Understanding the world in which we live and enabling our pupils to become Global Citizens, is part of the Ethos of St Mary’s.
St Mary’s has had links to schools in every Continent (except Antarctica) through various projects.
The Academy was appointed as a Global Learning Programme Expert Centre to act as a global learning hub to help schools in the local area deliver effective teaching and learning about international development and global issues. http:;// www.glp-e.org.uk
Our new Curriculum ensures that this work continues throughout each pupil’s time at St Mary’s, with most year groups linked to a different country.
The UN’s Sustainable Development Goals for 2015-2030 are embedded across the curriculum and include work with our local community.
In 2019, the school received recognition as an eTwinning school, for it’s work on a
variety of projects with diverse schools across Europe and the world.
What is the British Council International School Award?
The Award is an internationally recognised accreditation, awarded to schools which forge links with partners overseas and add an international dimension to the curriculum. Through working on joint projects and adding international elements to lessons, pupils (and teachers) are given a fresh perspective on the world and their place in it.
Taking part in the Award:
• links schools with others around the world
• teaches pupils about other countries and cultures
• prepares pupils for living and working in the global economy
• enhances teaching standards through sharing best practice and teaching methods
• leads to a new outwardly facing perspective and ethos for the school as a whole
In August 2020 we received the British Council’s International School Award for the 6th time
British Council International School Award
“We are delighted to inform you that it has been approved by our assessors. Congratulations! Your school is hereby reaccredited from 1 September 2020 to 31 August 2023”
Here are the assessor’s comments on your Impact Evaluation, to highlight where your application was particularly impressive and points to take note of as you continue to develop the international dimension in your school:
” This is a very strong application from St Mary’s Church of England Primary Academy in Folkestone, again demonstrating how it continues to meet the criteria for International School Award Reaccreditation. It is approved without hesitation. All the requirements are met. Activities have taken place across the academic year despite the extra challenges created by lockdown and all pupils have been engaged at various times. The application is exceptional for the detail recorded by the co-ordinator and extensive evidence of the use of ICT to facilitate projects. There are full and informative introductory paragraphs with relevant referencing and helpful background on the partner schools including the dates when the links started. The longevity of some of these is a great tribute to all the staff involved. There is extensive collaboration with overseas partners in India, Kenya, Malaysia, Jordan and Taiwan on a wide range of topics including Zero Waste and eSafety.
The Fair Trade activity led to recipe cards being handed out on Folkestone High Street on 13th November. Feedback from adults included “Very knowledgeable children, well done. Well done spreading the word about Fair Trade St Mary’s”. Modern Foreign Languages are included in many activities but perhaps there could also have been a distinct activity based on French and your partnership with a school in Calais. Plenty of attention has been paid to evaluation with a range of comments e.g. during the world religions topic which continued into lockdown, one child wrote “it makes me realise that everywhere children across the world are experiencing the same problems as us due to Covid-19″. There has been considerable ambassadorial work with other local schools e.g. through CCGL and wide-ranging future plans. One final observation is that news of this latest award would be a good moment to update the ‘International’ tab on your website which seems to refer to the 2018 application.
The current application is so good that subject to GDPR limitations and a little editing, a PDF version could be showcased on the website as а example of good practice. Overall this is superb. Congratulations to all involved. ” Congratulations on working so hard to co-ordinate such an impressive range of work as an International Co-ordinator! You are a credit to the school and the wider community. We will be preparing certificates of achievement. ..We hope that the scope of your excellent international activities will continue to develop and benefit the school community; your support, commitment, creativity and innovative international work is greatly appreciated. Thank you for taking part in the International School Award. Please convey our very best wishes and many congratulations to all staff and students both in the UK and overseas who have taken part in the scheme. This is a great achievement and one that deserves celebrating and sharing widely. We wish you the best as you continue with your international journey.
Main Partner Schools
- DAV BRS Public School Ludhiana India
We started working with DAV BRS in Ludhiana in 2014 on a world collaborative project called ‘Barefoot Billion’ Since then we have embarked on many world collaborative projects. We communicate through eMails, Whats App, School websites, Facebook, eTwinning and face to face visits. 10 pupils and 3 staff visited our school in Folkestone in 2016 and in 2018, three teachers from our school spent 9 days at their school through Connecting Classrooms. Every year they participate in our World Weather Watch and collaborative Christmas Card project. We launched our ‘Zero Waste’ project whilst visiting their school, which has schools from over 30 countries participating which is linked to the SDG’s and Climate Change.
2. Shri Shikshayatan Girls Kolkata India
We started our partnership in 2016, when we were asked by the British Council to host the principal and one other teacher for a couple of days during their visit to the UK. We communicate through eMails, Whats App, School websites, Facebook, eTwinning and face to face visits. Every year they participate in our World Weather Watch and collaborative Christmas Card project. They share the customs and traditions of India with our Year 2 classes on as part of their work learning about India.
3. Peponi House School Nairobi Kenya
We started our partnership in 2007, through a colleague I’d worked with in Oman who moved to Peponi. Our first project was about the Weather followed by one on Sustainability. I first visited the school through Connecting Classrooms in 2008 and worked alongside the ICT teacher and pupils working together on a world collaborative project hosted by ‘Schoolnet Global, followed by Gridclub. I have now visited the school 4 times,, during my last visit in 2012, I was training Peponi & other schools in Nairobi on eSafety. In 2014 they were part of a world collaborative project called ‘Barefoot Billion’ Since then we have embarked on further collaborative projects. We communicate through eMails, School websites, Facebook, eTwinning and face to face visits. Every year they participate in our World Weather Watch and collaborative Christmas Card project.
4. SK Kimanis, SK Mandahan, SK Papar Kimanis and 2 others In Sabah Malaysia
We started our partnership in 2009. Our first project was about the Weather followed by one on Sustainability. Since then our school has continued to work with Jasmane wherever she has been teaching. We communicate through eMails, School websites, Facebook, eTwinning and face to face visits. In June 2018, she visited our school along with 4 teachers from Sabah for a week so we could share teaching practice & methods & work on collaborative projects. I visited & trained teachers in these 5 schools during April 2019. Every year they participate in our World Weather Watch, Christmas Card, eSafety & RE project linked to Islam. They contributed greatly to our Zero Waste project.
5. Hakama Secondary School Jordan
We started working together in 2014 on a world collaborative project called ‘Barefoot Billion’ Since then we have embarked on many world. We communicate through eMails, School websites, Facebook, online training and eTwinning. Every year they participate in our World Weather Watch, Christmas Card, eSafety and Islam project. They were one of the 44 schools participating in our ‘Zero Waste’ project and work closely with us on the SDG’s and Climate Change.
6. Rueifong Junior high
Started working together in 2017 when 21 teachers from Taiwan were hosted for a week, in the UK by the British Council for Global Learning and I led one of the day sessions. We communicate through eMails, School websites, Facebook and eTwinning. Every year they participate in our World Weather Watch and Christmas Card projects. They were one of the 44 schools participating in our ‘Zero Waste’ project and work closely with us on the SDG’s and Climate Change.
Review of projects submitted for the 2020 award.
1: Zero Waste
Teacher Responsible:
Colette Cotton
Other Staff Involved:
Trevor North, Rebecca Longley, Sara Bowdery, Stephen O’Brian, Marie Hutchings, Jo Arnold, Megan Hogg, Holly Kleinman, Leah Gardener, Matthew Cobb, Alison Johncock, mel best, Samantha Lawson,
Between which dates will this activity occur:
03/03/2018 to 30/12/2020
Subject Area:
Art
Citizenship
English
Geography
Information and Communications Technology (ICT)
Language
Mathematics
Personal and Social Education
Science
Technology
Number of pupils in this activity, by age range:
<5: 60, 5-6: 60, 6-7: 60, 7-8: 60, 8-9: 60, 9-10: 60, 10-11: 60
Activities:
It was launched as a Connecting Classrooms project when we visited DAV BRS Public School in Ludhiana in January 2018.The pupils in India showcased the work they were already doing for Zero Waste through Art and Drama. Whilst at the school, we ran an SDG workshop for 160 pupils and created a joint banner on Zero Waste. We also held a Skype meeting from India back to St Mary’s, discussing the work we’d seen linked to Zero Waste at their school. Returning to St Mary’s after our visit, we used several of DAV BRS Ludhiana’s ideas: classroom recycling bins, compost bins, art work using recycled card, paper and plastic to make picture frames, pencil holders etc: Plastic pollution is a major problem, but is not the only source of waste. We wanted to open this project to schools across Europe and the World, to find out their ideas for helping to solve this world problem. To find out what they are doing in their schools and their local community to support this. To look at the Sustainable Development Goals and to see how these fitted in with Zero Waste, so we created an eTwinning project on this theme. We wanted to share our ideas and work together by exchanging ideas online, in English or in our own language. The project started in India in January 2018, was launched as an eTwinning project in March 2018 and due to many schools requests and Covid-19 this project will now run until December 2020 We continue to work with India through Skype, emails, WhatsApp
Aims and outcomes:
- To find out what schools are doing around the world on ‘Zero Waste’ 2. Record where these schools are on the World Map 3. Uncover the ideas schools have to help towards solving this problem 4. To find out how this project links to the Sustainable Development Goals 5. For schools to spread the knowledge of the importance of ‘Zero Waste’ to their own homes, every day life and that of their local community 6. Schools outside of Europe to be included in the project
7.Schools register and sign in & pinpoint their location on the World Map (April 2018) 8..Schools motivate their students to create ‘Mind Maps’ showing what they think Zero Waste is & publish these on TwinSpace (April-June 2018) 9. Discuss & record the Sustainable Development Goals that are being addressed (May onwards) 10..Photos of ‘Waste’ in each schools local environment (Ongoing) 11.Create class recycling bins and record how much is there for 1 day and then 1 week. 12.Create Posters for ‘Zero Waste’ for display in school, local community or online 13.Art work from each school using non-recyling materials (ongoing) 14. Slogans/poems written linked to ‘Zero Waste’ (May onwards) 15. World Map with pictures of art work linked to Zero Waste from each of participating schools, displayed in own school and published on TwinSpace 10. Pupils evaluation of project and next steps. June-December) 11. Teachers evaluation (June-December)
Evaluation Evidence:
This project has schools from over 40 countries participating and sending out messages about Zero Waste. 1. Final results published on a public Twinspace 2. Schools are now adopting a sustainable ‘Zero Waste’ project 3. Schools to continue to monitor classroom waste and recyclable materials 4. Pupils and their families more aware of this problem and endeavour to do one or two simple things towards solving it 5. Invite parents in to see the work 6. Disseminate to local community Evaluation of this project by teachers and pupils from the 44 participating countries can be viewed on the eTwinning Project pages. 7. Work is showcased on our school Facebook and Twitter accounts. 8. Videos made of examples of Zero Waste from around the world. 9. We have collected over 30kg of empty crips packets this year for recycling for the local air ambulance. 10. We are collecting plastic felt pens, biros for recycling. 11. Reception Class do an annual ‘beach litter clean’ 12. Forest school has planted over 400 saplings from the Woodland Trust and our partner school in India is doing a similar thing.
Partner Schools Involved:
DAV BRS Public School
Shri Shikshayatan Girls
Peponi House School
SK Kimanis, SK Mandahan, SK Papar Kimanis and 2 others
Hakama Secondary School
Rueifong Junior high
2: World Weather Watch
Teacher Responsible:
Alison Johncock
Other Staff Involved:
Colette Cotton, Melanie Best, Denise Judd, Jo Arnold, Karen Mills
Between which dates will this activity occur:
01/10/2019 to 30/01/2020
Subject Area:
Art
Citizenship
Design
English
Geography
Information and Communications Technology (ICT)
Language
Mathematics
Music
Science
Number of pupils in this activity, by age range:
<5: 28, 5-6: 60, 6-7: 2, 7-8: 2, 8-9: 60, 9-10: 2, 10-11: 2
Activities:
This world and eTwinning project is embedded into the school curriculum for IEWeek yearly. 44 schools from 22 countries were involved in this project in November 2019 Our Nursery children participated this year as well as Year 1 & Year 4. We email schools prior to the start to ensure they are able to participate and the etwinning project was set up with support from Hanan at Hakama School in Jordan. Those not in the eTwinning countries are then invited to join the project. All participating schools collect daily weather data at 12 noon on an identical template throughout International Education Week 2019 (18th- 23rd November) On completion this will be uploaded as an eBook on the eTwinning pages created for schools to compare weather data. Participating schools are encouraged to link any local weather sayings, poems, customs and children’s art about the weather. Schools participating for the 2nd or 3rd time are encouraged to see if there is any evidence of climate change from their data. A short project lasting just 6-8 weeks.
Aims and outcomes
- To record the weather from different parts of the world during IEW and see similarities and differences between countries weather patterns • Collaboration between schools • Using Languages • Cultural differences • Using scientific equipment Note any Geographical differences/similarities in the weather Use of ICT Skills • Know what equipment is needed to record the weather and how to read the findings • Knowing the terminology of weather related words in English • Communication skills • Recording data accurately • Making videos • Recording data daily at the same time Calendar of Activities Week 1 4th November begin discussion on the different types of weather Week 2 What equipment is needed to record the weather, what symbols are used , how do we read the findings Week 3 Art work, traditional sayings, poetry & stories about the weather in their country Week 4 18th November record weather for the week using the template Week 5 Is there any evidence of climate change, anything unusual about the weather? Week 6 Pupil and teacher evaluation Collaboration between students – (how will they work together?) • Pupils can see what other schools are posting on the eTwinning project pages. • Discussion between each other • Completed work posted on Project pages• Skype meetings
Evaluation Evidence:
Evidence of work from the 44 schools in 22 countries across the world is on our school’s Face Book & twitter account. Data in from schools across the world can be viewed on our online book: https://www.flipsnack.com/Hsdgs/world-weather-watch-2019.html as well as the eTwinning project pages. Student evaluations visible on eTwinning site 1st Pupil wrote ‘ Loved doing the Skype meeting with school in Jordan, Portugal and Hungary..we learnt how to greet them in their own language & how to write the words as well, arabic writing is really strange to follow. 2nd Pupil ‘ it was exciting doing a Skype meeting with other schools especially as we’d come in with our coats, hats & gloves on as it was cold outside and the children in Jordan didn’t need any of these clothes as it was warm there’ Teacher evaluation visible on etwinning site Teacher 1 ‘My 5/6 year olds were interested in the different temperatures in countries & loved recording the weather daily.’ Jordan has been awarded 5 eTwinning Quality Labels for the project. We hope to see some schools again in November 2020, the 5th year for this project, which is always in November so we have some great data to look at it. Is there evidence of Climate Change in our countries over those years? u-Tube video of Taiwan pupils presenting their work on Weather Watch & Christmas card projects: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ZgW4vZStwc
Partner Schools Involved:
DAV BRS Public School
Shri Shikshayatan Girls
Peponi House School
SK Kimanis, SK Mandahan, SK Papar Kimanis and 2 others
Hakama Secondary School
Rueifong Junior high
3: Christmas Card Traditional Project
Teacher Responsible:
Colette Cotton
Other Staff Involved:
Alison Johncock, Melanie Best, Jo Arnold, Megan Hogg, Karen Mills
Between which dates will this activity occur:
05/10/2020 to 31/01/2021
Subject Area:
Art
Citizenship
Dance
Drama
English
Geography
Information and Communications Technology (ICT)
Language
Music
Personal and Social Education
Religious Education
Number of pupils in this activity, by age range:
5-6: 60, 6-7: 60, 7-8: 2, 8-9: 2, 9-10: 2, 10-11: 2
Activities:
Embedded in our school curriculum is this annual Christmas card project with schools across the world & is also an eTwinning project. “Christmas lights, Christmas bells hanging on the tree, I’ll send you a Christmas card if you send one to me” We wanted to share these Christmas feeling by exchanging handmade cards and Christmas greetings. Every card was written in the country language and with an English translation. We tried to write some in Polish with the help of our Polish students & also wrote a few messages in Danish & Spanish. Every school had to make a display of all the countries and showcase the cards they’d received. Photos needed to be taken throughout the work as well as the final result. Around 30 schools from across the world will be part of this project. We worked with our partners through the ‘Twinspace’ on eTwinning as well as through eMails, Video links and created some uTube videos to exchange with each other.
Aims and outcomes:
To send and receive Christmas cards from schools around the world To celebrate Christmas and learn how other countries celebrate it To share the unique Christmas feeling and send Christmas wishes to other schools. To Collaborate with other schools & create a common project. To help children be aware of different cultures and and languages Schools present themselves on TwinSpace (November). Students design and make Christmas cards (November). Students write short poems about Christmas, present a Christmas tradition and sing a Christmas carol. (November/December) Send the cards to every partner schools by traditional post (22 November ). Create a diisplay on school’s noticeboards showing all the Christmas cards from other countries t (December). Produce and perform ‘Christmas Round the World’ play, linked to this project and the literacy book of ‘Grandma went to Market’ to all parents at the local theatre in Folkestone (December) Evaluation (January)
Evaluation Evidence:
Project was posted on our school Facebook & Twitter accounts A Christmas Round the World display was shown in the school Reception area and included traditional gifts from some of the countries tied to the tree (Frankincense from Jordan, Masai bead bracelet from Kenya, Rattan purse from Malaysia, keyring elephant from India, Chocolate Pere de Noel from France) Photos and work has been uploaded to the eTwinning twinSpace, as well as school website. Expanded students’ cultural, language and geographical knowledge Amazing A2 cards from Kenya, where our children couldn’t believe that many would have Christmas on the beach with a BBQ!
Partner Schools Involved:
DAV BRS Public School
Shri Shikshayatan Girls
Peponi House School
SK Kimanis, SK Mandahan, SK Papar Kimanis and 2 others
Hakama Secondary School
Rueifong Junior high
4: Chinese New Year
Teacher Responsible:
Colette Cotton
Other Staff Involved:
Karen Mills
Between which dates will this activity occur:
06/01/2020 to 20/03/2020
Subject Area:
Art
Citizenship
English
Geography
Information and Communications Technology (ICT)
Mathematics
Music
Personal and Social Education
Number of pupils in this activity, by age range:
5-6: 2, 6-7: 2, 7-8: 2, 8-9: 2, 9-10: 2, 10-11: 2
Activities:
This project was started by our partner Rueifong High in Taiwan and our Global Council group worked on this project. Mail from us to the school..‘Our Global Council group have been having a wonderful & fun time learning about the Year of the Rat and the Chinese New Year, all starting from the photos of your students preparing some of the food for this Festival & the email you wrote about it”. We used the British Council’s Book on the Year of the Rat along with suggestions from Taiwan and the pupils really enjoyed this work. As they completed each activity they took photos and e-mailed them to the Ruiefong students, who commented on their work. Activities planned & completed Chinese Calligraphy…writing ‘The Year of the Rat’ in Chinese Making 3-d cardboard rats! They thought the Tangrams would be easy, but discovered they weren’t and why they were called Chinese puzzles. They made Chinese paper lanterns The fun of learning to use chopsticks to pick up Mung beans, marshmallows, raisins and smarties. Questions sent to the Taiwanese pupils about the Chinese New Year Evaluation of the project A Chinese wall display.
Aims and outcomes:
Aim was for the Global Council group to find out about the Chinese New Year through asking questions to their partner school in Taiwan and from the British Council’s ‘Year of the rat’ book. Was the story of the Rat similar to any of our Traditional Tales here in the UK? What did Chinese writing look like and how easy was it to do? They enjoyed learning how to say ‘hello’ and numbers in Chinese. Using a mixture of learning techniques the following activities took place. 16/01/20 Chinese New Year Story of the Rat 23/01/20 Introduced Chinese Calligraphy and started making 3-D rats for display 06/02/20 Working with small wooden Tangrams and then cutting out their own from the template, and creating Tangrams to make their Chinese Birth Year sign 13/02/20 Reading mail from Taiwan about how their Kindergarten pupils are taught to use chopsticks and how they start with Mung beans. We held our own Chopstick challenge, based on these suggestions and did this against the clock working whilst working in pairs 27/02/20 Paper Lantern making & writing instructions in their books 05/03/20 Finished lantern making and started evaluation of Chinese work on created template 12/03/20 Skype meeting with Colette Cotton, who was working from home telling her what they liked most about the Chinese New Year project and what they found difficult and would change. 19/03/20 Second Skype meeting with Colette Cotton, with pupils recounting the work they’d liked doing
Evaluation Evidence:
The work is displayed on our school FaceBook and Twitter accounts. Great evaluations from the pupils about their Chinese New Year project with their partner school in Taiwan, which can be viewed in their books. Pupils completed the following questionnaire about the project… How well did you think you did in this Topic? Which country has been telling us all about the Chinese New Year? Can you write something in Chinese and do you know what they call their writing? Are there any special colours they like to use? Red & Gold What Chinese year were you born in? Tiger What do they use to eat? Chopsticks Were you successful in using them…how do you know? because I was able to move all the bean shoots from one bowl in the 2 minutes What have you liked most about this project and why? It was such fun using the chopsticks & doing the chopstick challenge to share with the school in Taiwan I was a successful learner when I was writing in Chinese I showed I was a Global citizen when/by learning about other cultures and working with our partners in Taiwan This work was linked to SDG….4 & 17 A wonderful display board about the Chinese New Year and the following
reply from Taiwan: “thank you for the lovely photos of all your Chinese activities, they are amazing and all our kids will fall in love with them’
Partner Schools Involved:
Rueifong Junior high
5: Fair Trade
Teacher Responsible:
Jo Arnold
Other Staff Involved:
Megan Hogg
Between which dates will this activity occur:
09/09/2019 to 21/03/2020
Subject Area:
Art
Citizenship
Design
English
Geography
History
Information and Communications Technology (ICT)
Mathematics
Personal and Social Education
Religious Education
Science
Number of pupils in this activity, by age range:
8-9: 60
Activities:
Fair Trade along with the Sustainable Development Goals is part of Year 4’s planned curriculum for 2019-2020. Activities planned and completed • Use laptops to research ‘Fair Trade’ • Use of website ‘www.oddizzi.com’ which has a large section about Fair Trade • Create new Fair Trade recipes. • Have a ‘Pop Up ‘stand in Folkestone Town Centre to raise awareness of Fair Trade • Distribute information leaflets on Fair Trade along with recipe cards to shoppers in Folkestone town • Present at a whole school assembly, using power points they’d created on Fair Trade to the rest of the school • Apply for Silver award from Fair Trade
Aims and outcomes:
September- December 2019, children used Citizenship lessons to complete their work on Fair Trade and how they linked to the SDG’s, as part of their Global Citizenship work. They used laptops to research Fair Trade ingredients, so they could re-write their recipes for their Pop Up stand in Folkestone town. They researched and discussed how Fair Trade linked with the Sustainable Development Goals Inspired by how they could educate others, they made power point slides for a whole school assembly on Tuesday 15th October about Fair Trade and it’s link with SDG’s. They transferred this information into leaflets, along with their recipe cards for Fair Trade products, to give out in Folkestone High Street on the 13th November. Children handed out the Fair Trade information leaflets which they had designed and created in pairs on the laptops. They handed out Recipe cards they had written about Fair Trade treats, hoping that shoppers would be inspired to buy the ingredients whilst in town, to try these out back at home. They learnt how to approach the shoppers and ask them politely if they could tell them something about Fair Trade and give them a leaflet explaining it all. The pupils took it all very seriously and gained a great deal from this work.
Evaluation Evidence:
The school has applied for the Silver level of the Fair Trade Award. Work was published on the School Face Book & Twitter accounts. Work is in the pupils books and linked to the relevant SDG’s PPT’s made by the pupils, linked to Fair Trade are on the school system The following comments were made by adults: either those they met in the Town Centre or comments on Face Book. • Very knowledgeable children, well done. • Well done spreading the word about Fair Trade St Mary’s • Well done all of you • You boys and girls did amazing Pupil’s evaluations: • My favourite part of this project was giving the leaflet outs whilst people were going to the shops even though it was a bit scary at first. • I learnt how Fair Trade can help Cocoa farmers and many other farmers • This work was important because we were able to give details about Fair Trade to the public. • My family have also learnt about Fair Trade and what the symbol for this is. We hope to gain the Silver Award for Fair Trade
6: Indian Celebrations and Traditions
Teacher Responsible:
Esther Laslett
Other Staff Involved:
Denise Judd, Leah Gardener, Matthew Cobb
Between which dates will this activity occur:
01/10/2019 to 28/02/2020
Subject Area:
Art
Citizenship
Dance
English
Geography
Information and Communications Technology (ICT)
Language
Music
Personal and Social Education
Religious Education
Number of pupils in this activity, by age range:
6-7: 60
Activities:
India is part of our Year 2’s curriculum when they learn about where India is in the world, Indian celebrations and the specific festival of Diwali. They work with their 2 Indian partner schools, asking questions and receiving answers to find out more about Indian customs, dance and art and the meanings behind them. In class they then try to do some of these activities, like Rangoli art, making Diwali lamps, making & tasting ‘Lampoons’ Indian sweet meats and learning an Indian dance to perform to parents. Communication between the schools takes place through eMails, video clips, WhatsApp and Skype meetings. The work lasts from October to February.
Aims and outcomes:
- Pupils to know where India is in the world & understand how to program a Beebot to find it on the world map Our friends in India find out where the UK is on the World map. • Realize that people everywhere have celebrations for different reasons • Know that there are specific reasons for celebrations and they frequently include art, music and dance • To learn an Indian dance in PE and listen to the different music • To create some of the Indian art work using a variety of materials…rice, chalk, paints and also recycle plastic bottles to create ceremonial elephants. • To ask questions to the children at their partner schools …why do you use marigolds for garlands for people to wear? • To showcase their work during Skype meetings and watch the Indian children perform dances and show their art. Tell the children in India about some of our Celebrations in the UK, and why we have them.
Evaluation Evidence:
Work posted on School Face Book and Twitter accounts. Main board display in our school reception about this work from India. eMails from partner schools Work in the pupil’s books, with teacher evaluations Pupil’s own evaluations and that of partner schools. Video of Indian Dance by Year 2 Mails from partner schools a. I am attaching a questionnaire on Rangoli activity that has been collaborated so wonderfully and pictures of masks prepared by our students. Masks are used as a decorative item in Durga Puja Pandals. b. The work of your students under the project ‘Indian Festivals’ is excellent especially the Rangoli designs on plates and ceremonial elephants made from recycled plastic milk bottles. Photographs of the work done by our students on Festivals are attached alongwith. It will be great to have another enriching Skype meeting with your school on Thursday i.e. 23rd January,2020. Kindly share the subject for the session. .
Partner Schools Involved:
DAV BRS Public School
Shri Shikshayatan Girls
7: Hinduism, Judaism and Islam
Teacher Responsible:
Colette Cotton
Other Staff Involved:
Jo Arnold, Mel Best, Leah Gardener, Marie Hutchins, Megan Hogg, Rebecca Longley, Sara Bowdrey
Between which dates will this activity occur:
03/02/2020 to 17/07/2020
Subject Area:
Art
Citizenship
English
Geography
Information and Communications Technology (ICT)
Language
Personal and Social Education
Religious Education
Number of pupils in this activity, by age range:
5-6: 30, 6-7: 30, 8-9: 60, 9-10: 60, 10-11: 60
Activities:
Religious Studies is part of our school curriculum and at St Mary’s the pupils study, Christianity, Islam, Sikkhism, Judaism and Hinduism. Following on from a motivating eTwinning project in 2019 about Ramadan and Islam, run by our partner school in Jordan, it was decided that this was an excellent way for our pupils to have a first hand view point of other religions. Along with our new RE leader, we asked our partner schools (by email) in the relevant countries, it they would be happy to answer our pupils questions about the main religion of their pupils. This would be a question and answer project and would be spread throughout the year, depending on when our pupils were studying that aspect of RE. In the middle of this work Covid-19 struck and schools were closed, working online with their pupils. Despite all of these problems most of these projects succeeded.
Aims and outcomes:
The main aim for this work was for our pupils to find out first hand, what other religions were like from children in other countries, that had the religion they were studying. Our Y1 (just before lock-down) thought about Judaism and drew up a list of questions that they wanted to find out about from children in a Jewish school. Our Y5 pupils wrote individual lists of questions as well as creating some pages on Judaism, using ‘2Simple’s Purple Mash Program’ whilst schools were shut down, their work can be accessed by teachers. The pupils individual questions were copied and emailed to the relevant school, which was a London Jewish School. Unfortunately they had several problems contacting their Y 6, who were going to be part of this project & unable to get them to reply. Y2 & Y6, were working with Islamic partner schools in Jordan
- Malaysia. Y2 started 2 weeks before the lockdown and were creating some wonderful Ramadan & Eid cards for their partners. During Lock Down, both year groups used the ‘Purple Mash’ program to create art work and questions, to be mailed to partner schools. Teachers at our partner school then emailed these questions to their pupils to answer whilst at home, the pupils mailed back their completed work to their teacher, who collated it & emailed it to us at St Mary’s, teachers then mailed the answers back to our pupils! Y4 were studying Hinduism & used ‘Purple mash’ for their work to be sent to India. We had some amazing replies back.
Evaluation Evidence:
The work is showcased on our school’s Facebook & Twitter accounts and also our partner DAV BRS Ludhiana’s Face Book and school website. The work can be viewed on ‘Purple Mash’ and our partners in Malaysia created 3 short u_Tube clips about ‘What it’s like to be a Moslem’ today. Students in Jordan sent us wonderful answers through to the Y6 classes. Pupils in all participating countries really managed to engage a large percentage of their pupils in this online work, with some incredible, high standard work from India. Our students found it amazing to think that we could all still do this work ,even though schools were shut and pupils were learning from home across the world. As one child wrote ‘it makes me realise that everywhere children across the world are experiencing the same problems as us due to Covid-19″
Partner Schools Involved:
DAV BRS Public School
SK Kimanis, SK Mandahan, SK Papar Kimanis and 2 others
Hakama Secondary School
8: eSafety
Teacher Responsible:
Denise Judd
Other Staff Involved:
Karen Mills, Samantha Lawson, Libby Fudge, Alison Johncock, Mel Best, Leah Gardener, Matthew Cobb, Rosie Carter, Sian Cooper, Jo Arnold, Megan Hogg, Marie Hutchings, Stephen O’Brian, Rebecca Longley, Sara Bowdery
Between which dates will this activity occur:
03/02/2020 to 28/02/2020
Subject Area:
S
Art
Citizenship
English
Geography
Information and Communications Technology (ICT)
Language
Personal and Social Education
Number of pupils in this activity, by age range:
<5: 60, 5-6: 60, 6-7: 60, 7-8: 60, 8-9: 60, 9-10: 60, 10-11: 60
Activities:
On Tuesday, 11 February 2020, we celebrated the 17th edition of World Safer Internet Day (SID), with events and activities taking place right across the globe in over 170 countries, https://www.saferinternet.org.uk/safer-internet-day/2020 Here at St Mary’s, we have an eSafety week, to remind the pupils about how to keep safe whilst using the Internet and at the same time to have fun. The theme for this year was ‘Together for a better Internet’ and every class participated. For the 2nd year running we were sharing our ideas and work on eSafety with 3 of our partner schools in Papar, Sabah, Malaysia. Who also involved all the pupils in their schools on this important issue., approximately 600 pupils We exchanged ideas about the work each school would be doing by eMail beforehand. it was decided that: • All schools would view the eSafety website and watch the short film linked to eSafety, before discussing what they thought were the most important issues. • All schools would create eSafety posters and share these with each other, saying why we think eSafety is important to know about. All schools would say how they were going to disseminate their findings.
Aims and outcomes:
The main aim was for all schools to share ideas & concerns on eSafety through a variety of ways. At St Mary’s Our Reception classes made eSafety bunting to display around their classrooms Year 1 discussed the schools eSafety policy, Year 2 made ‘How to stay safe’ posters. Year 3 created a Magic Potion Recipe for eSafety and put the ingredients into the cauldron. Year 4, discussed the importance of ‘passwords’ & made posters for display around the school. Year 5 wrote & performed a collabaorative Rap, ‘’Respect Online’ Year 6 made PPT presentations on real life scenarios. The Malaysian schools watched the same video on eSafety & discussed what they thought was important. They also created colourful posters and an eSafety word search in English, which is their 3rd language! Their Year 6’s made bookmarks relating to eSafety and laminated these, so they could be used as a daily reminder of the need to keep safe online. The work between the schools was shared on our school Facebook & twitter accounts. Pupils in both schools exchanged ideas about the outcomes of this work, with St Mary’s liking the idea of creating Bookmarks.
Evaluation Evidence:
The work for this project on eSafety can be viewed on St Mary’s Facebook & Twitter accounts. It is available to view in some of the pupil’s books. Photos have been taken and shared from all of the schools of pupils working on this project and their finished work. All schools have an eSafety board displaying this work in their schools. it is embedded into all of the schools curriculum.
Partner Schools Involved:
SK Kimanis, SK Mandahan, SK Papar Kimanis and 2 others
Overall Evaluation of ISA projects
Impact on Teachers:
Global work is embedded across our school curriculum and was recognised in our last Ofsted and Siams reports. We work especially closely with schools in India, Jordan, Malaysia, Taiwan and Kenya as well as many European schools through eTwinning projects. Each term most year groups work with a different country on a collaborative project, either through eTwinning or school to school direct contact. These projects are linked to the Sustainable Development Goals. Our Global Councillors, meet weekly to work on specific topics or feedback important global issues to their classes. We have one pupil per class. They also meet any overseas visitors that visit the school. We have staff training once a year on Global Learning, with many staff working individually with the International coordinator during their projects. it is particularly important that staff realise that this work is not an ‘add on’ but is embedded across their whole class work, frequently starting with the Text set by our globally minded Literacy coordinator. Our Head Teacher, SLT and Governors are very supportive of the work we do and see the benefits for our pupils in this mainly white, socially deprived coastal town. Teachers have been funded by Connecting Classrooms to visit our partner school DAV BRS Ludhiana in the Punjab since our last ISA award. In June 2018, 5 teachers from Borneo spent a week at St Mary’s.
Impact on Pupils:
The Year 6 pupils at St Mary’s recently carried out an evaluation about working with schools in other countries these are some of the things they’ve written: 1. I’ve learnt that children in other countries have their own point of view and we need to work together collaboratively. 2. Children in other countries have similar problems to us, especially in terms of Climate Change and pollution in our seas, we need to work together and share ideas to make the world a better place 3. Children in India must all be artists as they do amazing art work 4. I like doing projects such as Weather Watch with other countries, as we get to interact with them in Skype meetings and see what they look and sound like. I have also learnt that what other countries think is cold, is what we call here in England average! 5. I liked singing to different countries in our Skype meetings. I find it interesting talking to people who aren’t English as we can learn some of their languag I sent cards to children in Taiwan and Malaysia 6. I’ve learnt that Mahaba is arabic for ‘hello’ 7. I’ve learnt a lot about other countries and when I leave I want to carry on loving the world. 8. We can help the environment by talking to other schools across the world & share ideas Pupils have enjoyed engaging with schools in other countries, they are no longer just a country on a map, they are real places. They’ve discovered that all countries have celebrations throughout the year for different reasons.
Impact on Community:
Embedding the SDG’s across the curriculum, classes now undertake a yearly project to support the local community. Year R, & Y1, do a beach litter clean and write to the council about their concerns of rubbish. Year 5 along with Y3 support the Eco Schools ‘Great British Spring Clean’ Year 4 hold a Tea party for older citizens, and last year held a Fair Trade ‘Pop Up’ stand in Folkestone Town centre. Year 6 work with the residents of a local retirement home and have fortnightly visits to play board games, read or talk to them and last year they helped redesign their garden and obtained funding from the local mayor. As part of our International work, the KS1 play at the local Leas Cliff Theatre called ‘Christmas Round the World’ enabled many people to hear and learn first hand what the children had been doing with schools across the world. Our school Face Book & Twitter account are viewed by many, including partner schools across the world. We support the ‘Send My friend to School Campaign’ , sadly not during Covid-19, and work with 6 other local schools at the ‘Grand Hotel ‘ in Folkestone. last year students met the local MP to air their concerns on litter and the need for schools across the world to support Climate Change. We host 2 German students annually for a fortnight.. The International coordinator worked with 7 schools in Borneo last April, supporting them with STEM, cementing the relationship between our schools.
Other programmes:
School was awarded etwinning school status in 2019. We have received etwinning quality labels for our projects: Pigeons of peace, World Weather Watch X 2, Christmas cards around the world X 2, Ramadan and Zero Waste and some of the have also obtained the European Quality label. We were a hub school for the GLC scheme The International coordinator has written a research paper for the GLC, published in June 2018 ‘A study exploring the sustainability of global learning in schools’ and is currently doing a 2nd research for CCGL ‘Exploring a multi-country partnership through a ‘Zero Waste’ project’ We received CC funding in January 2018 for teachers to travel to our partner school in India. All of these have helped to embed and cement the International work across the school and have gained the support of SLT and the headteacher.
Support for other schools:
We have worked with our local group of 6 FESI schools to provide whole teacher and individual International training to staff. As a hub for GLC we hosted meetings at our school over several weeks and supported them with visits and emails. The International coordinator works with other schools in the area to support them with International Work. ChristChurch University trainee teachers are always included in the work we do, as it the University.
Ambassador Status:
Would you be prepared to support or mentor other schools in their International School Award activities?
Long-term Impact on Pupils, Teachers and the Community:
The school has established well grounded links with school in India, Taiwan, Malaysia and Jordan., who now join most of our world collaborative projects throughout the year. We are recognised world wide and locally as a school that works ‘Internationally’ Several teachers who have left, have taken their International interstate’s with them and have started projects in their new schools, the latest being a teacher who went on CC visit to India and is helping to establish further links where she is working now. Many of our own teachers have become more involved and motivated to embed the Global/SDG curriculum and are coming up with suggestions. We have a great unfinished eTwinning project due to Covid-19 , about Traditional Tales around the world & have had incredible work in from our partner schools. Parents always refer to our International work. Pupils remember the countries they’ve worked with and the projects that they’ve done, particularly if there have been some Skype meetings. Now we are learning about other religions through our partner schools, this has made our pupils more interested and they’ve been keen to find out the similarities and differences. They are always very impressed with the standard of work from our international schools and try to improve their own to send back.
Plans on sustaining the international ethos:
Although the Global work is embedded across the curriculum we ideally need a team to lead our International
work..unfortunately every time we have found one or two people who could help lead this important work, they move on to another school! Staff need to realise Global work is not an ‘Add on’ and that it forms part of their every day work, hopefully this can be instilled into the several new members of staff that we will have in September 2020. With the advent of Covid-19, Global work and understanding and collaboration with other schools across the world is more important than ever.
From September, we will have a dedicated room for our Global Councillors to meet in, with access to a new Interactive Board for more frequent Video conferences with partner schools.