Education consultancy specialising in creativity, ethical leadership and positive behaviour cultures

 

Make learning fun again…

SERVICES

School Improvement

  • With 30 years of experience spanning both the education and the creative sectors, I bring a unique skill set to my consultancy work. As a creative professional and education leader, I have worked extensively with schools, trusts, and arts & cultural organisations to embed creativity into learning. I have recently worked for a large multi-academy trust to develop their creative offer and establish meaningful partnerships with local and national arts institutions. Currently, I lead Haringey Creates, a pioneering initiative that bridges the education and cultural sectors, fostering innovative practice within schools. Through this work, I am developing impactful CPD for educators and a comprehensive training package in collaboration with arts and cultural partners—ensuring that creativity remains at the heart of teaching and learning.

    I can support schools in strengthening their arts and cultural offer, helping educators harness the power of creativity to enhance teaching, learning, and student engagement. Adept at building sustainable links between schools and the cultural sector, developing arts-based pedagogy, and creating training opportunities that empower educators to lead creative practice within their settings. Whether you are looking to develop a whole-school creative strategy, integrate the arts more effectively into your curriculum, or build partnerships with arts and cultural organisations, I can provide tailored support to help you achieve your goals.

  • I offer bespoke training, resources and workshops in developing creative practice, inclusive practice, trauma informed approaches, SEL, behaviour for learning, creativity within the curriculum, curriculum design and development, collaborating with individuals and teams (staff, students, parents/carer & all other stakeholders).

  • OFSTED Preparation - articulating intent, refining implementation, evidencing impact. 

  • Coaching/mentoring to staff - NQTs, middle and senior leaders - specialising in non-authoritarian practice, building positive relationships to effect change, developing emotional literacy, building resilience.

  • Student mentoring - developing post-16 aspirations, specialist in performing arts and creative media production.

  • I can provide holistic thematic project-based creative curricula that strive to challenge, stimulate and enable young people to progress to further education and fulfilling employment.

Workshops 

dpat Education Consultancy can provide a range of creative workshops and projects for both students and staff in: 

  • Dance

  • Digi Arts

  • DJing

  • Drama

  • Filmmaking

  • Media Studies

  • Music Production

  • Vocals

What previous clients have said about my work:

Jed Cinnamon - Head of Partnerships and Impact Star Academies

James is an experienced leader who provided credible and helpful support to two of our schools as they developed a strategy for the performing arts. Crucially, James also rapidly took the initiative and created new opportunities for young people.

Gerry Robinson - Executive Headteacher Haringey Learning Partnership
James is an experienced practitioner who has made valuable contributions to our strategic direction this year. He is personable, creative and very easy to work with. The importance of having someone who just knows how to get on with the task at hand, cannot be underestimated. James' insight and expertise would be an asset to any educational organisation.

Lucy Stepehens - Founder/Director The New School

James is a joy to work with.  He really gets stuck in so that he understands the school vision and model and he has the necessary experience to make valid suggestions, and to offer his thoughts.  He’s personable, friendly, and we’ll miss having him around!

 

Natasha Taylor - Vocational Lead at Camden Centre For Learning

Dpat Education Consultancy delivered performing art sessions at our specialist behavioural unit. They created dynamic sessions for students’ with varying SEMH and EHCP needs. They were reliable, flexible and a pleasure to work with.

Values

Purpose

I believe in the transformative power of creative education to shape lives, challenge inequalities, and open doors to opportunity. My work is driven by a deep commitment to social justice, ensuring that every learner—regardless of background, ability, or circumstance—has access to meaningful creative experiences that foster confidence, growth, and success.

Collaboration

Change happens when people come together. I excel in forging partnerships across education, the arts, and cultural sectors to drive systemic improvement. I work to connect schools, educators, and young people with creative opportunities, championing diversity, inclusion, and the value of multiple perspectives.

Integrity & Resolve

I am a fearless advocate for equity in education, unafraid to challenge systemic barriers and champion creative solutions. Resilient and determined, I navigate complexity with nuance, always striving for impactful, lasting change.

Excellence & Creativity

I believe in the power of creativity to transform learning, support well-being, and develop critical skills for life. I hold high expectations for myself and others, valuing quality, innovation, and continuous learning. I embrace evidence-based practice while also recognizing the importance of risk-taking, experimentation, and artistic expression in education.

Humility, Equity & Inclusion

I lead with openness, respect, and a commitment to lifelong learning. I actively create spaces that celebrate neurodiversity and champion diverse voices, ensuring that creative education is inclusive and representative. I recognize the power of the arts in supporting positive mental health and well-being, fostering a sense of belonging, and empowering individuals to tell their own stories.

Ethos

My ethos is founded on a number of principles, which I have developed over the course of my career:

● unlock individual talents

● foster aspiration and achievement

● empower young people to acknowledge and celebrate their heritage

● develop transferable skills such as communication, oracy, problem solving, teamwork, entrepreneurship, and leadership

I believe passionately that learning can – and should be – enjoyable. Particularly for those who have been alienated from or excluded by ‘traditional’ and/or ‘mainstream’ statutory education. Often, behaviour such as avoiding and resisting learning in school can in fact be signs of imagination and creativity. I believe that forming significant and secure relationships with students, their parents/carers and wider communities is the most effective way of making changes in their lives. I strive to identify blocks to learning and to deliver creative curricula that appeal to all learning styles. I empower students and staff to reflect on how they learn best and why in the past they may have struggled with education. I believe that the best way to develop pedagogy is in a supportive and non-authoritarian manner. I build trust and consensus in order to help colleagues grow and improve how they work. Building teams has been a key aspect of my work in education. 

I believe that we need a fundamental and systemic change to the way we educate our children in the UK. Learning is at its core an emotional experience and when done correctly teaching and learning should be a joyful experience. I believe in a person centred approach that provides agency to learners and meets them where they are.

Education has the power to ameliorate social disadvantage and throughout my career I have worked with some of the most challenging and hard to reach young people in the UK and have a proven track record of empowering students to transform their educational experiences.

INTERESTED?

Please get in touch to discuss how dpat Education Consultancy can help…