Comenius project - Friendship and Sustainability
The school is delighted to be part of the British Council’s Comenius programme, and build on our East West Links established in 2009. This programme is designed for professional development for staff but more importantly to give the children of Cwmpadarn an insight into our partner schools. Year 5 and 6 pupils will be e mailing Finland, France and Ireland, receiving visits from European teaching staff and visiting Saint Martin's School in Irelend this summer, an exciting project.
The school was delighted to have been awarded its Full International Award in September 2012 for ......'Outstanding Development of the Internatioanl Dimension in the Curriculum'.
Cwmpadarn Estyn Inspection 2012 reported that ..... 'The provision for promoting pupils' knowledge and understanding of sustainability and global citizenship is good. Respecting multi-culturalism, promoting anti-racism attitudes and developing fairness and equal opportunities are strong elements of the school's culture.'
The school was delighted to have been awarded its Full International Award in September 2012 for ......'Outstanding Development of the Internatioanl Dimension in the Curriculum'.
Cwmpadarn Estyn Inspection 2012 reported that ..... 'The provision for promoting pupils' knowledge and understanding of sustainability and global citizenship is good. Respecting multi-culturalism, promoting anti-racism attitudes and developing fairness and equal opportunities are strong elements of the school's culture.'
Ysgol Cwmpadarn Primary School, Wales
Ysgol Cwmpadarn Primary School is a village school in a town setting and there has been a primary school located in the village of Llanbadarn since 1873.The current school is situated one mile east of Aberystwyth in the village with 75 pupils on the roll. Pupils in the past have benefitted from the excellent East West project which is no longer funded by Wales, however the positive impact with this cultural exchange is still discussed by pupils and parents alike.
To participate in this cultural and cross border exchange is an exciting opportunity for all involved. The project will give all the pupils, whether from a disadvantaged environment, or not, the opportunity to share similarities and differences as a result of activities undertaken and shared. This in turn would further develop their ICT skills, their understanding of different languages and their appreciation of their European Community and being a global citizen. This Comenius Project will expose pupils to a learning opportunity and challenges not readily available to them and will offer them a range of new skills and experiences.
To participate in this cultural and cross border exchange is an exciting opportunity for all involved. The project will give all the pupils, whether from a disadvantaged environment, or not, the opportunity to share similarities and differences as a result of activities undertaken and shared. This in turn would further develop their ICT skills, their understanding of different languages and their appreciation of their European Community and being a global citizen. This Comenius Project will expose pupils to a learning opportunity and challenges not readily available to them and will offer them a range of new skills and experiences.
Penrhyn-Coch school, Wales
Penrhyn-Coch school is a county primary co-educational day school providing education for both Welsh and non-Welsh speakers with the aim of attaining bilingualism for every child by year 6. Welsh therefore is the main medium of teaching in the infants but some use of English is allowed when dealing with non-Welsh speakers who start school. Naturally this helps young children to settle down and slowly build their confidence. English is introduced in Year 2 – reading initially followed by writing. Formal introduction of English occurs in Year 3 as children begin at Key Stage 2. Our ultimate aim is complete bilingualism by the end of primary education.
We attempt to give the children an opportunity to develop their full potential in the areas of listening, speaking, reading and writing. This is done by nurturing positive attitudes towards these skills and learning to respect language in order to enable the children to become complete members of the bilingual society in which they live.
The school is within the catchment area of Penweddig and Penglais Comprehensive Schools at Aberystwyth.
The original new school was opened in 1969 to replace the old building nearby and it is situated in the centre of the village. The main building consisted of two classrooms, a hall and a kitchen whilst we have two mobile classrooms (cabins), one to the rear and the other to the front of the main building.
Since 2005 the school has been refurbished with an extension that includes four classrooms, a new hall, kitchen as well as new toilet blocks.
In 2009, the school achieved the bronze award for Eco-Schools. Our aim is to reach our Silver award by Summer 2011 and then the Green Flag by 2012.
We attempt to give the children an opportunity to develop their full potential in the areas of listening, speaking, reading and writing. This is done by nurturing positive attitudes towards these skills and learning to respect language in order to enable the children to become complete members of the bilingual society in which they live.
The school is within the catchment area of Penweddig and Penglais Comprehensive Schools at Aberystwyth.
The original new school was opened in 1969 to replace the old building nearby and it is situated in the centre of the village. The main building consisted of two classrooms, a hall and a kitchen whilst we have two mobile classrooms (cabins), one to the rear and the other to the front of the main building.
Since 2005 the school has been refurbished with an extension that includes four classrooms, a new hall, kitchen as well as new toilet blocks.
In 2009, the school achieved the bronze award for Eco-Schools. Our aim is to reach our Silver award by Summer 2011 and then the Green Flag by 2012.
St Martin’s National School, Ireland
St Martin’s National School is a 4 teacher co-ed Primary school, situated in Dublin, very close to the Wicklow border. Brittas is a small rural village situated between the town of Blessington and Dublin City. The school was originally built in 1959 as a 2 teacher school. This was expanded in 1980 with the addition of a classroom and a general purpose room. There was further expansion in 1996, with the installation of two prefabricated classrooms.
At present the number of children attending is 81, this has been the pattern of numbers for the last number of years. The children vary in age from 4 to 13 years. These are divided into 4 classes, Junior & Senior, 1st & 2nd, 3rd a& 4th and 5th & 6th. We also have a Learning Support Teacher who works with our children who have general learning needs. For children with specific learning difficulties we have a part-time resource teacher who targets their specific needs in a one-to-one setting.
Our school welcomes an eclectic group of children from diverse backgrounds, including those from disadvantaged settings and children from migrant families. Diversity is celebrated in our school and all children experience a safe, happy and caring environment.
We look forward to our participation in the project. Our pupils will benefit from the experience by sharing similarities and differences with our participants from other countries. We want to encourage our children to appreciate and respect their own environment by sharing their experiences with children from other countries. We also hope that they would develop respect and appreciation of others from different cultures and backgrounds.
The Comenius Project will give our children an invaluable intercultural experience, which will give them the opportunity to improve skills such as investigation skills, ICT skills, foreign language and intercultural awareness.
At present the number of children attending is 81, this has been the pattern of numbers for the last number of years. The children vary in age from 4 to 13 years. These are divided into 4 classes, Junior & Senior, 1st & 2nd, 3rd a& 4th and 5th & 6th. We also have a Learning Support Teacher who works with our children who have general learning needs. For children with specific learning difficulties we have a part-time resource teacher who targets their specific needs in a one-to-one setting.
Our school welcomes an eclectic group of children from diverse backgrounds, including those from disadvantaged settings and children from migrant families. Diversity is celebrated in our school and all children experience a safe, happy and caring environment.
We look forward to our participation in the project. Our pupils will benefit from the experience by sharing similarities and differences with our participants from other countries. We want to encourage our children to appreciate and respect their own environment by sharing their experiences with children from other countries. We also hope that they would develop respect and appreciation of others from different cultures and backgrounds.
The Comenius Project will give our children an invaluable intercultural experience, which will give them the opportunity to improve skills such as investigation skills, ICT skills, foreign language and intercultural awareness.
Oulu International School, Finland
Oulu International School is unique in the city of Oulu because of its specialization in an "international education" offered in the English language. Our students primarily come to our school for three different reasons: 1) the largest group (about 85%) is "normal" Finnish students who wish to specialize in the use of the English language and gain a more intercultural perspective in education; 2) students who come from families who are mobile/transient or planning to move abroad and wish to have a more consistent education through the internationally recognized International Baccalaureate Program; 3) and expatriate students in the city needing an English language education.
Our school is interested in the project primarily for the focus on sustainable development and its student centred approach to it. We are in the process of developing our sustainable development curriculum, and we see that this project will give us valuable ideas, feedback, and comparison of ideas between different countries. Through this international cooperation, our sustainable development plan will be richer than if we worked on it alone. The project will also give us opportunities to allow our students to interact with other cultures and languages to broaden their intercultural understanding and respect, and to develop their ICT skills. Both of these factors are important in the European Community and today's world.
Our school is interested in the project primarily for the focus on sustainable development and its student centred approach to it. We are in the process of developing our sustainable development curriculum, and we see that this project will give us valuable ideas, feedback, and comparison of ideas between different countries. Through this international cooperation, our sustainable development plan will be richer than if we worked on it alone. The project will also give us opportunities to allow our students to interact with other cultures and languages to broaden their intercultural understanding and respect, and to develop their ICT skills. Both of these factors are important in the European Community and today's world.
Henri Sautet Elementary School, France
Henri Sautet Elementary School is a little school (5 classrooms and 120 pupils from 6 to 11) situated in the town of 'Brive-la-gaillarde' (a little provincial town of eighty thousand inhabitants). The main focus of our school policy is to improve its uses to change teaching practices with innovative technologies such as smartboards, mp3 sequences recording, video reports.... thoughts about a such important thematic: stainability: to become a model school.
We want to participate in this exciting child based mapping and environmental project to help our children recognise and celebrate similarities and differences as a result understand more about other cultures. We want to be confident in using a wide range of ICT to communicate with our new friends. the project will help us to learn other languages and develop our perception of European Citizenship.
Finally, we think meetings with our other professionals and collaborative cooperation would challenge and therefore improve our teaching methods.
We want to participate in this exciting child based mapping and environmental project to help our children recognise and celebrate similarities and differences as a result understand more about other cultures. We want to be confident in using a wide range of ICT to communicate with our new friends. the project will help us to learn other languages and develop our perception of European Citizenship.
Finally, we think meetings with our other professionals and collaborative cooperation would challenge and therefore improve our teaching methods.