Main Objective
Term 2: Poetry in Musical Motion
To explore how poetry and songwriting share expressive foundations, and to strengthen student voice by connecting poetic devices, structure and musical form through creating and performing original work.
Term 3: Echoes of Change
To investigate sustainability challenges relevant to students’ lives and transform written articles into persuasive jingles, soundscapes and multimodal pieces to inform and influence the wider community.
Project Overview
Across Terms 2 and 3, students took part in highly engaging, music-infused English sessions where they created poetry, quick songs, jingles and multimodal pieces connected to real-world issues. Through warm-ups, collaborative composition and media analysis, students activated their imagination, strengthened their confidence and developed a clear sense of audience and purpose.
Activities were fast-paced and open-ended, with every student having a visible role. This supported increased participation and motivation, particularly when students transformed their writing into performance and musical responses.
Classroom Teacher Reflection
“I think they’re beginning to see that English isn’t just about reading and writing. We’ve used the Creative Schools approach in English with a music twist. For example, we had a poetry task and then turned the poem into a song. That was really interesting — it helped them see that writing a poem isn’t just an academic task, but something that links to real-world creativity — like writing songs or jingles. So, it gave them more context for how English skills apply beyond school”.
Students described the learning as “fun”, “exciting”, and “something to look forward to.”
How did we make the 5 Habits of Learning come alive?
Each learning experience was intentionally linked to a Creative Habit — explicitly named and reflected on. For example:
Collaborative – Irish dance cue-card challenge, ensemble rehearsals, group poem tasks, songwriting, collaborative warm ups.
Persistent – Editing poems, rewriting jingle lyrics, rehearsing before performances/recordings.
Disciplined – Using planned techniques such as poetic devices, structure, timing and rhythm to organise ideas clearly.
Imaginative – Generating ideas through thematic exploration, experimenting with poetic devices, crafting original lyrics, expressing meaning through musical storytelling.
Inquisitive – Analysing film music and audience impact, questioning choices, peer feedback, wicked problems group writing tasks.
Students tracked their own growth using a visual reflection graph — showing the strongest improvement in collaboration and ongoing development in inquisitive and persistent Creative Habit areas.
Many students identified significant growth in “working with other people.” They commented on improvements in communication, confidence and flexibility — especially when tasks required everyone to contribute or adapt quickly. One student shared that, “the games help increase our social skills and help us meet new people,” highlighting how the creative activities helped remove barriers to participation and encouraged new connections within the group.
How did we activate student voice and learner agency?
Student voice and agency were central to the project, with learners making key choices about topics relevant to their community, the musical style and structure, and the poetic or persuasive focus of their message, as well as the intended audience and purpose. They were given time and autonomy to explore tasks in groups, take ownership of decision-making, and negotiate creative approaches together. This empowered students to step into leadership roles, listen to one another, and build confidence in contributing their ideas.
“It makes me feel like I can say anything in front of my friends without being judged. It’s all about being inclusive and working together.” (Student)
“They’re more willing to work with others. The improvements in collaboration are clear.” (Creative Practitioner)
How did you develop creative and critical thinking skills in the students?
Students showed clear growth in flexibility, idea expansion, composition, and performance-based reasoning. They analysed how film scores create emotion, evaluated what makes a jingle memorable or persuasive, and used creative constraints to think quickly and generate ideas. Throughout the project, they reflected on their learning habits and processes while considering audience, message, and real-world impact—strengthening both their creative and critical thinking skills.
“Some of the work they produced was so clever and creative — mind-blowing.” (Kirstie Moore, Teacher)
“Lessons flow really well and actually help you learn.” (Student)
How did the project link to the UN Sustainability goals?
Through the Echoes of Change project, students investigated environmental issues including recycling and waste reduction. They wrote articles and transformed their ideas into short musical messages and slogans designed to persuade and promote positive change.
Students discussed how music and media can shape people’s choices and raise awareness and used this thinking to design creative responses to sustainability issues that affect their own lives and community.
WHAT WAS THE IMPACT?
The impact of the project was evident across the classroom. Students showed increased engagement and enthusiasm for learning, collaborated more confidently with a range of peers, and demonstrated greater willingness to take creative risks. The Creative Habits became part of their shared language and reflection, supporting deeper metacognition and problem-solving. Throughout the term, students displayed higher-order thinking and produced rich, authentic evidence of learning that aligned directly with curriculum outcomes.
“It makes me more excited about coming to class because I get to do cool activities with my classmates — not just work.” (Student)
“I’ve noticed my students are collaborating a lot more, becoming more confident working with others.” – (Teacher)
“Their confidence is growing so much, and it’s been awesome to witness that.” – (Creative Schools Coordinator)
A student shared their reflection on the creative habits:
“My strongest habit is imaginative — I like creating stories and characters. The habit I need to practise is collaborative, because I don’t often get to work with others, and I’m not that great at it yet. But it’s important — one person can’t do everything. It’s easier as a group.” (Student)
Together, these outcomes indicate strong development in collaboration, communication, and creative thinking skills, with students demonstrating improved ability to apply these skills purposefully in curriculum tasks.
.png)