Partnerships.
Creative Partnerships is an innovative government funded initiative to develop children’s ambition, creativity and imagination through the arts. The Creative Partnerships project included resident artist Alistair Lampert working with the students on mask making and sculpture, culminating in a collaborative sculpture, Adam, modelled on one of the students themselves.
I have always believed that the arts can provide a positive outlet for children’s creative energy and, having recently taught in a PRU myself, I was particularly interested in this project’s impact on the motivation and learning of disaffected pupils. I was not disappointed.
Headteacher Annie Cornbleet is a fierce proponent of arts education to “reach the parts other subjects cannot reach”. She believes that the power of creative education can be transformational for individual students, and thinks that working collaboratively with organisations like Creative Partnerships can have a powerful impact on learning in schools.
The sculpture ‘Adam’ was about processes, reflecting positive and negative space. The casting was a metaphor for the layers that form us; layers that, in different ways, conceal and reveal a core in us, and serve to transform us. The sculpture in the Peace Garden was to reflect the transformative experience that was the Daniel House PRU.
In my opinion Daniel House has successfully harnessed the healing power of the arts to enable vulnerable young people to reflect upon their lives. It has successfully helped to reduce some of the alienation and aggression that they bring into school and has begun to tackle their disaffection for learning.
Daniel House PRU has also made a video called ‘Under the Hood’, which was produced by pupils. If you would like a copy of this video, or to discuss the work of the PRU, please contact the headteacher Annie Cornbleet. If you are interested in the work of Creative Partnerships, you can find out more on their website.
Contact: anniecornbleet@danielhouse.hackney.sch.uk
Beneath the Hood is a recent video from the Daniel House Pupil Referral Unit and Creative Partnerships.
