Our:Stories – Drama, Storytelling and Reading at Pentland Field School

At Create, we believe that reading, writing, storytelling and drama aren’t just school subjects – but powerful tools for confidence, identity and belonging. However, for many children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) these opportunities don’t always feel accessible or meaningful.

According to recent data, just one in three children and young people aged 8 to 18 say they enjoy reading in their free time in the UK- and reading enjoyment among this group has fallen to its lowest point in 20 years. SEND pupils are among those least likely to report reading for pleasure, yet they stand to benefit the most from high‑quality creative literacy programmes.

That’s why our:stories, Create’s project with SEND schoolchildren across London, is so important. Over six weeks in June and July 2025, artist James Baldwin delivered drama and storytelling workshops at Pentland Field School, a special school for SEND pupils. We caught up with Leah, a teacher at Pentland Field, to hear about how the project impacted students.

Engaging with Storytelling

Leah described how the pupils explored storytelling through song, drama and creative writing together:

“They have been supported each week to make choices about creative words they would like to use and about story sequencing. They have also been using art in different mediums and incorporating drama and storytelling into each session to create their own stories, which has allowed them all to be creative and do their own thing.”

Despite challenges, such as forming letters or full sentences, the sensory and multi‑modal nature of the sessions made it accessible and meaningful:

“When I’ve looked at some of the pupils’ work, I can see that they might not have formed every word or every letter, but having those different textures and different bits to be hands‑on with means they’re still being part of that creative process [and that’s] really important to them.”

Building Confidence and Connection

For many of the students, this was a chance to step confidently into performance and group work in ways they hadn’t before. Leah observed:

“A lot of our pupils haven’t got independent creative thinking skills, but in some of the work that I’ve seen, I can tell that they have used their own language… Confidence is a big thing. You can see that [the pupils] are so confident to get up and dance and sing and shine in front of all of those people.”

Coming together with other classes also helped students feel more themselves in front of peers, she noted:

They have definitely opened up more, and coming together with another class shows that they’ve got the confidence to be themselves in front of others.                  

Leah – community partner

Reading and Writing for Pleasure

One of the goals of our:stories is to foster enjoyment and ownership in reading and writing – not just proficiency. Leah shared moments where older students particularly surprised her by embracing creative writing:

“[The pupils] love stories and storytelling, but I think for some of the older, more mature boys to be proud of creative writing was something that I had never seen from that cohort before… They really had ownership of the story.”

She emphasises that the balance between structured writing and creative freedom is important:

“The pupils need a balance between getting things done on paper and having that creative freedom to be able to take a break, get a bit loose, and allow that to all come together.”

Looking Ahead: Embedding Creativity

The impact extended beyond the workshops themselves. Leah reports that teachers and staff are inspired to embed elements of our:stories into their classes permanently:

“We are going to start embedding [this learning], and think about that level of creativity [when teaching] reading and writing.”

Why It Matters

Over 19.6% of school pupils in England have identified special educational needs (SEND).

Reading enjoyment among 8‑18 year olds is now at its lowest level in decades: only 32.7% say they enjoy reading in their free time.

These statistics show the scale of the challenge – and why work like our:stories is so essential. Not just for skills, but for identity, wellbeing, voice and connection.

A huge thank you to The Mercer’s Company for funding this programme.