How do we create communities that are physically, emotionally and spiritually healthy? This question has arisen for both schools due to a number of changes. There are concerns about how pupils who arrive from other countries with little or no English/Finnish settle happily into life at school and how easily they can access the curriculum. The need to welcome these new arrivals (some who have come from traumatic backgrounds and circumstances) is a key concern for both schools. Pupils and teachers need to develop the skills to become effective and empathetic European/Global citizens where all members of the school (and wider) communities feel happy, safe and able to fulfill their full potential. This identified need has emerged from the political developments in both countries regarding the intake/treatment of migrants and refugees. In both communities there have been significant issues raised about how we should behave when welcoming new members to our community. The need for the whole community to develop certain skills has become evident. These skills include Empathy, Gratitude, Resilience, Social Responsibility and Self Care. This all feeds into the need to have a robust PSHE (Personal, Social, Health and Emotional) curriculum that isn't squeezed out due to external pressures and time. The main objective of the project is to develop a Scheme of Work for PSHE that can be used internationally and speaks to all teachers easily. It should meet any school's individual needs but also be something that can be applicable on a global/international level. During the two years of the project, teachers will pair up with a teacher in the link school and work for a period of time together on developing ideas that they will trial and test with their classes. The Erasmus + provides the ideal platform to address identified needs in both schools and supports collaborative action. This will provide a structure for both schools from which to work and will build upon the existing excellent relationship between both schools. Having dialogue and discussion between teachers in both schools, sharing their strengths, skills, contexts and expertise provides an excellent platform from which to plan and implement the program. The need to raise the self esteem of all pupils is a key area to develop. Developing the understanding, respect and tolerance between the different cultures and religions represented in both school communities is a big part of the project . Improving community cohesion and tolerance is something that will underpin the work of the next two years. The ideas will center around developing Acts of Kindness across both schools. The aim will be to create kinder more empathetic communities. Over the two years 12 teachers and 3 leaders from each school will participate in a visit to the link school and their classes will link with each other sharing and collaborating throughout the whole project. The overall theme of study across both schools will be 'Change' in year 1 and 'Action' in year 2. In Year 1 of the project the schools will look at what we would like to change within our communities. Each class will design their own Community Action project on a school and local level which will be shared with each other. They will specifically design and implement Acts of Kindness activities at an individual, class and school level. By the end of the year 1they will move on to a community Act of Kindness at a local level. This will be dependent on what changes they would like to see in their community. They will compare this with each other and also with The Lahore Lyceum School in Pakistan who will also participate in the project. In Year 2 of the project the schools will try to develop further Acts of Kindness activities including whole school events such as participation on the global Dance of Kindness Day and the World Kindness Day in November. The schools will work together to develop a joint Act of Kindness which will require complete collaboration in order for it to be implemented across both schools simultaneously. These events will be open to the community and may involve other community organizations. The final year will see the team gather together to compile the best practice and develop the Scheme of Work for PSHE which the schools formally introduce to all staff in 2019-2020. The Scheme of Work will be shared on the Dissemination Platform, our own websites and e-Twinning. The schools will also hold dissemination seminars in UK and Finland where they will share the Scheme of Work ,teaching methodologies and what Erasmus is. Dunkirk is about to become part of an Academy Trust and will open up the project to everyone in the Trust, enabling them to participate. There are 19 schools in the Trust. The sustainable outcome is that the scheme of work developed through this project will be embedded into both schools (and hopefully many more) everyday practice and will become something that everyone uses.
The project between Rastaala and Dunkirk Schools started prior to the Erasmus funding in 2016-17 by considering the question - How do we create communities that are physically, emotionally and spiritually healthy? The question was chosen due to each school continuing to admit increasing numbers of children from all over the world, from highly diverse communities, often arriving having fled their home country. The 2 schools considered it imperative to ensure that the schooling of these children was geared towards raising their self-esteem and making them feel safe and valued. Furthermore at times of increasing political unrest communities appeared to be becoming more insular. Dunkirk and Rastaala had a vision for their schools where all children, and their families, and the staff and wider community could understand each other and treat each other with kindness. The project set out to help children understand over a 3 year cycle (beginning in year 0 of the project, prior to Erasmus funding) to consider the "Journey" (physical, spiritual and metaphorical) that we have all been on, looking at how we would like to "Change" our community in year 2, and what "Action" we could take to impact this change, even if in a small way. The project saw 12 teachers in Dunkirk each pair with a teacher in Rastaala, and each term 2 pairs of teachers would visit the partner school. During these mobilities the teachers planned collaborative projects with their partner teacher to be started in their own class, continued in the partner school and finalised in their own class. These projects were based around Acts of Kindness, starting from Acts of Kindness to the self, and widening to acts of kindness towards others and to the environment and world around us. Each term 2 teachers travelled from each school. The travelling teachers were also tasked with keeping the profile of Acts of Kindness on the agenda with the whole school including staff through collaborative international projects, assemblies, displays, and staff meetings and briefings. In addition to the class projects and dissemination of these, the 2 schools collaborated on the International Dance for Kindness in year 0 and year 1 of the project. They also collaborated, along with Lahore Lyceum in Pakistan (not formally included in the project) on what has been an ongoing project between the three schools - The Finglistan News. This is a joint newspaper project that the 3 schools have collaborated on over a number of years prior to the start of this project and during this project. This is one way that the schools ensure that the international partnership is maintained. Additionally, 3 teachers travelled to the Lahore Lyceum to trial some of the acts of kindness activities in Pakistan to ensure that they had true global relevance. During the mobilities staff were asked to also consider any elements of practice which promoted the inclusion of all children, particularly those who had arrived speaking a different language. The final outcomes of the project have differed slightly from the intended outcomes. The final outcomes are a scheme of activities which support the teaching of kindness to all children. Additionally, Dunkirk primary School have re-written their wider curriculum to have termly projects based around taking "action" locally or globally based on what has been learnt in history and geography. This change in curriculum is as a direct result of the Erasmus funded project and now sees "kindness" and positive impact as central to the curriculum for all 400+ children in the school. This is empowering the children to see themselves as global citizens who can impact the world around them. Dunkirk has also created two roles for the specific teaching of English to those who arrive not being able to speak English, based on what has been observed in Rastaala school. This is positively impacting all new arrivers. Both schools have been working on developing the positive values that we believe are important for global citizens. Dunkirk has formalised this into their PRIDE objectives (problem solving, responsibility, independence, determination, and empathy). The work carried out as part of this project between the paired classes in Rastaala and Dunkirk has fed directly into the development of the whole school value of empathy. Prior to the start of the project (year zero), Dunkirk and Rastaala each produced an acts of kindness video. During the project a third film was produced which mirrors the original two. All 3 videos are now regularly used in all 3 schools for the teaching of kindness and the modelling that the small actions we take can have a big change in the world around us. Additionally, the wider school staff had training on the physiological and psychological importance of kindness to the person being kind as well as the receiver of kindness. The school staff also received well-being training to support their own wellbeing and the children they work with.