A SCHOOL has been nominated for a national award for inspiring children to be more creative.

Marist School in Sunninghill, Ascot was shortlisted for the 'Creativity in Education' award at the TES Independent Schools Awards 2018.

The award is in recognition of the school's annual 'curiosity week' which encourages students think beyond what they are taught within the school curriculum.

Marist School principal Karl McCloskey said: “We are delighted to reach the shortlist for the ‘Creativity in Education’ Award through our “curiosity week” challenge.

"In a world of mark schemes, national curriculum, course specification and a culture of league tables, we want our pupils to experience a different approach to learning. 

"The introduction of “curiosity week” provides pupils with the opportunity to do just that.”

This year, pupils worked on a variety of projects including learning a new language and creating a new app to giving up social media for 48 hours and producing a Roman fashion and makeup tutorial magazine.

Curiosity week, organiser Mrs Lizzie Guinney said: “From starting working on their projects through to handing in their final pieces, the benefits of curiosity week for the pupils can be clearly seen.

"Pupils were encouraged to take a risk and choose a project that genuinely challenged them rather than something they could already do. In doing so, we hope the girls experienced at least a slight struggle and by working through this, we hope they gained confidence and developed resilience.

Last and by no means least, hopefully pupils reignited their love of learning simply for learning’s sake, rather than to pass a test of achieving a target.”

The award winners will be announced on February 8 at the Grosvenor House Hotel in London.