The Unicorn Theatre has released a new impact report highlighting the success of its Creative Schools Partnership programme, which has worked with primary schools across London over the past five years to embed drama and creative learning into the curriculum.
The report comes as new national figures from the Cultural Learning Alliance reveal that only 9% of primary schools now have dedicated drama provision, underlining concerns about the decline of arts education across the UK.
Launched in 2021, the Unicorn’s Creative Hub was established to support children’s engagement with culture while helping the theatre better understand the young audiences for whom it creates work. Through its Creative Schools Partnerships programme, the organisation has collaborated with state primary schools in Lambeth, Southwark and Tower Hamlets to promote drama as a core teaching tool.
The programme has delivered a range of initiatives including artist-led research and development projects, teacher training, curriculum support, technical theatre workshops and free theatre tickets for pupils and families.
According to the report, teachers observed significant benefits from using drama and creative learning approaches in the classroom. These included improved pupil engagement, stronger oracy and literacy skills, increased confidence, enhanced critical thinking and better teamwork.
The findings also showed that 100% of participating teachers reported learning new drama techniques and seeing a positive impact on learning outcomes. Ninety-five per cent said they were actively integrating drama into curriculum planning within a year of receiving training.
The programme has also helped increase access to theatre, with more than 3,000 free tickets distributed across six schools. Teachers reported that more children were attending theatre performances both with their schools and independently with family members, contributing to increased cultural capital.
Rachel Bagshaw, Artistic Director and Co-CEO of the Unicorn Theatre, said: “Drama brings great riches for both children, teachers and schools alike – yet is often now non-existent in children’s primary learning. It has a significant impact on crucial skills of oracy and critical thinking, and is an essential tool to meet current education priorities. Our Creative Schools report shows that there are huge, measurable benefits to an art-rich approach to education which extends far beyond the Arts skills and into all areas of learning and child development.
“The Cultural Learning Alliance’s recent statistics make it shockingly clear that there is a very real entitlement gap for children, with take-up of arts subjects dwindling in areas with highest free school meals eligibility. The Unicorn’s Creative Hub school partnerships are born out of the need to address this shocking inequality by bringing specialist practice directly to children in our local schools.
“The forthcoming changes to the curriculum are a step in the right direction, as is the proposed National Centre for Arts and Music Education, but in this rapidly changing world the skills developed through drama are only going to become more essential and when Drama exists as enrichment activity inequalities will always exist. My dream would be to roll our Creative Hub schools’ model out across the UK, funded by the government and working in partnership with regional arts organisations to share this complex, rich in-depth way of working.”
Georgia Dale, the Unicorn Theatre’s Creative Hub Director, added: “We are incredibly proud of the work with our Unicorn Creative Schools, a joint effort with teachers and children, which demonstrates the impact arts-rich education has on learning and school culture. We continually see the hugely positive impact that teaching through Drama has on children, often igniting profound changes in learning, yet the huge inequities in provision of Arts teaching in primary schools denies thousands of children from accessing learning in the way that best suits them.
“Arts subjects are essential if we want to create a truly inclusive Primary education and investment in teachers is vital. The future of the arts, theatre-makers and audiences of the future will also reap long-term benefits when drama is embedded across the curriculum.”
The Unicorn is now calling for greater investment in arts teaching at primary level, arguing that drama should play a central role in delivering a broad, inclusive and equitable education. The theatre says embedding arts practice within schools can create a lasting legacy for both pupils and teachers while supporting future generations of theatre-makers and audiences.
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