With Mental Health Awareness week approaching, there’s no better time to be talking about the role creativity plays within mental health and education. At Bishop Perowne, we celebrate creativity in all its forms, recognising the vital role it plays in boosting educational achievements and how being able to explore creative pathways can also have a positive impact on both mental health and emotional wellbeing.
Mental Health Awareness Week 15th to 21st May
Bishop Perowne is committed to promoting positive mental health and emotional wellbeing, and our creative subjects play an important part in preparing our students with a catalogue of coping strategies and tools for difficult times.
Whether it’s the process of painting, absorbing a new piece of music or physical self-expression through dance, these acts in themselves help students to be aware of the present moment and can be considered a mindful practise. Mindfulness is proven to have a positive impact on mental health and by developing creative outlets such as these, students can benefit from reduced stress, better concentration and even better sleep.
Equip students with skills for their future
Creative thinking is an essential skill for many future careers. In a world dominated by technology, Bishop Perowne students will stand out from the crowd by having cultivated a creative approach to problem solving. Through opportunities to learn and develop creative talent within Art, Design and Technology, students will have a greater understanding of technology, nutrition, design and creativity in our world today and be able to apply it to their future career paths.
Encourage strong emotional development
Dance, as an example of creativity, involves a lot of trial and error and potentially even elements of failure, all of which are wonderful opportunities to build up emotional resilience and perseverance. Dance at Bishop Perowne includes not only learning how to perform, but understanding composition and appreciation, all of which lends well to building confidence. The skills acquired from the dance curriculum encourage students to overcome challenges, foster self-esteem and help endlessly when it comes to expressing thoughts, and opinions and listening to others in their academic studies.
Forge strong learning connections between subjects
An excellent case of creativity having a positive impact on academic studies is the drama curriculum at Bishop Perowne. Through drama lessons, students will have the freedom to creatively practise different ways in which to portray characters whilst studying play texts and learning about the practical elements of performance. With the opportunity and encouragement of creative exploration in any subject, not just drama, students are more likely to make connections from their creative experiences to other subjects which helps new learning cement in the brain.
Boost analytical and critical thinking skills
Studying creative subjects not only broadens our students’ understanding of different cultures, traditions and history, but also provides valuable transferable skills to other academic studies. Music, for instance, enables students to study a breadth of styles and genres and work collaboratively with their peers whilst progressing their analytical and critical thinking abilities which are crucial skills in many areas of life.
Inspire bright futures through extra-curricular activities
Giving students the right creative environment to thrive in can provide empowering opportunities to students that might otherwise be hard to engage with or who struggle academically. Our Broadening Horizons Programme is a fine example of enabling students to reach their potential through extra-curricular activity. Not only do these groups and clubs provide a chance to try something creatively new but exploring a passion can improve brain function, help with overall concentration and could even lead to an academic transformation.
Academic results are important to all our students as recognised measurements of their education for future stages of study and eventually, for their careers. With understandable significance placed upon academic success, it’s essential not to lose sight of how necessary it is to nurture the creativity of our students and the positive impact it can have on academic results. Encouraging creative opportunities within both curricular and extra-curricular subjects will develop a skillset to help them throughout life as well as give a boost to their academic studies.
