Creative Classrooms

Drama practitioner Emma is sitting cross-legged in jeans and a black top, smiling. She has brown hair in a bun and is wearing glasses. She is surrounded by smiling pupils sitting down cross-legged.

What is Creative Classrooms?

Creative Classrooms is a drama programme designed for primary schools, Years 1 to 4, to support students to develop their emotional literacy, while building communication and empathy skills. The work is rooted in darts’ approach which draws on over 30 years’ experience of delivering creative activity in partnership with schools.    

 Over the weeks they participated, class teachers reported that Creative Classrooms gave students the emotional confidence and communication skills to build stronger connections with their peers, as well as the artists leading the sessions. This equips students with the tools, emotional literacy and communication skills that are essential in coping with the challenges of exams, friendships and the move towards secondary school. This is of huge benefit to their social and individual development.   

Creative Classrooms and Artist Development

Professional theatre-makers work with a whole class for a half term, using an age-appropriate story to increasingly understand a range of emotions the characters are feeling, and in turn, we might feel too. As part of Creative Classrooms, teachers and teaching assistants receive professional Continuing Professional Development (CPD) in using drama in the classroom and supporting students in understanding their emotions.    

Throughout the delivery of the Creative Classrooms programme, artists told us they felt that darts provided them with unparalleled support, meaning they were able to respond to the needs of the students who took part. The close involvement of this collaborative way of working was beneficial to both the students’ emotional wellbeing and communication skills, as well the artists’ own creative practice.    

‘’The group coming together to develop and share practice is a game-changer, it so rarely happens. Similarly, co-facilitation and working together in schools has made a massive difference to the project and my practice.’’

 To read the full case studies from our Creative Classrooms artists, download the PDF Reports from this page.

Creative Classrooms delivery was funded by the Paul Hamlyn Foundation.  

artist development arts case study children creative classrooms School schools young people