Why Creativity Is the Hidden Superpower in Schools

What happens when a museum, a primary school, and an artist walk into the same project? According to Natalie Wallace, Head of Learning at the Roald Dahl Museum and Story Centre, the answer isn’t just “children made art.” It’s something far more surprising: a window into how creativity fuels wellbeing, transforms learning, and challenges the very way schools measure success.

An Unlikely Experiment

In 2016, Wallace took on her role at the museum, an institution built around the life and work of one of the world’s greatest storytellers. The museum’s mission is deceptively simple: unlock the story inside everyone. But how do you prove the value of imagination in a system built on grades, tests, and targets?

To find out, the museum partnered with a local primary school and brought in an external artist. On the surface, it looked like another enrichment project. Yet the real story was what happened beneath the surface.

The Hidden Effects of an Outsider

Schools are finely tuned ecosystems—teachers, routines, and outcomes are tightly controlled. Introducing an artist disrupted that rhythm. Suddenly, the rules shifted. Pupils began approaching problems differently, teachers discovered new ways of connecting with their students, and creative “play” became a tool for serious learning.

The presence of someone outside the system turned out to be the very thing that allowed new possibilities inside it.

Wellbeing: The Metric Nobody Was Measuring

One of the most unexpected outcomes was in wellbeing. Standard school metrics don’t track how confident a child feels expressing themselves, or whether storytelling reduces stress. But through creative exercises inspired by Roald Dahl’s stories, children found new ways to process emotions, collaborate, and simply enjoy learning.

Wallace’s takeaway? Creativity isn’t just a nice-to-have—it’s an under-recognised lever for mental health.

The Creativity Paradox

Here’s the paradox Wallace uncovered: schools know creativity matters, but they rarely know how to value it. Under pressure to prioritise measurable outcomes, schools often sideline the very thing that helps children thrive. Creativity, in other words, is like an unpaid intern doing some of the most important work—essential, but invisible.

Museums as Creative Brokers

So where do museums come in? Wallace argues they are uniquely positioned to act as creative brokers. With collections, stories, and cultural capital, museums can partner with schools to bring creativity back into focus. And crucially, they can provide the external validation schools need to take creativity seriously.

This project suggests something counterintuitive: creativity is not fluff, it’s infrastructure. It shapes how children learn, feel, and imagine their future.

The Big Question

If creativity boosts wellbeing, enriches learning, and re-energises teachers, why is it still undervalued in schools? Wallace doesn’t pretend to have the full answer. But her work at the Roald Dahl Museum suggests a starting point: museums can help reveal the hidden power of creativity and, just maybe, change the way schools measure success.

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Natalie Wallace, Head of Learning at the Roald Dahl Museum and Story Centre spoke at the Museums & Schools Summit 2025.