A school in a deprived area of Coventry has joined a Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ project aiming
to establish links between classrooms across the globe through its website:
bbc.co.uk/worldclass.
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Southfield Primary School is hoping to raise money to help pay for
the headteacher of Nyogbare School in north Ghana in Africa to visit
this October.
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If successful, the African head will stay at the home of Paul Tuffin,
Headteacher of Southfields, during his visit.
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The two schools established a link after Southfield's Deputy Head,
Jo Hallett, visited Nyogbare in 2001.
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Since then pupils at the schools have been learning about each others'
cultures by sending postcards to each other.
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Southfields, an inner-city primary school, with 29 home languages among
its 190 pupils, has also taped stories to send to the African school
and raised money for printed alphabet hangings for 200 schools in upper
east region.
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"If you walked around Southfields you would come across several displays
about Ghana," says Jo Hallett.
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"The international link is an ever-present focus in the school and
the children love it," adds the Deputy Head.
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Jo believes the international link has contributed to "excellence and
enjoyment" through school improvement and creativity in its broadest
sense.
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Paul Tuffin says that because of its meagre resources, he and everyone
involved with the school need to be very creative in their fundraising
activities:
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"I have hens running around in my garden at home so one of the things
I do to raise some money is sell the eggs to the staff!"
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Notes to Editors:
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Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ World Class is a new pan-Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ initiative. Supported by a raft of
programmes across Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ TV and Radio, Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ World Class aims to raise awareness
of school twinning among children, teachers and parents.
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It also provides support to schools who wish to get involved in an
international partnership.
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The initiative has strong support from within the Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ. Chairman Michael
Grade recently said that he sees the initiative as an important part
of the Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ's international role in "building understanding and engagement".
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Director General Mark Thompson has described Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ World Class as "a
fresh approach to our young audience". He says: "It shares our existing
output in a relevant context and makes current affairs 'real' for young
people."
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Launched Tuesday 1 March 2005, bbc.co.uk/worldclass offers schools
information about getting started with twinning and outlines the reasons
to get involved in the initiative. It also provides a chatroom for teachers
to share their experiences and swap advice and tips, to make the experience
as rewarding as possible.
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The website is the result of a network of partnerships between the
Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ and experts in school twinning, including the British Council, Link
Community Development, UKOWLA (UK One World Linking Association), Voluntary
Service Overseas (VSO), Dolen Cymru, Youth Sport Trust, Plan International
and Africa Bookcase.
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Virginia Crompton, Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ World Class creator and Project Leader, is passionate
about the initiative. She says: "It works. International twinning can
be an incredibly enriching experience, not just for children but for
parents and teachers too.
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"It can give schools a passport to the world: broadening children's
horizons, bringing current affairs to life; improving literacy; promoting
understanding of diversity, and much, much more."
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Schools across the country already involved in twinning are delighted
that the Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ is inspiring more schools to get global links.
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Tim Buckley, head teacher at Tithe Barn Primary School in Stockport,
says: "You can't imagine the benefits you're going to get out of twinning
- it's staggering what can happen.
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"It opens people's minds - not just the children's but everyone in
the school community. It makes you question things, question your beliefs,
it breaks down stereotypes, broadens your horizons.
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"When you get a letter from a school in Africa it's real and that's
what makes it exciting."
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The initiative is supported across the Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ with a number of programmes
highlighting the benefits of the twinning experience:
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In May, Five Live are organising a week of media literacy activities
in a London school where 87 per cent of the children are from the Bangladeshi
community.
They're also taking children along to the test match to contribute
to live broadcasts.
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