Special Measures and Our World

Special Measures and Our World aimed to explore how the introduction of a greater global dimension into the curriculum of a large secondary school could enhance teaching and learning.

The Hewett School in Norwich was the largest secondary school in Norfolk. In December 2004 it was placed in . As a result of past contacts, we were approached by some Hewett teachers to explore how we could help them to develop teaching and learning at the school and see how this might help the school get out of Special Measures.

Although the school subsequently came out of Special Measures, NEAD staff continued to work closely with Hewett teachers to devise and trial lesson plans and schemes of work initially for Citizenship but thereafter in other curriculum areas.

This project was funded by Oxfam and the East of England Development Education Network (EEDEN).

 

Just Business

Just Business was aimed specifically at teachers and students (aged 14-19) of Economics and Business Studies in UK schools. It supported and encourage the integration of global and ethical dimensions in the teaching and learning of those subjects. 

Just Business ceased as a funded project in March 2004, but the website continued until 2009, thanks to the support of Stephen Fairbrass, PGCE Citizenship Coordinator at Bradford College. 

Training and workshops using the resources developed by Just Business is still available from Mr Finbarr Carter (freelance), who can be contacted on: 07891 782971 or at: finbarr.carter@bizfizz.org.uk

Much of the most used and loved resources from the old Just Business website have now been updated in-line with current upper secondary Citizenship and geography curriculum needs and are still available from this site's Resources section.

Just Business was funded by The Esmee Fairbairn Foundation and The Department for International Development (DFID).

 

All Different All Equal

All Different All Equal was a one-year pilot project. It aimed to explore how on-line teaching can contribute to race awareness and cultural diversity education for trainee teachers on the primary PGCE course at the University of East Anglia (UEA).

Through both face-to-face and on-line, time-limited sessions, All Different All Equal enabled a group of trainee teachers to take on Action Research tasks while they were on their block teaching placements in local primary schools. They were supported by two experienced facilitators and their trainee teacher colleagues.

We hope that the learning outcomes from this pilot project will enable the project to be replicated both at UEA and other educational institutions. Resources produced are still popular and can be borrowed from our Resources Libraries. 

This project was funded by Oxfam

 

Developing Citizenship

Developing Citizenship

Developing Citizenship was a three year project from June 2002 -June 2005. It aimed to develop new ways in which secondary schools can develop and embed global awareness into their classroom activities, school ethos and policy, and through pupils’ involvement in active citizenship.

NEAD was one of three DECs in England chosen by Oxfam, Save the Children and UNICEF (the project originators and partners) to work on the project. NEAD, Manchester DEP and Cheshire DEC worked intensively with 16 pilot schools — of which four were in Norfolk and four in Suffolk — to support them in their development of new global citizenship ideas and initiatives.

This project was funded by Oxfam, Save the Children and UNICEF.

 

Rights Respecting School Awards

The Rights Respecting School Awards is a pilot project set up by UNICEF UK to see how the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child can enhance teaching, learning, ethos, attitudes and behaviour in schools. It seeks whole-school change in areas of the curriculum, policy and via the promotion of active citizenship amongst all in the school community (not only students and teachers).

NEAD worked with Kirkley High School, , to see how these ideas can be practically introduced.

There is more information on the Rights Respecting School Awards at the UNICEF website.

This project was funded by UNICEF

 

Children’s Our World Festival

Fun, educational & celebratory multicultural events

NEAD can sometimes still organise events like this, tailored to your needs. Please do contact us to discuss details or submit and initial idea using our Activities Enquiry/ Booking Form.

Performers at a Children's Our World Festival

Children’s Our World Festivals are fun, celebratory and educational. Every summer thousands of Norfolk schoolchildren have the opportunity to learn about and celebrate our increasingly global and multicultural society. Through interactive performances, workshops, displays, stalls and educational activities pupils, their teachers and parents can meet and learn first-hand from people from a wide mix of geographical and ethnic backgrounds. This is particularly important in a predominantly white shire county like Norfolk.

Traditionally, a Festival started at about 11.30 in the morning when schools arrive and picnic on the field. At 12.00 noon the Festival was opened and thereafter the children, teachers and parents were free to watch performances or roam and take part in drumming workshops, storytelling sessions, art activities, and more. The Festival ended at approximately 2.30 in the afternoon.

For more details about the old-style festivals please visit the Norfolk Our World Festivals website.

 

Global Schools UK

Global Schools UK was a national project managed by Leeds Development Education Centre.

NEAD was invited to contribute to the regional focus of this project as a result of our experience with the . This project involved NEAD staff in recruiting and supporting teachers in six secondary schools in our region, schools who wish to provide their students with a greater and deeper knowledge and understanding of the world they live in and the skills they need to fully and actively engage with it. The project ran from Autumn 2006 to March 2008. The six schools were supported to introduce and develop their ideas between October 2006 and December 2007. The last three months of the project were dedicated to disseminating the results of the project to other schools and educationalists locally, regionally and nationally.

Joined-up learning

All too often secondary students do not have a joined-up education. On a typical day they may move from Science to Maths to Geography to Design Technology to French, with no linkage between the different lessons or subject areas. This project aimed to make students’ understanding of international development issues more coherent. It worked with and supported teachers in at least six curriculum areas in each school to revise and devise coherent and mutually supportive schemes of work and lesson plans; so that, for example, cultural diversity issues dealt with in French are built upon in conflict resolution lessons run by History teachers, and enhanced by looking at values and perceptions in English, and so on. To enable this not only did NEAD provide help and support, but each of the participating schools were awarded a grant of £1000 for new resources, INSET provision, bringing in external support, and so on.

The success of the project required the support and commitment of the Governors, Headteachers and Senior Management Teams as well as that of Heads of Department and subject teachers in each of the participating schools.

Our initial letter to schools — inviting their participation in this project — elicited 12 positive responses. We then selected the lucky six.

Project updates

The overall results of this project were due to be posted on the project website hosted by Leeds DEC.

Global Schools UK was funded by DFID

Students 4 Global Action

The key objective of the Students 4 Global Action project was to enthuse and empower large numbers of year 8 and 9 pupils in Norfolk and Suffolk secondary education to make their schools and communities more globally aware and active.

In order to achieve this we organised two Students 4 Global Action conferences a year — one in Suffolk and one in Norfolk. These were designed to:

  • raise awareness and increase understanding of a range of local/global issues;
  • motivate and empower the students to take action on their return to school.

In order to support the student groups after the conferences, the project allocated time from NEAD staff and others to help them put their action plans into practice.

We are targeted Year 8 & 9 students because:

  • they will in all likelihood stay in their schools for a further 4 to 6 years and therefore be able to enact and develop their action plans during their school careers (secondary schools can take a long time to adopt changes);
  • they are neither new to their schools nor encumbered by the heavy GCSE workload of Years 10 & 11, nor Year 12 & 13.

We also limited student numbers to a maximum of 16 per school (a minibus size) so that as many schools could attend as possible.

The Conferences

During the three years of the project, six conferences were held: three in Suffolk at Debenham Leisure Centre and, in Norfolk, two at The Hewett School in Norwich and on at the park High School in King’s Lynn.

These attracted 289 students from Suffolk from 20 schools, and 338 students from Norfolk from 25 schools. Suffolk has 38 state secondary schools and Norfolk 52, so that a good percentage of secondary schools in both counties sent attendees.

To attract participants we sent out an initial letter and booking form (Doc file, 110 KB) to all Norfolk and Suffolk secondary schools. We also prepared a risk assessment sent with further details (Doc file, 183 KB) about arrangements on the day to all schools coming, as well as further details about arrangements on the day.

The format for the conferences was essentially the same with an initial plenary ice breaker/awareness raising activity (Doc file, 59 KB) followed by workshop sessions and Action Planning in school groups in the afternoon.

Workshop themes included:

  • Fair Trade
  • Make Poverty History
  • Racism/Cultural Diversity
  • Refugees and Asylum Seekers
  • Trade Justice
  • HIV/Aids in Africa
  • Children’s Rights
  • Education in Conflict Zones
  • Climate Change

The workshops were led by experienced educators from leading national, regional and local agencies:

and local contacts that NEAD has developed:

Following a multicultural lunch — prepared by outstanding caterers, Sugar and Spice — the students worked in their own school groups to brainstorm and then devise their own School Action Plans. The How, How, How Activity (Doc file, 59 KB) was used to provide a framework for the students’ Action Plans.

Each conference was evaluated at the end of the day by students, teachers and facilitators using a simple evaluation form (Doc file, 46 KB).

A Sample of Comments from the Evaluation Process

Comments from students

  • I learnt a lot of things I didn’t know before…
  • It opened my eyes to the world I live in…
  • There are lots of ways to save our planet…
  • The people today explained the situation effectively and gave us an idea of what is actually happening in the world we are being brought up in…
  • The most educational part of the day was the Refugees and Asylum Seekers workshop, it has changed my views completely…
  • Great workshop there was an actual refugee talking…
  • It was surprising just how wrong the media can be…
  • Learning about HIV/Aids because I learnt something I didn’t have a clue about from someone who had been there and seen it…
  • Thanks this day was very educational and fun…
  • As a result of today I will try to help more and persuade my school and others to do so as well…
  • Today I enjoyed listening to other schools ideas…
  • This is a really helpful thing to go to and lets you know what is actually happening in the world…
  • I now know how lucky I am and what I can do to help others…
  • Today I learnt how much difference I can make…
  • Thank you for inviting me, it gave me the motivation I needed to help…
  • As a result of today I will try my hardest to change my school into a better place…

Comments from teachers

  • I was surprised to learn that even after 3 workshops students could come up with such excellent action plan ideas and be very inspired…
  • As a result of today I will continue to encourage pupils to take an interest in and awareness of our place in the global community and focus more on our similarities rather than differences…
  • The students were inspired by the speakers/workshops and were so constructive and free flowing in their ideas…
  • Today I was surprised to learn that I knew very little!! The depth of my ignorance!…
  • It was a real inspiration to bring so many willing people and charities together…
  • Our pupils were thoroughly enthused and engaged, I was surprised that the pupils were so passionate about these subjects…
  • It was a very informative, interactive and motivational events for our students…

Post-Conference Support and Actions

Following the conferences NEAD as well as some of the facilitators and Children’s Services advisers offered and provided support to the student action groups in organising:

  • assemblies for year groups (in their own school and/or feeder primary schools) on Fair Trade, Global Justice, Refugees and Asylum Seekers, Climate Change, Racism and Cultural Diversity;
  • campaigns and other awareness raising activities within their schools (posters, displays, murals, school newsletter articles, school website pages, etc) on Fair Trade, Ethical Investment, International Debt, Cultural Diversity, Sustainable Development and Recycling;
  • fairtrade stalls and tuckshops, greater prominence for Fair Trade products in school canteens and local supermarkets, researching fair trade school uniforms, etc;
  • an international student group, global action groups and in one case organising a whole year 9 conference on local global issues;
  • Sustainable Development activities. Switch-off and ‘darkness’ days in schools, more recycling and in two cases trying to raise enough funds to establish a £30,000 wind turbine for their schools and local community.

Thus this project has clearly stimulated large numbers of Year 8 & 9 students to take action.

Future Plans

With no future funding secured we cannot afford to subsidise the schools conferences or post-conference support. However we do offer schools in-school conferences for year groups (and evening parent/community events). For more information about this contact us.

Documents for download

Students 4 Global Action was funded by the Department For International Development (DFID), with support from Oxfam, and , and a range of other local and national organisations.

 

Global Messengers

Global Messengers home page

The Global Messengers project (May 2006 to March 2009) aimed to provide practical support to key education professionals with an interest in local/global issues who visit schools as part of their work. The key target groups for Global Messengers (GMs) were:

  • Advanced Skills Teachers (ASTs): experienced teachers who spend one day a week supporting other teachers to develop their skills and experience through the sharing of best practice ideas and methodologies;
  • Local Education Authority (LEA) Advisers: generally former teachers or headteachers who provide advice and support to schools;
  • Initial Teacher Education (ITE) tutors: experienced educators (many former teachers) who support trainee teachers at their institutions and in their school placements;
  • Local and regional NGO staff: people who work in and with schools as part of their work.

Here's a job description of a Global Messenger (DOC file, 51 KB).

As a result of this support the recruited Global Messengers helped hundreds of teachers and schools in the Eastern Region to equip their students to actively participate in our increasingly globalised world and culturally diverse society. This increased provision across East Anglia was far far more than could have been achieved by NEAD alone.

By the end of the project over 150 Global Messengers had been recruited and supported. The key project tool was the Global Messengers Pen Drive.

Front of a NEAD Global Messengers Pen Drive, with logo

Many of the the recruited Global Messengers had suggested to NEAD project staff that they did not have the time to read all of the current teaching resources nor, research new sources on the Internet. Project staff, therefore, researched and identified a number of key websites; others were suggested by existing Global Messengers. As a result of this a ‘mini website’ of the most useful weblinks was created and loaded on to a Pen Drive.

For ease of use, the collected websites were listed under a number of key headings headings: Images and perceptions, Global Issues, Cultural Diversity, Human Rights, Sustainability, Student Resources, Global Citizenship, and finally a list of the best sites to obtain Teachers’ Resources.

Back of a NEAD Global Messengers Pen Drive, with web address

This simple tool enabled Global Messengers to easily provide up-to-date information about resources, initiatives, campaigns, etc to teachers they met in the course of their work.

The GM Pen Drive was launched at the Norfolk Professional Development Centre on October 18th.

The Pen Drive is a fabulous idea… this use of technology is fantastic, it shows new ways to communicate, to teach and how to find new ways so that we can engage with local/global issues

Fred Corbett (Deputy Director of Early Years, Schools, Communities for )

 

Since then, the pen drives have been distributed to over 150 Global Messengers from the target groups (above) and a further 100 guest Global Messengers. The response to the pen drive from Global Messengers was overwhelmingly positive. It was seen as a simple, innovative and important tool which enabled them to highlight and easily access information and resources for the promotion of the global dimension in schools, classrooms and so on.

Other means of support for the ever-busy Global Messengers came from a regular , and information exchanged between Global Messengers and NEAD staff.

The Future

After April 1st 2009 we aim to:

  • continue to support and stay in contact with the Global Messengers (time and resources permitting). If you have any ideas as to how we might continue this project… please do contact us;
  • research and develop new versions of the Global Messengers Pen Drive. These are available to NEAD members, the latest version can be downloaded in our Resources section. If you have any ideas of new links then please do contact us.

Join NEAD and download the Pen Drive’s contents, or be sent a Pen Drive.

Some ASTs and LEA advisers have been developing lesson plans for events like Black History Month (October each year), Fair Trade Fortnight (March) and Refugee Week (June). These and other NEAD projects can be found on the Projects page.

Global Messengers was funded by the Department For International Development’s Development Awareness Fund with support from , Suffolk Children’s and Young People’s Services, Norwich City Council and Oxfam.