SRL PROJECT MEETING
Venue: London – Southwark
16th March – 20th March, 2014
Meeting Report
This meeting was the first joint meeting of the second Regio project to be undertaken by Southwark and the Algarve. It was originally scheduled for 2013, then for Jan 2014, before being finally rescheduled for March. 10 Algarve educators, representing all of the Algarve partner organisations, travelled to London to take part.
Day 1
The visitors were met at their hotel in Paddington and escorted to south London where John Donne School provided the main meeting venue.
10.20am
Head teachers Nick Tildesley and Evelyn Holdsworth welcomed the group of 10 Algarve visitors and the Southwark participants to John Donne School Science room.
10.30am
All partners introduced themselves.
Chris S presented the project outline, objectives, approach and work/ developments to date. www.srl-regio.com presented. The amended project work plan was looked at:
Joint Meeting 1 (Teacher Training) 16th – 20th March 2014 UK
Joint Meeting 2 (Embedding and expanding to include pupils) week of June 9th – 15th 2014 PT
Joint Meeting 3 (Linking Radio to Dyslexia and language acquisition) Nov 12th – 15th 2014 UK
Joint Meeting 4 (& conf) (Celebrating our achievements & disseminating training May 13th – 18th 2015 PT
10.40 Charlie and Cat took over. (--Lyndhurst & John Donne Schools) Good group work undertaken. All present wrote down 3 favourite words and recorded them. Then in 3 groups discussed what they want and potential for the project in their own schools. Each group’s responses were written up on charts which were photographed.
11.10 coffee
11.20 Paulo and Jorge presented. (Schola Basica des Naus) They have set up Radio Naus after job shadowing in Southwark as part of the MCMC Regio project additional activities. Charlie from Lyndhurst primary had taught them ICT techniques they needed to make radio programs and to broadcast and they’ve built up the necessary equipment they needed over time. They’ve then moved on working with pupils. It’s evolved over a year. The first broadcasts were about Christmas. Another was about giving instructions. (Pupils explained how to cook.)
Then they showed a music video they’d made which had helped pupils esteem as well as creativity. Southwark teachers found how much had been achieved inspirational. They’ve really done a lot and run with what they were inspired to do during the Lyndhurst visit. They’ve podcasted a lot around the curriculum. Writing (using language) occurs without thinking during the production of the web casts. Difficulties they identified: diction, synthesis, accents. Communication Competencies were focused on …
Students conducted interviews. Paulo and Jorge also interviewed past pupils to ask what they’ve done since leaving school and made programs about this. All music used is by pupils –in many different languages. Lyndhurst decided not to use the remaining time to outline their radio work. Many present have visited their station (Grove FM) already….and their film about it can be viewed on the www.srl-regio.com web site.
The Naus achievements provided inspiration for further group discussions.
--Suggestions through the day for the return visits were made by the Algarve partners—e.g. stay in 2 locations? Eg Faro (new school from near there)/ Taffira and Lagos.
Lunch was served in the Art room. After eating, the group then left at 12.30pm to travel the BBC for a tour.
Day 2.
10.30am start after some late arrivals.
Training day. Introductions from Chris. Lunch arrangements and schedule change due to the PT partners early flight back resolved. They were told that we will go to Aculco at 11am and then on to Lyndhurst at 2pm to 3.30pm on Wed (Day 3) and not now on Day 4. Taxi’s to the airport will allow some work on Day 4 at John Donne School still to go ahead.
Charlie began teaching EDITING to all those present. Sufficient MACs and other equipment and been transported for us by Dog Kennel Hill School. Participants began working in pairs using the words they’d recorded the previous day and learning how to use GARAGEBAND to construct sound ‘poetry’ or other outcomes.
Johanna arrived at 11.20am.
11.30am The group started playing back their word ‘poems’ for the group.
Charlie taught them how to save it to Itunes and then put it on the desktop and change the name.
11.35 – 11.40 coffee
10.45 Cat set the post it note task. Each person each had to provide suggestions about the project work and their own broadcasting:
HOW CAN WE COLLABORATE EFFECTIVELY BETWEEN THE SCHOOLS AND COUNTRIES?
WHAT CONTENT WILL WE PRODUCE?
HOW CAN WE ENGAGE WITH OUT LOCAL COMMUNITIES?
WHAT ARE THE OPPORTUNITIES TO BROADCAST WITH ACULCO?
Cat gathered together each groups answers on post its and they were reported back to the wider group. Chris typed them up and they’re posted online in a separate report.
Lunch 12 – 1pm with the pupils
1pm Charlie began by playing some content from Lyndhurst radio programs.
1.10 Charlie outlined the creative project that all present will do as a group this afternoon.
She challenged everyone to have recorded something and edited it and be ready to play it for the group at 4pm.
1.15 Johanna left
Cat read out the results of the post it note task from before lunch.
The full group then broke into 5 groups – each working on a different theme to produce a little radio piece by the end of the session.
4pm. Play back of results for the wider group. Good results had been produced in a short time.
4.30pm Platform Working group from Southwark & Algarve met. Southwark side have mapped out a design for a platform that can be jointly used to share our work and be linked to each partners own radio or institution site and the projects web site. This was shared and discussed. Each side has funding allocated for an outside consultancy to be briefed to build it. However, an alternative will be investigated…i.e. Carlos leading the Algarve side to build it internally, without the consultancy money being used.
Day 3
We all met at 10 at Brixton Market.
Coffee
11am Gloria and Andres hosted us at Aculco. (Only Cat and Chris from the UK side were able to attend). Gloria made a presentation about the history of Aculco. Founded in 2003 in London…but 1993 in Spain (with the support of Police and local govt.)
½ million Latin Americans in London.
Now nearly a million in the EU
They work through….Radio TV Web
They can broadcast any language program we produce.
11.20 Andres Talked of youth work. They partner with UN Radio and have partners in New York and their Latin outreach work. This corresponds with INSET Centre Rui Gracio which in a Unesco partner and so they should work together on setting the pupil tasks for Meeting 2. Very big PT community locally. 4 years ago…tried to open a PT program strand but failed so should be a possibility to broadcast a regular short program from the Algarve. Also…involve music and PT language (Fatima/ Lyndhurst PT teachers?) in broadcasting. In Year 2, develop a weekly / monthly show 4 Alcolco “Exchange of Culture from an Education perspective’”
Everyone at Aculco must a technician (as in the SRL project) -Able to produce their own broadcasts and take every role.
11.40 Questioned about software used to broadcast at Aculco. –Zara Radio used. For production/ Adobe Audition Very user friendly –recording onwards
NCH used to broadcast (software called broadwave) PT teachers began speaking Spanish with Andres. (Perhaps both sides can make ES content?)
We asked him about PRS and using royalties for music. More research on this is needed.
Later…lunch at Aculco café…then bus to Lyndhurst School….there Avon and the head teacher showed us around the school and Grove FM after we sat in on Amber’s class and heard the radio show her pupils recorded as a class with Charlie.
3.30pm Free time.
Day 4. 10.10am start. Guest’s suitcases put in the John Donne school house (which they were offered as accommodation for future visit for 2 – 3 of the Algarve group.) Then we started back in the science room. Fewer Southwark teachers were present today…. Including no technicians to explain Audacity system, as they’ve worked all their hours for the week. Angela distributed Audacity instructions and we will see if tuition on Audacity as an alternative system for some of our schools can be taught (by Aculco??) at the next meeting. Cat broke them into groups to work together on a scrip and a recording task using GarageBand. Each group worked enthusiastically with a different script to make a radio play. Very good results were then presented by each group.
After lunch day 4…..group work on action planning for the future.
Each institution represented worked alone to action plan their next steps in their own organisation on their return. How will the cascade the training they’ve had about recording and editing to others they work with? The 2 regional reps worked together to consult the EU approved project plan from the application as to what the next meeting (in June in the Algarve) needs to incorporate to keep the project moving forward.
After 30 mins, each partner organisation fed back to the wider group and discussed their plans.
The suggested content of the next meeting in June was discussed.
Content which the program should include:
1/ -REVIEW OF APPLICATION FORM WORK PLAN
2/ -20 MIN POWERPOINT PRESENTATION FROM EACH PARTNER—‘WHAT WE HAVE DONE/ARE DOING IN OUR SCHOOL/ WHO HAS BEEN TRAINED/ WHAT THEY WILL DO’
3/ -PRESENTATION OF THE PLATFROM, BY CARLOS AND JOHN F, READY TO BE USED OR REFINED. TRAINING GIVEN TO SCHOOLS ON HOW TO USE THE PLATFORM.
4/ -AUDACITY RECORDING/ EDITING TRAINING (not all schools have Macs) -- BY ACULCO?
5/ -VISIT TO RDP & GILAO STATIONS?
6/ -PRESENTATIONS AND ACTIVITIES SET FOR SCHOOLS TO WORK ON WITH PUPILS…DR RUI GRACIO AND ACULCO TO DEVISE AND PRESENT THESE TOGETHER, OUTLINING: THEIR UNESCO AND UN THEMED WORK/ INCORPORATING SCHOOLS CURRICULUM WORK e.g. PEACE EDUCATION (World War 1) BBC FREEDOM 2014 IDEAS? http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-25683135? TEACHERS BEGIN PLANNING/ WORKING ON SMALL PUPIL BROADCASTS ON SUCH THEMES.
7/ -EVALUATION
Original updated dates pencilled in 9th – 15th June span. Discussed coming on the 7th or 8th…or staying longer…. But when discussed with the wider group, the Algarve teachers suggested the end of the week due to local activities…so flying on Tues 10th, working 11th, 12th & 13th and returning evening of 13th (or 14th or 15th) suggested would be best. Possibility of guests staying in Faro or Taffira as well as Lagos discussed, but might be difficult for some of the Algarve participants. Further consultation is needed from them, and the Southwark group will stay where they decide on.
Taxi’s to the airport then transported the visitors away at 2.15pm.
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