Mrs Van Pol was delighted to welcome a good number of parents to the James Hall on Monday morning, to her workshop on the importance of creative thinking. A distinct aspect of her workshop focused on the link she knows exists – as I am sure you must do too, as parents – between children’s really wonderful, free flowing, imaginative ponderings and how well they can then complete a comprehension, or write a really great story! The top tips and practical suggestions from Mrs Van Pol to encourage effective creative thinking in children certainly sparked a lot of interesting questions and discussion, and in many respects that is exactly the sort of behaviour where the development of creative thinking lies, in my view. I am pretty sure that our pupils come from homes where there is a terrific amount of really great discussion going on, about all manner of things, and this in turn is so valuable to us here at school. Engaging your children in interesting and reasoned discussions not only has a positive impact on the development of their creative thinking, I also believe it has a positive impact on their self-confidence. Make sure your children are brave enough and well enough informed to adopt a position on things, to establish and communicate a view (about anything and everything!) and to feel sure of themselves when they are sharing that view. Here at school, as far as the development of creative endeavours and thinking is concerned, we also emphasise the notion that there are no right or wrong answers, and that what matters most to us is that the creative juices have been flowing! Keep all that good work up at home with your children, in terms of encouraging excellent creative thinking, and we shall continue to make the most if it when we are harnessing their creative thinking in our lessons.