I spent a very creative hour or so recently with a primary school teacher, thinking through the use of film clips in teaching literacy. She was due to be observed by her head and some of the NQTs at her school, both for her own assessment and as a training session for those newly qualified teachers.

We chatted about various films before settling on Despicable Me. Lots of ways to use this crazy story in a classroom setting were thrown about before we settled on the idea of writing diary entries for the characters involved. Developing this further, we discussed the different viewpoints that each character would have had and the spread of emotions and thoughts each one would be experiencing. Each child would have to think carefully about their chosen character before starting their writing. We chatted through creating a different environment for the children to encounter the story and how best to make use of the space as well as the subject material.

The result of this creative free-falling was a lesson that was rated as outstanding in every category and a lesson that will go on to influence teachers throughout the school. (The lesson was observed not only by the head and four NQTs, but also the deputy head and three other teachers!)

It was great fun to help foster the creative process for this teacher and help her come up with a lesson that knocked the socks off the children and the observing teachers alike!