Creating Space for Creative Pedagogy: From Classroom Inquiry to Published Research

What might change if classrooms were curated as spaces of possibility, where children have more freedom to explore and educators have more room to think creatively? Almost 60 Rocket Learning Engineers and teachers became researchers across our four London Pre-Preps: Chelsea Pre-Prep, Kingsland Pre-Prep, Grand West Pre-Prep and Archmore Gardens Pre-Prep, to explore this question. As part of a collective action-research project, Rocket teachers reimagined their classrooms and shared spaces as Joy Retreats, replacing single-purpose toys with natural materials, loose parts and objects donated by families, while protecting time for slower, more self-directed play. Rocket Learning Engineers Sophie Collingwood, Yria Polydoropoulou and Eleni Androutsou helped capture children's and educators' voices throughout through a range of pedagogical documentation and profesional reflections. 

Teachers reported greater engagement and self-regulation, richer collaboration and more intentional communication, with children returning to their ideas, experimenting and adapting them. Just as importantly, the inquiry sparked professional curiosity, giving educators permission to question familiar routines and become active designers of their own practice.

In May 2026, Winsy Flores and Cathy Gunning brought their reflections and research together in Creating space for creative pedagogy in the Early Years Foundation Stage, published in Issue 27 of Impact, the peer-reviewed journal of the Chartered College of Teaching. The two met during their Postgraduate Diploma in Creative Pedagogies at Leeds Beckett University, connecting Rocket's developing work in curatorial pedagogy with Cathy's experience across Newham Learning, Space to Flourish and Early Education. Responding to the increasing formalisation of early childhood education, pressures on play and educators' wellbeing, our article invites a courageous rethinking of the EYFS. It considers how physical and psychological environments can become pedagogical tools for inclusion, agency, creativity and human flourishing. Above all, it argues for brave spaces of possibility for children and educators alike, where creativity is understood as something that runs throughout the experience of learning, rather than belonging to a particular activity or art area.