The global dimension in action - Development Education Project

Linking LIVE,
linking lives
What did the school want to
achieve?
Chopwell Primary School wanted to
embed global learning into school life
in order to increase awareness and
tolerance of other cultures. As
Headteacher Bernadette Fellowes-
Prynne explains, the children’s socioeconomic
circumstances limit their
opportunities for travel outside the
village: ‘They had little or no exposure
to other cultures and rarely had their
ideas or assumptions questioned.’
Further motivation for change
included poor standards of
achievement at Chopwell and the
need to improve the quality of
teaching and learning. ‘We hoped
that a link to a school in a far away
place would lift our community and
inspire learning,’ says Bernadette. ‘In
the past, we’ve been criticised for
poor results, and we wanted
something to enable pupils to
communicate using a variety of
writing genres, gain understanding of
the similarities and differences
between different cultures and
challenge stereotypes by
communicating and sharing ideas
with children in another country.’
How did the school organise
learning to meet its aims?
In 2006, Chopwell contacted the British
Council, which suggested they work
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with the educational charity Japan 21
to create a link with a Japanese school.
Japan 21 made the initial introduction
between Chopwell and Amaji
Elementary School and then provided
ongoing support and advice. Both
schools opted to use the structured
learning network Japan UK LIVE! as an
online tool for communication.
Protected access to this website
allowed teachers to organise learning
around a series of structured themes,
including the environment, homes and
houses, and food and health.
Live meetings were arranged for
children to communicate via
talkboards, and they uploaded
photographs, films and letters.
The only equipment the school
needed was a web camera and
microphone. Children at the two
schools chose pen friends, and
swapped bookmarks, photos, letters
and presents.
Staff at both schools worked
together to improve learners’ literacy
skills by providing opportunities for
children to write in a range of styles –
letters to pen friends, recipes and
traditional tales. ‘We wrote a story
first and sent it to Amaji,’ says Kirsty
Griffiths, a child in year 6, ‘and they
did manga drawings. They are like
cartoons that show their feelings.
Then, they sent us “Peach Boy”
[a story] and we did the mangas. It
helps us to get more expression in
our writing!’
The link with Amaji is now integral to
life at Chopwell. Teachers from both
schools have visited each other, and
the children are playing an increasingly
active role in its development. The
environmental theme, for example,
enabled children to move quickly from
sharing ideas about issues such as
climate change to thinking about ways
of reducing their own schools’ carbon
footprints. Sharing ideas and pictures
of themselves taking action via the
website got instant results:
‘Hello my name is Kirsty. In our
school we save energy by turning
off all the lights when we go out of
a room. All the switches have
stickers with a little light bulb
cartoon saying “turn me OFF!”
This is a photo of me saving energy
and money! We also have energy
monitors who go around the school
at play time and lunchtime turning
off any unnecessary lights. SAVE
ENERGY! Turn out the light!’
How well is the school achieving
its aims?
The Japan UK LIVE! website has
motivated children to communicate
and there have been marked
improvements in the standard of
independent writing. The school’s