Day: April 18, 2008

These young people were at the International Opportunities conference today. They are from five local secondary schools and were there to explain their experience of an international project called INDIE – Inclusion and Diversity in Education.

‘Inclusion & Diversity in Education is a project that addresses the challenges migration presents to schools in Europe.’
‘The impact of migration on schools presents similar challenges to school education at all levels in all European Countries. We want to combat social disadvantage and raise educational standards for students with migration backgrounds. In order to succeed, we need to develop effective and culturally inclusive schools. To achieve this we need high quality school leadership.’
(from British Council site)

They explained how they had been chosen to take part in the project as they had shown leadership skills at school and been invited to take part in training in Sutton Park on teamwork and leading people. They were then selected to take part in a conference in Brussels in February with similar young leaders from across Europe to discuss a common charter for Inclusion and Diversity. As part of the conference, they presented in the European Parliament where they received a standing ovation.

The young people above shared their thoughts and experiences today of the project. One commented on the issues they discovered through the conference such as a young lady from Belgium being banned from wearing her headscarf who was working for a change in that area. Another talked about making an effort to understand people who didn’t speak English. And the lad in the middle commented that, whilst in Brussels, he spoke to people to whom he wouldn’t normally have paid any attention – he described one encounter ‘I’m not sure what he was,….some kind of Goth…. and I definitely wouldn’t have spoken to him in Birmingham.’

Although nervous, they spoke with honesty and simplicity – and they inspired us all. Let’s hope that there will be many more young leaders who look to lead the way for inclusion and diversity in this country.

Note – I’m trying to get hold of a copy of the Charter -I’ll post it here when I have it!

Today I took part in a conference in the Banqueting Suite of Birmingham’s Council House about the International Opportunities, presenting a case study as part of a presentation on Comenius and eTwinning along with Simon Graham from the British Council and Paul Higgs from Belvedere Junior School in Burton on Trent.

For those of you who attended the session, here’s my presentation – especially if you attended the first version when I had to fit it all into 3 minutes ;o)
I’ve also uploaded a couple of examples of work that the pupils did as part of the project. More can be found on our school websites – WCPS and CPCHD.

If you have any questions, you’re welcome to contact me.

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4KP Easter ppt (RE) – Get more documents

1HJ Easter PPT (music) – Get more documents

4CT Easter PPT (maths) – Get more documents

questions for cpchd – Get more documents

The ws of etwinning at wcps – Get more documents

example of pancake day work – Get more documents

I have to confess that I am a bit of a fan of the Eurovision Song Contest. Admittedly it has more to do with Terry Wogan’s hilarious commentary and the even more hilarious subtitling mistakes made by Ceefax than the music but I do enjoy some of the offerings from our European neighbours. Whilst the British entry gets more bizarre and desperate by the year (see Daz whatever-his-name-was in 2006 and Scooch last year!), I used to look forward to the Spanish entry.

This year, it has been brought to my attention by Ben Curtis that it’s not exactly the kind of song I’ve come to expect – Baila el ChikiChiki by Rodolfo Chikilicuatre may well be very catchy and will probably be the hit of the summer like Macarena by Los Rio, Asereje by Los Ketchup or Saturday Night by Whigfield but it has some decidedly dodgy words and I’m a bit concerned at the prospect of being asked to translate it come September when all the pupils return from their continental holidays! And is this really the best Spain has to offer?

Having said that, Ireland (with their proud tradition of Dana and Johnny Logan) are being represented by a turkey and you could say that the British entry is a turkey so perhaps it’s a sign that I should find something more interesting to do come 24th May – I’ll be in Spain so I’m sure the Chiringuito Ana y Antonio will be enjoying my custom :o)

Back to more important and relevant matters later!