Cranford Review / March_2018

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Minnesota Trip We were lucky enough to hear from some of the young people who learn at LEAP, who had been asked to think about what qualities a teacher needs to have in order to support them effectively. They told us their teachers had the ability to make them feel loved and free from nervousness and that they felt safe, secure and happy within the school. After our meeting with the students, the Berkeley and <strong>Cranford</strong> colleagues were allocated to different classrooms for a 30-minute observation to gain a real hands-on perspective of what the school was doing, and on the possible differences and similarities between US and UK education. The teachers from London were struck with the passion and dedication shown by the teachers they observed, and were unsurprised to learn that LEAP teachers are held to a very high professional standard, with frequent observations and a strong emphasis on professional development. “I saw passion and dedication from an obviously intelligent and well-informed teacher who used his knowledge and experience to create a classroom environment based around curiosity and discovery. I saw great mutual respect between teacher and learners, and a real culture of learning and enquiry”. Andy Watts “What I liked about the teacher’s approach was that there was constant encouragement”. Anna Perszewska 16 “There was a sense that the teacher has worked hard to create a space where the students can express themselves and be who they really are. Her high expectations of the students and their capabilities were evident throughout”. Lydia Gamlen “The teacher hadn’t grouped the students by ability, rather by home language spoken-this automatically created mixed ability groups and allowed the young people to support each other in their learning”. Seema Ghauri “What struck me most were the relationships in the classroom. One of the students asked me if I was coming back tomorrow-I said I couldn’t, but I really wanted to”. Lisa Mercer “Most of the students had been in Minnesota for less than a year. The classroom really represented the children and their home culture, as well as celebrating their learning”. Fay Pollitt “The teacher encouraged the children to support each other in their own language”. Madhuri Tank “I saw the use of key vocabulary as a component in the children’s learning”. Jon Ryan “It was a very positive atmosphere in the classroom. The children could have gone off task whilst the teacher and I talked but they remained focused”. Gerry Lee “I had a very interesting conversation with the students, which really shows how outward-looking they are, rather than letting language barriers make them more introverted”. Aaron Singh “There were very high expectations of the students - the teacher used positive reinforcement to support the students in using some high level vocabulary”. Uxio Seijas “The students were able to use their gym lesson to have fun whilst learning new skills”. Basheak Busscue “The most impressive thing I noticed was the high rate of staff retention - teachers don’t want to leave LEAP high school”. Peter Stumpf
The Journey: Refugee Resettlement in Minnesota One morning we heard from Melody Ward, an Independent Refugee Advocate who works and lives in Minnesota. Melody has worked in refugee resettlement since 2001 and describes it as her passion, which grew from a chance meeting with four Sudanese “Lost Boys” in Chicago. She was struck by their joy, hope and drive for a good life. There are 22.5 million refugees worldwide, with 189,300 resettled in 2016. 85,000 were resettled in the USA. Before exploring the successes and challenges of refugee resettlement, it is helpful to have a working definition of “refugee”. The legal definition of refugee is someone with a wellfounded fear of persecution for reasons of race, religion, nationality, political opinion, sexual orientation or membership in a particular social group (UNCHR). Melody builds on this definition with her belief that refugees are resilient, in possession of incredible strength and great survival skills and above all, people with everything that you and I have, except the privilege of opportunity. When they leave their homes, they leave behind belongings, families, careers, communities and feelings of security. Camp life can be bleak; there is competition for basic necessities such as food, housing and safety. Therefore, access to education and health care is limited. The camp services are contracted to respond to basic human needs like water, so the education a child or young adult receives in a refugee camp varies. The largest ethnic groups for resettlement in Minnesota are Somali and Karen, with 1405 and 658 people respectively. Challenges for those resettled in Minnesota which affect education include but are not limited to: disparities between camp life and urban life, mental and physical health, isolation, the shock of bitterly cold winters, self-advocacy, language, racism and discrimination and a change in family roles, triggered by a parents’ loss of job or profession since arriving in the States. That said, Minnesota is among the top states in America for refugee resettlement due to a strong partnership between faith communities and public entities, good public benefits, the presence of colleges and programmes which target refugee adult learners and the existence of a stable and welcoming job market. In addition to this, there is the phenomenon of “Minnesota nice” - it is a friendly state with a neighbourly feel. There are lots of clothing banks and organisations that run clothing or furniture “drives” to gather resources for those who need them. There was an overwhelming sense that Minnesota sees positive texture in the way that immigrants can add to our society. They encourage new arrivals to reflect upon the assets they bring, and there is a sense that new cultures challenge existing ones to become even better. We all have a responsibility to show humanity and kindness to those who have suffered unimaginable things and have had to tell and relive their stories countless times in order to begin a new life, somewhere safe. By working with and supporting refugees, we can play a part in restoring dignity and humanity. Many of our group left this workshop feeling driven to seek out opportunities at home to support and gain an insight into refugee resettlement in the United Kingdom. It was an enormously inspiring group which left teachers from Berkeley and <strong>Cranford</strong> with a keen desire to continue our learning once back in the U.K. Particular strands we felt eager to follow up upon were community engagement, inspiring displays, careers and aspirations and the celebration of ethnic culture, history and community. Peter Stumpf (Associate Headteacher), Lydia Gamlen and Andy Watts (Berkeley Academy Delegates) 17
Page 1 and 2: March 2018 Cranford Parliament Sinc
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Page 11 and 12: Athletics Success This year was one
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Cranford Review / March_2018

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