GLP-W Network Case Study - Ysgol Gynradd Gymraeg Tirdeunaw

Title: The World as One

YsgolGynradd GymraegTirdeunaw’sGLP-W network consists of the local Welsh-medium secondary school and eight primary schools from a mixture of urban and rural settings in Carmarthenshire and Swansea.

What did they want to achieve?

The network aims are:

  • to improve the delivery of the Education for Sustainable Development and Global Citizenship (ESDGC) themes; in particular they focused on the themes of Wealth and Poverty, Choices and Decisions and Identity and Culture
  • to share best practice and receive training to improve the delivery of global learning

How did they set about it?

GLP-W network meetingswere a perfect opportunity for the lead and network schools to share strategies they had used successfully to deliver global learning. The group discussed and then trialled these new ideas in their own schools, feeding back to the network on what worked and what didn’t. Meetings were also used for curriculum planning and to share and create resources which were then uploaded onto the network’s blog and Hwb.

As a network theyalso identified key areas for professional development and invited GLP-W Approved Providers to deliver training on aspects of global learning. Examples of the network’s CPD workshops include:

  • ‘Philosophy for Children (P4C) using global learning’ by the Council for Education in World Citizenship Cymru, to help pupils develop critical thinking skills through open-ended inquiry
  • Developing international links; training on e-twinning from the lead school coordinator,plus information about Erasmus + from the GLP-W Programme Lead. The lead school coordinator offered ongoing support and guidance to set-up partnerships, which in turn resulted in a successful Erasmus + application.
  • Rights Respecting Schools training by the UNICEF Professional Advisor for Wales, and a peer-led session from a teacher at Ysgol Bryntawe, a Welsh-language comprehensive networkschool. The training involved sharing the school’s best practice on developing and delivering a Rights, Respecting Charter, sharingchildren’s rights resources and focusing on how each network school could successfully develop and lead their own charter.

How well did they achieve their aims?

Through sharing their expertise with colleagues in other schools, network teachers gained the knowledgeand resources to integrate global learning into their teaching.Together they developed comprehensive global learning curriculum plans and raised the profile of global issues through whole school initiatives. For example, following GLP-W training,networkschools have now embedded P4C into their pupils’ learning using the resources they created.

‘As a result of introducing P4C, pupils are more confident in expressing their own opinion and in taking issue with others in a sensible way. They think outside the box now too and give opinions on issues we wouldn’t necessarily have expected them to want to discuss - for example Year 4 wanted to discuss Brexit. I don’t think this would have happened if we hadn’t been in the GLP-W network and shared that training.’ Network school coordinator

What was the impact of this work?

The impact of the network has been very positive. Each school developed a better understanding of what it means to develop their pupils as thoughtful, open-mined global citizens. Initially none of the network schools had international links, nor fully understood the true purpose and benefit of such links for pupils. As a result they had little contact with schools in other countries. Following the international linking training each network school is now more confident with the options available and also understands how to successfully create links through e-twinning. For example, Ysgol Llangennech worked with PONT, a South Wales charity, to initiate a meaningful link with a school in Uganda.

‘Working with colleagues from other countries provides new and rich experiences for staff and pupils alike and is a priceless tool empowering a lifetime of memories.’

Network school teacher

After being put in touch with prospective partner schools through e-twinning, a network teacher from Ysgol Gynradd Gymraeg Parc y Tywyn shadowed the lead school coordinator to co-write a successful Erasmus + application. The two schools have subsequently begun an EU-funded international partnership project ‘Inspire me! Motivate me!’with schools in Ireland, Denmark and Poland. The aim of the ‘InMo’ project is to use ICT to develop pupils into global citizens who are open-minded, critical thinkers. One of the first steps in Ysgol Tirdeunaw has been to elect global councillors from Years 2 to 6 who will play an active role helping to plan and organise the project, ensuring the pupils get the most out of it over the next three years.One of the main objectives is to share expertise and as a result of the P4C training they received and their subsequent experience of embedding this approach in the classroom, the two Welsh schools will be leading on this area of CPD at an international level.

‘Without the Global Learning Programme Wales, we would never have had the time to meet and plan and create resources to better prepare us in the delivery of global learning. The meetings provided us with time to plan, create, try out and evaluate ideas to improve our pupils’ learning. It also gave us contact with other networks to share best practice and ideas.’ Lead School coordinator

How does this link to the Global Learning Programme Wales?

The work links to the themes of interdependence and globalisation, and helped the group and their pupils to explore how places are interconnected.

What we plan to do next?

The network gained so much from sharing practice with each other that they plan to carry on meeting in the future to continue their global journey.

‘There was so much ground to cover that we feel we only managed to scratch the surface of global learning.’ Network school teacher