2024 Learning Innovations Award Winner
Dr Amy Mulvenna is an arts educator and researcher dedicated to helping children explore their world through creative practice. As Head of Art at Charles Dickens Primary School, she works to build an inclusive curriculum where students feel empowered to find their own visual voices and think critically about the spaces they inhabit.
Amy holds a PhD in Children’s Geographies from the University of Manchester. Her doctoral research, titled Playing with Place, explored how children navigate and creatively map their personal geographies, a perspective that continues to guide her teaching today. By viewing the classroom and the local community as sites of shared discovery, she encourages pupils to use art as a tool for exploring their identities and surroundings.
At Charles Dickens Primary School, Amy champions the ‘child-as-artist’ approach, ensuring the arts remain a meaningful part of every pupil’s school experience. She values the arts as a vital framework for emotional, social and academic growth. She is also creator of londonsoutharthub.com, a collaborative platform providing free, high-quality resources to help teachers and families bring art into the heart of learning.
Through collaborations with local London galleries and cultural partners, Amy strives to provide children with authentic opportunities to engage with the wider art world. Her work sits at the intersection of educational practice, geographic research, and visual arts, focusing on the goal of helping the next generation grow into culturally aware, spatially curious, and confident young artists.
“Amy’s bespoke and thoughtfully crafted curriculum champions every learner’s identity, empowering pupils to see themselves as artists and engage deeply in the Arts. Her commitment to excellence is clear, with parents citing the outstanding art provision as a key reason for choosing Charles Dickens Primary School and Nursery. By ensuring every pupil feels represented, Amy has created an environment where confidence, creativity, and aspiration flourish, an achievement that is both exceptional and truly inspiring.”