The partner schools in the project ‘Changing Europe’ have agreed to work together in order to celebrate the diversity of European cultures and communities and to focus on how all European countries continue to evolve and develop through immigration. We will focus on how the make-up of Europe has been affected by such issues as war and conflict and will focus on the history of European immigration, including the movement of refugees between different countries. It will be important to focus on the role of immigratio, while evaluating the future of the post-Brexit European Union. The main priority of the project will be to exchange effective educational practice between different countries. The project will ensure a real and worthwhile focus on literacy skills such as oracy, reading and writing. The innovative use of ICT as a literacy tool will be a central feature of the project, as pupils from all schools are encouraged to develop research presentations and iBooks focusing on a range of European study areas. We aim to develop an exciting and contemporary project in which each partner country – Wales, Ireland, France, Spain, Greece and Poland – contributes valuable learning experiences that will develop effective citizenship in all our pupils. The project will have three distinct sections: Year One Research focus: European History - How Europe changed during the 20th Century with a particular emphasis on how conflict has changed national boundaries. Year Two Research Focus: Modern day conflict and immigration - How conflict results in the displacement of refugees. Year Three Research Focus: Environmental Change in Europe (including ocean pollution, global warming and endangered animal species).
The partner schools in the project ‘Changing Europe’ worked together to celebrate the diversity of European cultures and communities and to focus on how all European countries continue to evolve and develop through immigration. We focused on how the make-up of Europe has been affected by such issues as war and conflict. We also focused on the history of European immigration, including the movement of refugees between different countries during times of conflict. We provided our pupils and our local communities with a clear understanding of the causes and benefits of immigration in a post-Brexit European Union. The project focused on three areas: The first year of the project focused on European History and how Europe was affected by war during the 20th Century. There was a particular emphasis how how the schools' regions were affected by World War One and World War Two. Pupils were introduced to the concept of mass migration as Jewish refugees fled persecution in their own countries. The second year focused on modern day immigration. Pupils focused on immigration to their own regions: the reasons for it and the resulting benefits. There was also a focus on the Syrian Civil War and the resulting Syrian refugee crisis. During this second year staff were trained in the United Nations Rights of the Child Articles. The third year focused on Environmental Education. Each school focused on local environmental issues that were of importance to their pupils and local communities. The innovative use of ICT as a literacy tool was a central feature of the project, as pupils from all schools were encouraged to develop multimedia presentations focusing on the areas detailed. For example, pupils were involved in drama presentations portraying different UN Rights of the Child Articles. Pupils also produced Powerpoint presentations detailing how their regions were affected by World War Two.