Artists in Warwickshire Education

An animation project was the vehicle used to explore leadership and management in 7 Warwickshire schools:  Alderman Smith, Ash Green, Bishop Wulstan, Campion, Harris High, Manor Park and Shipston High.

As well as working with animation artists Iain Smith and Fiona Kolontari, schools also participated in workshops facilitated by Mathilda Joubert (All our Futures visual officer) and Felicity Woolf, joint author of Arts Mark and Partnerships for Learning.

Parents , children, governors and teachers joined together to celebrate the creative results of the project at Warwick Arts Centre cinema.  Both teachers and pupils were delighted to see their work on the big screen.

Feedback from the evaluation visits highlighted some of the benefits of this type of project:

"The head of department feels that there is a new professional rapport with colleagues"

"She has organisational, negotiation and communication skills and has made links to outside agencies"

"The training at Manor Hall was very helpful and meeting other teachers from different schools helped to overcome her shyness.  The project has built the head of departments confidence"

"The project had confirmed the importance of middle managers and their power in instigating change and innovation if they work together"

"It established relationships with senior managers in the school"

"The head would like to do more similar projects in the future and wants to encourage collaborative work between heads of departments"

"Cross curricular links have been strengthened and a good precedent established.  The schools hadn't worked in this way before"