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European friends- together we are strong
European friends- together we are strong
Start date: Sep 1, 2014,
End date: Aug 31, 2017
PROJECT
FINISHED
Context/background:
All partner schools agreed that inclusion is a high priority in schools. Germany are working towards becoming a school with the main focus of inclusion. England has mainly a working class background with limited opportunities to contact other nationalities. Italy are at a disadvantage being in a rural area. France have a number of children from various cultural backgrounds. Romania specialize in teaching children with hearing difficulties. Turkey have an increasing number of immigrants from the South-East, which is creating a language barrier. Sweden provides a good basis for proficient, high job satification and good rating results. In all schools there is increasing number of children with another mother tongue/culture creating teaching and learning barriers.
Objectives:
In the project we hope to achieve a partnership where we introduce new friends to our pupils, learn from one another both about everyday life, school life and cultural backgrounds discovering problems and creating solutions. As teachers we will share our practices and teaching strategies to learn from one another. This will enhance the learning of pupils, staff and parents to build upon the strong collaboration we have already created. This partnership will allow us to promote harmony, tolerance and understanding of other children and adults regardless of their religion, gender, backgrounds.
Number and Profiles of the participants:-
9 Primary schools will take part in the project. The age group between all countries ranges from 4-16 years. The German school is a reference school for education with media. The British school specialize in inclusion and 'The Arts' promoting learning through drama, dance, song and artistic expression. The Romanian school have a unique set up being a boarding school from children with hearing difficulties, communicating through sign language and vocational learning in addition to the national curriculum. The second French school in Aurillac have established an extra class (CLIN) to promote the inclusion of immigrants and refugees and the traveling community (Roma). All schools are from a variety of economic backgrounds.
Description of activities:
A questionnaire among pupils and staff from all schools determined the main areas of our project idea.
First year: We explore and compare the daily school routines of children in all schools highlighting similarities and differences. All schools work to create a large display/poster that will model the daily routines of a child in each school. Additional we learn about different extra curricular activities and when these take place e.g. football, swimming, after school club etc. The end product is a guide to school games created by the children in the form of a set of instructions.
Second year: We focus on cultural similarities and differences by the children exploring special days/celebrations at both school and home. We explore how we celebrate special days e.g. Birthdays, Carnival, Religious festivals etc. The end product is a recipe book with typical meals made for celebrations, as well as a DVD about a special day at school directed by the pupils.
Third year: It brings us onto 'Problems and Solutions' where we embed good strategies to tackle social issues all schools are faced with for example; bullying, behaviour and school rules. This is not just promoting this for children but to share good practice amongst staff and learn from one another.
Methodology:
On reflection of the last project we will enhance the communication links between our schools to create life long links that will benefit all pupils going through our schools in years to come. We will do this through ICT: E-Twinning, Skype, Emails and a partner school website. For every activity we divide the schools into two groups, one asking questions and the other giving the information about the chosen topic. The end products are displayed in all schools and shared amongst all partners via the website. As curiosity arises amongst pupils and teachers regarding one another's work they will use a variety of communication methods to share and gain a greater insight into one another's 'daily life' 'special days' and 'problems and solutions.
Longer Term Benefits for Pupils/Staff/Parents:
- Improvement of ICT skills,
- To promote and learn foreign languages and improve all schools knowledge of the English Language.
- Self awareness and self confidence as a result of the various visits.
- A great insight into other teaching systems and how we can adopt and share new teaching strategies to improve the skills of our teachers.
- To use our partnership as a platform to promote and learn foreign languages for both children and adults
- To establish cultural awareness for pupils, parents and staff
- Children will discuss and respect the values of their own school but also of their partner schools
- Friendship and understanding will develop among the partners