Professor Graham Donaldson was tasked with conducting an independent review of the curriculum and assessment arrangements in schools in Wales. The report titled "Successful Futures" by the Welsh Government asserts that the Curriculum should be based on 4 Key Purposes to develop children and young people . They are ambitious, capable learners, ready to learn throughout their lives • Enterprising, creative contributors, ready to play a full part in life and work • Ethical, informed citizens of Wales and the world • Healthy, confident individuals, ready to lead fulfilling lives as valued members of society. As dedicated teachers and practical Europeans they are aims we can all aspire to within this application. This project has at its core the creation of ambitious learners, enterprising learners and learners who will see through cooperation and communication with partners that they are true citizens of the world. The ability to speak and to communicate in another language makes them an asset in the work place and with the realities of Brexit the ability to speak another language will be huge. Language-learning should be integrated with education for global citizenship, and should form an essential part of pupils’ developing cultural awareness and concern for others. English as a second language will always be a priority as approximately 330 to 360 million people speak English as their first language. For us second language learning gives our pupils greater opportunities in the work place and it is aspirational . For all our pupils it will allow them to have greater choices and greater opportunities. Within his report Professor Donaldson also speaks of different styles of teaching encouraging change in our current teaching styles and methodologies. Taking the best ideas from all our partner countries will benefit the pupils in all schools . He also strongly supports collaboration far too often schools have an idea but will "sit on it" believing that it is important only to benefit the pupils they teach. Good ideas are there to be shared. For those of us who have experience of European projects we know and understand the significance of sharing good practice. Visiting schools through out Europe and over a number of years it is apparent that the standard of English taught as a second language is mixed. Why is this the case? Do the ages at which pupils begin to learn have a bearing? Are the styles of teaching relevant? What is the impact of ICT? Should teaching a second language have a bases in practicality. We all need to create opportunities to practice and adapt appropriate strategies and resources which we see in other schools in other countries. Learning from others will ensure we are on the pathway to rapidly securing consistently good practice across all our schools. We will develop teachers who are more energised, motivated confident practitioners who can be more effective in engaging and achieving positive outcomes for all pupils All are relevant questions - We all want the best for the pupils in our care if we can modify/ change our teaching methods to support this aim it is surely positive. The number of pupils directly would be over 1000 and indirectly with open access of the scheme 1000s and staff involvement would be 50+. In all our schools the international ethos runs deep and learning a second language can be seen as a leveler where every child can be included and every child can achieve. This project is intended for practitioners who wish to make positive changes to teaching and learning practice which is based on sound understanding of ‘what works’. The project findings will be accessible to all via a SOW which will be accessed on the world wide web. , project blog, school web sites. In the first year we would anticipate that we would gather information through staff and pupil surveys. Time would be taken to assess the information. We would also use our mobilities to observe the teaching and resources for teaching in all partner schools. Pupils would be involved immediately as we intend asking them about their experiences as learners and how they feel a second language should be taught. They will also be involved via communication developing their current language skills through collaborative etwinning mini projects linked to personal interests and culture. For this project the Welsh school will be introducing our pupils to German. In conclusion we all understand the benefits of second language learning from career opportunities to the cognitive benefits and indeed the ability to develop friendships across boarders . This project is innovative because we would like to see the how , the when and the why in all partner countries with the aim of producing a pupil friendly SOW together with well trained teachers and a bank of fun resources. I know it is our intention also to develop our own partnership resources which would be innovative and sustainable.
Our project was developed with six partner countries. Three countries had worked together before - Hungary, Germany and Wales . This group have a grounding in European projects/ Global projects over ten years, they had also worked with each other through out this time so communication was and is excellent. The partners from Iceland and Finland had also worked together on a previous project so knew one another too. France our final partner had never taken part in such projects before and the school, was their are of France to experience Erasmus. Most of the coordinators had traveled across Europe and found that English speaking and the teaching of the English Language was varied and had different results. - In some countries English was fluent at a young age while in other countries language teaching seemed to have poorer results. In Wales we clearly teach Welsh as a second language, but the results vary considerably. The teaching of a modern foreign language is more relevant today than it ever has been. It is vital in all countries that we develop pupils who will be valuable in the work place. For the Welsh school the teaching of a modern foreign language has not been part of our curriculum before. We do, however as stated previously teach Welsh as a second language. We started to teach German as a foreign modern language in 2018 before teaching such a language became statutory. This project would be used to support our teaching. For our colleagues in the rest of Europe they have found that teaching methods and pedagogies vary in different countries with various results. Early Years teaching in Finland has its roots in experiential teaching, and as part of this project we wanted to see how this style of teaching can impact on language teaching - sadly we did not see this at first hand due to Covid 19. This project has enabled all our pupils to access a second language from our youngest pupils on; language is a great leveler and on entry to second language teaching all pupils have an equal ability but potentially with different aptitudes. To start this project we first questioned pupils about how they felt about learning and what they saw as good practice. As teachers we then observed pupils carefully determining whether they were visual, auditory or kinesthetic learners. We wanted a route to second language teaching which would be inclusive and inspire all learners. We have built upon all our previous strategies to develop ideas from resources which are varied and include film , You Tube opportunities, games, puppets, mini projects and to teach using these resources have encouraged us all to teach in a potentially more experiential way. Pupils have also been encouraged to work along side older pupils to see how the ability in a second language can be of benefit not just in other curricular areas but it can be used to support later choices in adult life. Peer to peer learning has obvious benefit and we believe in this methodology. As part of our research we also undertook a survey to see how far pupils developed language skills outside the school . We wanted to see how far parents contributed with an aim to developing parent work shops , we also wanted to see how far films, popular culture, games supported language development - we then ensured that film, games, digital games were included in our language lessons where appropriate The project was and continues to be innovative as all schools have been and are prepared to share the how, the what, the when. Sharing good practice in a holistic manner to develop not only their own practice but to inform the style , methodology and planning of others. When we have visited schools - pupil books and activities have been shared freely and discussions about content have been open which can only support teaching and pupil development. The bank of resources we have all contributed to on eTwinning are available and used consistently to support second foreign language teaching in all partner schools. Songs developed by our Hungarian partner have also been used to develop vocabulary , pronunciation and cultural understanding. We have developed a language skills ladder and a language communication policy. Pupils in all partner countries have begun to use the resources, staff are using the language ladder to support their teaching and understanding of English in particular and German for the Welsh school. Pupils have communicated via SKYPE , eTwinning and at face to face meetings. In all our schools the European ethos runs deep and this project is not a bolt on. It is sustainable as second language teaching is in all of our curriculum's. We are passionate that best practice from across Europe is used to support the pupils in our care. Language is an important communication skill for all.