Reviving the Curriculum

Dr Lisa Stephenson sits down with primary school teacher and history lead, Amanda John-Baptiste, and performing arts specialist, researcher, and artist, Saira Illing-Ahmed. Together, they explore their three-year collaboration embedding Drama Worldbuilding pedagogy across an academy. They discuss how suspension of disbelief, co-created story worlds, and playful inquiry can breathe life back into a saturated curriculum, reduce anxiety, and increase access to learning for SEND pupils and disengaged learners.

Talking Points

• Breathing Life into a Saturated Curriculum: Connecting learning with meaning, emotion, and pupil agency rather than top-down delivery.

• Suspension of Disbelief as a Tool: How imagined worlds enable children to confront real-world issues, like climate change.

• Access for SEND Pupils: Reducing barriers through verbal, embodied assessment.

• Structure versus agency: How stepping into role allows teachers to embrace unexpected student contributions without losing lesson focus.

• Aspiration, Agency, and Wellbeing: How co-creation fosters bravery, democratic negotiation, and a sense of belonging in classrooms.

  
  

About Our Guests

Amanda John-Baptiste is a primary school teacher, history subject lead, and drama worldbuilding lead practitioner at Carr Lodge Academy (part of Exceed Learning Partnership) in Doncaster. She is passionate about inclusive, discovery-led teaching methods that empower every child to articulate their learning.

Saira Illing-Ahmed is a performing arts specialist, actor trainer, lecturer, and artist-researcher with the Story Makers Collective at Leeds Beckett University. Her work focuses on decolonising practice, creative drama pedagogies, and enabling young people to imagine new possibilities for themselves.

Resources

Story Makers Company: https://storymakersco.com

Exceed Learning Partnership: https://exceedlp.org.uk/

Research

Stephenson, L., 2021.  Creative Spaces for Wellbeing. The Emotional Curriculum Podcast https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/s04-e08-story-makers-creative-spaces-for-wellbeing/id1484954368?i=1000527790225   

Stephenson, L., 2023. Collective creativity and wellbeing dispositions: children's perceptions of learning through drama. Thinking Skills and Creativity, p.101188. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tsc.2022.101188  

Stephenson, L, 2026. Eight Dispositions for Collective Creativity, Social-Emotional Wellbeing and Ethical Action. Project Report. Leeds Beckett University; Story Makers Company. https://eprints.leedsbeckett.ac.uk/id/eprint/12837/  

Credits

Story Makers Research Centre podcast, Carnegie School of Education at Leeds Beckett University. 

Episodes recorded by Erin Faye Jenkins and Tom Xioutas

Post-production by Laura Wilkes, Haven Tsang and Beryl Kwok at Communicating for Impact

Dr Lisa Stephenson talks to primary school teacher Olivia Heath-Holmes (Exceed Learning Partnership) and artist, educator, and co-creative director John Mee (Alive and Kicking Theatre Company). Together, they reflect on the long-term impact of embedding Drama Worldbuilding across a three-year project in Doncaster primary classrooms. They explore how stepping into imaginary worlds not only transforms pupil engagement and inclusion, but also tackles teacher burnout by reigniting professional agency, creative energy, wellbeing and classroom joy.

Talking Points:

• Addressing Teacher Burnout: How adopting Drama Worldbuilding pedagogy helps teachers reclaim professional agency and transform daily practice.

• Inhabiting the Curriculum: Moving away from learning as something "delivered" to an embodied and felt experience.

• Inclusion Breakthroughs: Real-world impact stories showing how story worlds unlock confidence, participation, knowledge application, and expression for all pupils.

• Sustaining Change: Transitioning from artist-led co-planning in Year 1 to teacher-led execution and whole-school curriculum implementation by Year 3.

About Our Guests

Olivia Heath-Holmes is a primary school teacher within the Exceed Learning Partnership in Doncaster. She is a passionate advocate for pupil agency, relational learning, and embedding creative drama frameworks to cultivate inclusive, high-aspiration environments for all children.

John Mee is an artist, educator, and co-creative director of Alive and Kicking Theatre Company. With decades of experience in primary classrooms, his practice focuses on using drama techniques to help children and teachers co-inquire and inhabit the curriculum.

Resources

Story Makers Company: https://storymakersco.com

Exceed Learning Partnership: https://exceedlp.org.uk/

Alive and Kicking Theatre Company: https://aaktheatre.wordpress.com/

Research

Stephenson, L., 2023. Collective creativity and wellbeing dispositions: children's perceptions of learning through drama. Thinking Skills and Creativity, p.101188. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tsc.2022.101188  

Goddard, B. 2025., A class Act. Laurel Trust Report 2025 https://laureltrust.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/Research-Results-Vol4-2025.pdf (impact report from schools independent evaluator)

Stephenson, L., Patel, N., Nixon, B., Hodgson, R. and Austwick, R., 2026. Embedding Drama Pedagogy for Wellbeing Literacy: Children's Dispositions for Collective Creativity and Ethical Action. Literacy, 60(3), p.e70043. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/lit.70043  

Stephenson, L., Nixon, B., Hodgson, R. and Austwick, R. (2026) ‘Activating children’s social-emotional learning through story-making: A collaborative approach in primary classrooms’, Impact Journal, 27. Chartered College of Teaching. : https://my.chartered.college/impact_article/activating-childrens-social-emotional-learning-through-story-making-a-collaborative-approach-in-primary-classrooms/ 

Credits

Story Makers Research Centre podcast, Carnegie School of Education at Leeds Beckett University. 

Episodes recorded by Erin Faye Jenkins and Tom Xioutas

Post-production by Laura Wilkes, Haven Tsang and Beryl Kwok at Communicating for Impact

Dr Lisa Stephenson sits down with Beryce Nixon OBE (CEO) and Rebecca Austwick (Director of Education) from Exceed Learning Partnership to reflect on a three-year longitudinal journey of embedding "Drama Worldbuilding" across ten schools. They explore how moving from "delivering" to "enabling" can reconnect knowledge with emotion and meaning for a post-pandemic generation.

Talking Points

Connecting Knowledge with Meaning: Moving beyond "flat" curriculum delivery by linking knowledge with lived experiences.

The Gradual Release Model: How the partnership moved from artist-led to teacher-led sessions, boosting teacher creativity and confidence

Measurable Impact: Real-world gains in oracy, emotional regulation, and learning retention, including how "World Building" helps SEND pupils find belonging.

Brave Leadership: Why sustainable change requires leaders to move from "driving improvement" to "enabling expertise".

"Worlds Worth Stepping Into": Why the curriculum must offer children more than data, but a rich intellectual and emotional landscape.

About Our Guests

Beryce Nixon OBE is the CEO of Exceed Learning Partnership, a multi-academy trust in Doncaster. A National Leader of Education, Beryce is a passionate advocate for equity and social mobility, leading schools in complex, high-need contexts.

Rebecca Austwick is the Director of Education and Inclusion at Exceed Learning Partnership. With a background in literacy and school improvement, she focuses on curriculum design that balances robust knowledge with the development of the whole child.

Story Makers Company: storymakersco.com

Exceed Learning Partnership: https://exceedlp.org.uk/

OECD Human Flourishing: OECD Learning Compass 2030

Research

Stephenson, L.,2025. Rewilding Curriculum: cultivating affective dispositions for co-agency, collective creativity, and wellbeing with children through drama pedagogy. Thinking Skills and Creativity https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1871187125000720

Goddard, B. 2025., A class Act. Laurel Trust Report 2025 https://laureltrust.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/Research-Results-Vol4-2025.pdf (impact report from schools independent evaluator)

(Hear Beryce and Lisa in conversation with Chartered College of Teaching) ) Stephenson, L., Nixon, B. OBE and Patel, N (29th April, 2025) Chartered College of Teaching- Rethinking Curriculum- Igniting Creativity: activating children’s social-emotional learning, oracy and conflict resolution through collaborative storymaking.https://my.chartered.college/event/rethinking-curriculum-igniting-creativity-activating-childrens-social-emotional-learning-oracy-and-conflict-resolution-through-collaborative-storymaking/

Stephenson, L., Nixon, B., Hodgson, R. and Austwick, R. (2026) ‘Activating children’s social-emotional learning through story-making: A collaborative approach in primary classrooms’, Impact Journal, 27. Chartered College of Teaching. : https://my.chartered.college/impact_article/activating-childrens-social-emotional-learning-through-story-making-a-collaborative-approach-in-primary-classrooms/ 

Stephenson, L., Patel, N., Nixon, B., Hodgson, R. and Austwick, R., 2026. Embedding Drama Pedagogy for Wellbeing Literacy: Children's Dispositions for Collective Creativity and Ethical Action. Literacy, 60(3), p.e70043. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/lit.70043  

Credits

Story Makers Research Centre podcast, Carnegie School of Education at Leeds Beckett University. 

Post-production by Laura Wilkes, Haven Tsang and Beryl Kwok at Communicating for Impact

What if education wasn't just a checklist of outcomes, but a responsive approach that brings learning to life? Host Dr Lisa Stephenson introduces Reviving the Curriculum—a podcast taking you inside sustained research to show what creative pedagogy looks like in practice. Discover how Story Makers is moving creativity, agency, and wellbeing to the very heart of the classroom. Hit follow to hear real impact stories from children and young people, teachers, leaders and creative practitioners transforming education today.

Find out more at storymakersco.com

Story Makers Research Centre podcast, Carnegie School of Education at Leeds Beckett University. 

Dr Lisa Stephenson and Kate Smith pull back the curtain on the ideas and research that underpin their work. They explore how creativity and a shift in perspective can help revive the joy of teaching in a complex world.

Talking Points

The Revival Mindset: Why we aren’t reinventing the wheel, but re-igniting the human potential and heart already present in our schools.

Collective Creativity: Moving away from solo action plans toward a shared, school-wide culture of inquiry and compassionate collaboration.

Ethical Action & Agency: Empowering students to find their voice and develop purposeful opinions on global challenges, from social media to climate change.

Dispositions over Knowledge: Shifting the focus from what children know to how they act and feel through curiosity, imagination, and empathy.

The Creative Learning Award

A research-backed award that focuses on building sustainable creative capacity that lasts, regardless of shifting policy or funding landscapes. Find out more here.

About Our Guest

Kate Smith (Katie) is a former headteacher and the Network Leader for HeadsUp4HTs, supporting thousands of school leaders. She is a coach and co-author of HeadsUp4HTs: Supporting Purposeful Leadership.

Resources

Story Makers: storymakersco.com

HeadsUp4HTs:⁠ headsup4hts.co.uk⁠

OECD Policy Context: ⁠OECD Learning Compass 2030

Research

Stephenson, L., 2021.  Creative Spaces for Wellbeing. The Emotional Curriculum Podcast 

Stephenson, L., 2023. Collective creativity and wellbeing dispositions: children's perceptions of learning through drama. Thinking Skills and Creativity, p.101188.

Stephenson, L. and Lofthouse, R., 2023. A pedagogy of professional noticing and co-inquiry: Embedding drama for oracy across the primary curriculum. Impact. Chartered College of Teaching 18. pp. 36-39. ISSN 2514-6955  

Credits

Story Makers Research Centre podcast, Carnegie School of Education at Leeds Beckett University. 

Post-production by Laura Wilkes, Haven Tsang and Beryl Kwok at Communicating for Impact