This project has been established to continue to develop links across Europe, to promote the exchange of good practice and to enhance the global dimension in each of the participating schools. It further aims to use this global dimension to increase pupil attainment in basic skills, particularly literacy, through developing an entrepreneurial approach to education. This will focus on the development of critical and independent learning skills which sees children generating their own ideas and projects linked to their learning experiences. We aim to increase pupil's motivation to learn and to develop their creativity through the study of common literature and through sharing these experiences with other pupils across Europe, learning from and with each other. By accessing learning that is emersive and relevant we aim to promote children's self esteem and their confidence in their learning, as well as improving their abilities in basic skills.The project participants are 5 primary schools, one each in England, Spain, Italy, Finland and Sweden. During the life of the project five children's stories will be studied. The children will read these stories, or have them read to them, in their mother tongue and in English. A range of different activities will then be carried out relating to each book which address literacy objectives and curriculum needs in each school. These will be planned in detail at each of the project meetings and will include but are not limited to: writing and performing playscripts, producing illustrated books, writing book reviews, writing diaries and letters in the role of characters, writing poems based on the stories, producing non-fiction texts such as encyclopedia entries and writing newspaper reports on the main events of the stories. The children will also discuss their views of the stories and time will be built into the curriculum to meet with pupils in other schools through Skype to discuss their responses to the stories. The language of all partner countries will be studied through word banks relating to the key words in the stories and through the sharing of a book per unit which will physically travel around Europe with a character from each book, to be written in by pupils at each school as that character's diary, as well as multi-lingual activities such as creating audio books. Throughout the life of project opportunities will be given to pupils to use their initiative and develop their own ways of responding to set tasks and to develop their critical thinking skills.The project will culminate in a Business Enterprise style event where pupils will be able to apply the entrepreneurial skills they have learned. They will work in small collaborative groups to develop an idea into a product that can be sold to others. This product will be made and sold in all five schools of the partnership and information collected about profits made.This project will result in an increase in pupils basic skills and in their motivation to learn, as well as developing a positive approach to life long learning. We will develop their creativity and their ability to work independently. Pupils will have shared experiences with other pupils in different European schools resulting in a greater awareness of their place in Europe and their role as global citizens. It will allow teachers to reflect on their teaching, to learn from others best practice and to improve the quality of education within each school, developing a more creative and relevant approach to teaching. This will lead to longer term benefits for future pupils and children who grow into adults more equipped to fit into the modern workplace.
This was a project between 5 schools across Europe focusing on raising attainment in basic skills in literacy, maths and science in pupils between the ages of 3 and 13. It also aimed to promote the exchange of good practice across the schools and develop a new approach to teaching which was cross-curricular and took as its core a book from each of the partner countries. We worked together to explore and develop pedagogical skills allowing children to facilitate and explore their own ideas. An entrepreneurial approach to learning was developed through providing children with opportunities for creative thinking, allowing them to develop their independent thinking skills and their ability to communicate. Children were encouraged to develop their own learning pathways and explore ways of solving problems and completing tasks both as individuals and in small groups. The transnational approach taken was to encourage children and staff to explore the nature of learning in different cultures and to appreciate the similarities and differences between us as learners, educators and citizens. The schools involved were: Pilton Bluecoat Academy, England - a junior school of 250 pupils, aged 7-11. CEIP El Penascal, Spain - a primary school of 450 pupils, aged 3-12. Istituto comprensivo XX Seppembre, Italy - primary/secondary school of 700 pupils, aged 3-13. Skonsomns School, Sweden - a primary school of 400 pupils, aged 6-13. Kuloinen School, Finland - a primary school of 220 pupils, aged 7-12. Through the two years of the project, work was undertaken in five units. Each unit took as its core a book chosen by one of the partner countries. The book was read in both mother tongue and English. From each book a number of different activities were planned which differed across partner schools. We also planned one or two core pieces of work for each book which was then shared or worked on collaboratively with all partners. These were: Unit 1 'The Happy Prince' (UK): a script of the story written, acted and filmed by pupils. Unit 2 'Pippi Longstocking' (Sweden): a story about a modern day Pippi character Ella-Bella, written and illustrated by pupils, and all pupils learned, sang and recorded the Pippi Longstocking theme song. Unit 3 'The Rainbow Fish' (Spain): illustrations of the story for the digital book. Unit 4 'The Moomins' (Finland): maths problems using Moomin characters, written by pupils and solved in partner schools; a board game with the theme of their country; and a joint study of daily weather patterns in their locality. Unit 5 'Pinocchio' (Italy): a chapter of a story about a modern day Pinocchio character, Pinuccio, set in their own country, written and illustrated by pupils. For each unit pupils also wrote book reviews. Ten words from each book were translated into all partner languages. These were recorded and made into a multilingual dictionary. For each book a mascot of one character was purchased which traveled, along with a diary, to all partner countries. This mascot and diary was taken home each night by a pupil of the school, who recorded what the mascot had done with their friend that evening. After one week the mascot was posted to the next country. Skype video conferences were held between the partner schools, 4 per project year. This allowed us to learn about life in our partner schools, to discuss the pupils thoughts about project activities and the books being studied and was used as a context for learning about the other countries in our project, as well as providing valuable real-time contact with our partners. Two main additional activities were also planned. In October 2017 we held a Friendship Day, linked to our work on 'The Rainbow Fish'. All pupils in all schools were involved in learning a dance to the song 'El Mismo Sol', choreographed by the Spanish school. This was performed and recorded on the same day in all schools and the video exchanged. Pupils also made friendship cards with messages in both English and one of the partner languages, sent via post to our partners. In summer 2018 we held a Business Enterprise. Pupils made products in groups which were exchanged with partners and sold in a European Market to families and friends. All planned activities had an impact in raising attainment in basic skills across all partner schools. The experiences increased children's motivation to learn, enabled them to become more independent in their learning and increased their confidence and ability to communicate successfully. Teachers were able to benefit from collaboration across Europe and have developed more successful teaching methods and strategies as a result of working on the project. Life long friendships have been made and further collaboration between schools is planned for. The entrepreneurial approach to teaching and working in a cross-curricular way through literature is one which is continuing to be developed within partner schools.