Welsh Visit Report.
It has been an excellent experience hosting the Erasmus week in Wales. Throughout the week, we have discussed many aspects of the KA1 Thinking Outside of The Box project. This report will outline the week’s main activities and outline any changes to practice that will be made due to the week spent in Wales.
On the first day there was a whole school tour. The participants were shown around our school building, our outdoor environment and also learnt about the daily structure of education in Wales. As around 95% of children that attend Ysgol Gymraeg Caerffili come from non Welsh-speaking backgrounds, a discussion regarding how the children develop the Welsh language skills developed. A lesson observation outlined the need to ‘drilio’ the Welsh language, which consists of repeating and modeling the language expected for at least 10 minutes every day before every Literacy lesson. The technique used by the Welsh teacher to develop grammar skills will be of benefit to all teachers that teach language lessons in their schools.
During the first meeting, it was decided that the Welsh team would focus on developing the TASC (Thinking in an Active and Social Context) wheel by teaching Science and Mathematics. A senior teacher of the school presented the TASC wheel to all Erasmus+ participants. The teacher explained how to implement the TASC wheel, and gave ideas of how we use the TASC wheel in school. Following the meeting, all participating countries (Spain, Poland, Italy) decided that they would implement the TASC wheel within their school. Evidence of this will be uploaded to the Etwinning, Blog and Google site. This will have a positive effect on students in the countries, and will help with the teaching of Science and Mathematics by thinking outside of the box. During the week, there was a Mathematics lesson observation showing some ideas that are used in Ysgol Gymraeg Caerffili to challenge and develop the more able and talented Mathematicians within the class. The use of loop cards and mental maths activities were noted as something the Polish, Italian and Spanish will use in their school in order to use the good practice that was observed here in Wales.
Midway through the week the colleagues embarked on a Science learning walk. Each class from Nursery to Year 5 taught a Science lesson at the same time. After spending 10 minutes in every class, and speaking to the teachers and children, it was clear to see how scientific skills are developed between each year, with each class developing and building on skills that were developed in an earlier stage of their education.
In order to raise awareness of the Erasmus+ project within our Welsh School (Ysgol Gymraeg Caerffili), all parents were invited to a meet and greet with the teachers. Parents arrived and discussed how European education varies between countries. Having Polish and Hungarian parents within our school made for some interesting discussions. It was a pleasure to see the Polish teachers speaking in their native language in Wales to the Polish parents. Our school choir sang traditional Welsh songs, and performed our National Anthem.
In the Erasmus+ meeting, colleagues discussed what is needed to do before the next meeting in Spain. The agreed criteria of work will be uploaded to E-Twinning, The Blog and the Google Site. Dates were decided for the final meeting in Rome (5th – 9th June). Dates were also decided for the Polish visit to Wales with 4 children. This proposed trip will take place in the final week of May 2016.
All participants took time to understand and appreciate the Welsh culture during the visit in Wales. They visited St Ffagans, the National History Museum of Wales. A tour guide explained how Wales has developed over the years, and how the Welsh language is growing and becoming ever more important and popular in our modern society. All teachers from Poland, Spain and Italy also visited Cardiff, the Capital City of Wales in order to experience and explore our cultural history, including Cardiff Castle and Cardiff Bay. Another castle that they visited was Caerphilly Castle, where a Welsh Historian gave a guided tour of the castle. Something we’re sure that everyone will remember and discuss within their own countries. Information books were bought, with the possibility of teaching History lessons on the castle, comparing a traditional Welsh castle to some of the castles found in Poland, Spain and Italy.
Communication and observation were the best way to share best practice, and all experiences gained in Wales will have a positive effect on every teacher that attended.
Dafydd Leigh – Welsh Erasmus Co-ordinator.