Improving students reading and writing skills through European art and music

Our project aimed at developing reading and writing skills through engagement with art and music in connection with the acquisition of knowledge and information about the culture of other countries, particularly in the fields of art and music. We studied how using a more innovative and motivating curriculum could promote higher quality engagement in learning and how this affected behavioural problems and behaviour management strategies within the classroom - do children stay on task more in an innovative approach to developing, using and practising basic literacy skills? The project was divided into the below individual project areas. To undertake the project areas The project results were shared by partners, to each school's community through exhibitions and of course by the student and teacher exchanges with partner institutions. For teachers the chance to spend time each other's school observing and discussing the teaching and learning of basic reading and writing skills was very powerful. 1. An artist from our region 2. We can make music! 3. Take One Picture 4. Our favourite music 5. Art and music of our European partners The main objectives of this project were to: Develop motivation of our students and teachers to acquire knowledge about and understanding of the culture of other countries and to create an understanding of similarities and differences Communicate and collaborate effectively with other schools Improve student performance in reading, writing, speaking and listening Applyi innovative and creative teaching and learning methods and related material Develop new and developed perspectives in leadership and management Encourage effective methods of evaluation and self-evaluation Develop inclusion of local communities in school projects - Community cohesion at home and abroad. Give the opportunity for students and teacher exchanges to develop an understanding of other countries and cultures The 4 schools were of varying sizes and different contexts (urban, rural, different social contexts) but all schools had the priority to develop the literacy skills of their pupils and prepare them for the next phases of education, the world of work and life literacy skills. The project looked at the innovative and creative approach to teaching and learning, using art and design and music as a stimulus for basic literacy skills, especially reading and writing. The aim was to build a set of teaching skills for the professionals as well as develop the learning and skills base of the children. The aim was to work with experts from the world of art and music, share expertise within schools to design a set of activities which would stimulate, motivate and develop a set of basic literacy skills for life. The aim was to take the everyday interests of children and use their innate enjoyment within the world of "Art" to raise standards across each school for different groups of children. The children recorded and communicated their work via different methods - speaking, listening, reading and writing. Sharing within and between the partner schools plus exhibitions, concerts and written communications to the local and wider community encouraged the use of, and gave a purpose for, the development of the basic skills, and each school disseminated the work to as wider an audience as possible. Technology as well as pen and paper formed these communication methods. Also a cultural knowledge was built up through the exchange of children so that children had a good understanding of the world in which they lived and would work/travel plus understand the similarities and differences of our cultures - these were vey much embraced and celebrated throughout the project opportunities to work and play alongside each other. Having this very specific brief for raising literacy standards was tantamount to the success that each school had over the three years. We found that through the data, the work evidence, the lesson observations by SMT that the creative approach to choosing carefully stimulus for reading and especially writing, and the teaching of basic skills, was vey successful. Art and Music from today and yesterday when carefully chosen, we found, can impact on literacy standards, as can working with artists and musicians. As the success of this became apparent school/teachers independently began to branch out into using different stimuli in the form of rich texts (books/extract), film extracts, cartoons. When children were interested and engaged the conduct and learning behaviours are also impacted upon. It was evident from the work that the children were using a richer language, grammar was being taught in context, compositions were more creative, editing and redrafting became more independent. Leaders at all levels could evaluate the impacts of the project plus the developments that had being built on the initial ideas/objectives