Emscote Infant School
and
All Saints' C of E Junior School
International School
Truly Global Citizens
Through our use of the International Primary Curriculum, we aim to develop our children as Global Citizens of the future. We have a well-established and active link with a school in Bo, Sierra Leone - reciprocal visits have taken place between staff and the children have completed writing and art projects for exchange. We have also completed a successful Erasmus+ project with 6 other European partner countries over a 2-year period. We have been involved with European linking from 2009 and all staff and children enjoyed the exchange of teaching and learning opportunities. We treasure these links for the professional development it affords the staff and the global learning the children get from it.
Erasmus+ Project
In May, Mrs Garrett visited Lithuania as part of our Erasmus project - Hooked onto Healthy Lifestyle. This is the final, 7th visit of this project. The children may have told you that the first year had a focus on healthy eating, with this second year focusing on exercise and healthy living. The staff and children from all 7 countries have really enjoyed sharing their learning. We'd like to encourage you to have a look at the shared blog at: http://hookedontohealthylifestyle.blogspot.com/ to find out more about the range of activities completed over the past 2 years in all of the partner countries.
Friends of Bo
Some representatives of our Friends of Bo Club supported Mr Hussey who gave a presentation at Emscote School about his visit to Bo in Sierra Leone last month.
Lots of parents, children, Governors and OWL members came to hear all about his visit. We served refreshments, showed people how to make 'gari' (from dried, ground cassava) and ran a raffle. We managed to raise £50.33 for One World Link towards their work with schools in Bo.
Skype Link with Bo - February 2018
Today we were lucky to connect with our partner school in Bo (BDEC Upper New Gerihun Rd) via a Skype video link. It was amazing to hear the whole school singing to us and the new Headteacher announced to us that the Lower and Upper schools at New Gerihun Rd have federated to become one school. We were able to watch them on our big screen in the hall. Two members of Friends of Bo Club, Zeke and Jack, made a speech and we all sang "You are my brother".
Mr Hussey from Emscote has been spending the week visiting schools in Bo and facilitating some teacher training.
Erasmus+ Visit - October 2017
We have had a really exciting week with our Erasmus visitors from all across Europe in school. The children have been undertaking healthy lifestyle workshops, learning traditional songs and games and performing various showcases.
Year 2 were taught by teachers from both Italy and Spain. They learnt about their languages and some key phrases. They also took part in some folk dancing and listened to their music. They asked them questions and listened carefully to their answers, they learnt a lot of interesting facts about both countries.
The year 6 children also had a lesson about healthy eating and established which foods were healthy and unhealthy.
Day of the African Child
On Friday 16th June, our year 2 pupils joined 12 other schools from the local area to celebrate Day of the African Child. The day was held at Lillington School this year. All 13 schools marched around the field as they would do in Bo, with banners and flags to the sound of African djembe drums. They had the opportunity to take part in 6 different workshops which included drumming, dancing, drama, storytelling, singing and sports.
Matt Western, our new MP attended the day, and the children were able to present their petitions for the ‘send my friend’ campaign urging our Government to improve the opportunities for children all over the world to receive a quality education.
Learning about Latvia
We have received the pet box from Latvia which was displayed in our library. The box included a ladybird called Marite which is Latvia's National insect.
Learning the Spanish Way
Miss Lampard visited the Spanish town of Lleida recently as part of the the Erasmus+ programme (see below). Together with Mr Queralt and Mrs Smith from Emscote Infant School, and armed with Greece's pet box, she had the privilege of attending the town's Paisos Catalans School. They toured around the school grounds, joined in lessons and made friends with the staff and children of the school. As part of the visit they were also lucky enough to be shown around the town and to visit the local attractions there, including the Old Cathedral of St. Mary of La Seu Vella. They also experienced much of the local cuisine, including snails and octopus. It was a thoroughly rewarding time and one that all three members of staff will treasure. They all look forward to sharing their experiences with the rest of the schools.
Learning from Larissas, Italy
During an assembly explaining the Erasmus+ project Hooked On Healthy Living (see below) Mrs Garrett told the children about her trip to Hungary, showing lots of photos of her visit there last November. There is an Erasmus display in the library area where children can come and look at various artefacts and books. The display features the Greek Pet Box with Balios the horse. Our linked Greek school is in Larissas on the East coast and the pupils are aged 4-14; they have sent us some amazing drawings and a wonderful display of seeds.
Festive Fare
As part of All Saints' and Emscote schools' Erasmus+ project work (see below) the school has Greece's Pet Box which contains Balios the horse. Each country in the collaboration is invited to contribute to a European recipe book, making traditional festive food with their children. Year 1 demonstrated their culinary skills for their equine friend, showing him how to make mince pies. There were some splendid personalised designs.
European Christmas
As part of our Erasmus+ link, all classes learnt about Christmas in one of our link countries. We enjoyed learning about the many similarities, as well as the differences, in the way Christmas is celebrated in these countries. A firm favourite was celebrating Christmas a whole day earlier – less long to wait!
Erasmus+ - Sharing Expertise in Europe
We are lucky to have been awarded funding through the Erasmus+ programme, a European Commission initiative that encourages strategic partnerships between schools across Europe. These partnerships tackle particular issues related to schools education, such as teaching standards, entrepreneurship, citizenship, basic skills or linguistic skills, through collaboration and innovation. We will be undertaking a two-year project called Hooked On Healthy Living with partners in Spain, Italy, Lithuania, Greece, Latvia and Hungary, sharing experiences and exchanging practices. We look forward to visiting other countries and to returning with some new learning experiences.
Sharing Keeping Safe Ideas
We took part in a reciprocal project with our link school in Bo, Sierra Leone. All Saints' pupils created posters and letters about different ways of keeping themselves safe; we have received some work back from the children in Bo.
International Day of the African Child
Every year since 1991 the International Day of the African Child is celebrated in June. The event honours those who participated in the Soweto Uprising in 1976, when many schoolchildren were shot by police as they protested at the inadequacy of education in the township. The day helps raise awareness of the continuing need for improvement of the education provided to African children. This June year 6 children participated in the celebrations held at St. Anthony's School in Leamington.
Mrs Johnson and Mr Hussey created a new banner for the children to take to the event. The banner represents children holding hands across the globe, with figures in our school uniform and that of our link school New Gerihun Road, Bo.
It was a wonderful day and despite the rain we had a lot of fun and created memories - especially our first Skype video link with Bo. We saw them in the OWL centre in Bo and heard them making speeches; we sang them a song in Krio -Tel amTenki.
Friends of Bo African Link
On the same day as our celebrations in Leamington there was an event held in Bo, Sierra Leone. Bo pupil representatives from each of our 15 partner schools marched with banners and a brass band through the town before arriving at the One World Link Centre for speeches on the theme. Their programme had an advocacy approach raising awareness of the need to protect children's rights in crises. They witnessed the Skype video call with us around lunchtime projected onto the wall at the Centre. They finished their day with a friendship meal for everyone.
