Local 4 Global

WEDG has been working with Music for Change in support of Smarden Primary School.
Read more >>

"We now include Children's Rights in the primary education programme for
students and it was after seeing the resources at WEDG and talking with
WEDG staff about ways of including a global dimension in the
programme." Sue Hammond, Senior Lecturer in Department of Education at
CCCU

WEDG has worked with Canterbury Christ Church University's ITE courses for many years.
Read more >>

KentTV has a five-minute proramme about WEDG's publication 'Longing and Belonging'. See it here >>

Starting Points

Starting Points is a package developed for schools to review and reflect on how they currently tackle the global dimension in the school and how this might be improved. Although the package is flexible, a suggested starting point is for four sessions as part of the school's Continuing Professional Development. The package can be customised to the individual school's needs.

Three schools, two secondary and one primary are keen to take part in Starting Points. Initial meetings have been held with members of the Senior Management Teams at the schools and it is agreed that more detailed programmes will be explored.

Castle Community College, Deal

This school has started to embed a global dimension into the college's ethos. In July 2007 the school held an International Week which was predominantly student-led and WEDG supported this primarily ‘fun' week. However, discussion about this week provided an in-road for suggesting more in-depth, sustainable, global dimension support. The Humanities Department has decided to take up the offer of support and further meetings will clarify the programme of work with WEDG.

An experienced secondary school teacher has been identified to act as a consultant for WEDG to assist with this area of work.

Marlowe Academy, Ramsgate

WEDG is part of the team supporting fair trade initiatives in Thanet schools and one of the most active schools is the Marlowe Academy which also hosts school meetings. This has provided an opportunity not only to meet face to face with teachers but also to build up relationships and have informal discussions on other areas of collaborative working.

Meetings have been held with members of the Senior Management Team to identify how and where Starting Points can most effectively be incorporated into the curriculum and to understand the innovative approach to learning at the Academy. There is a high pupil/adult ratio at the Academy for example, Maths and Science has a team of 28 adults, 10 of whom are teachers - the rest being technicians, teaching assistants and mentors. This is for a school with 2/3 form entry. Therefore there are a large number of non-teacher adults who nevertheless have daily contact with the students and with many of them on a 1:1 basis. Some of the adults are already signed up to an existing Professional Development session and it is anticipated that this can be extended to more of the non-teacher adults.

Maths, Science, Citizenship and Performing Arts will be the initial focus with Years 7, 8 and 9. Maths and Science are already scheduled by the Academy for redesigned Schemes of Work and during this process collaborative working between the Marlowe Academy and WEDG will identify how the global dimension can be incorporated. The Academy already has half an hour a day of Citizenship for Years 7, 8 and 9 around a weekly theme with an assembly each week. WEDG will work collaboratively with teachers to identify global weekly themes and teaching materials.

In addition, WEDG will feed the global dimension into the existing ‘Butterfly Club' a primary/secondary weekly transition club for the primary partner schools of the Marlowe Academy

Fitting in with existing programmes and priorities is seen as more realistically achievable than trying to add yet more.

An experienced, secondary school teacher has been identified to act as a consultant for WEDG to assist with this additional area of work.

All Souls CE Primary School, Folkestone

This school took part in another WEDG project that took members of the Diaspora community into schools to talk to children. As a result of very positive comments during a recent Ofsted inspection the school is keen to take part in the Starting Points programme. At a preliminary meeting it was decided to initially focus on incorporating the global dimension into Science which is the next curriculum priority area in the School Development Plan. There will be separate sessions for Key Stage 1, and upper and lower Key Stage 2. The school will be working towards Eco-School status which fits well with global issues and attitudes. It will also build on WEDG's partnership work with Kent Eco Schools which to date has been project based rather than school based.

A consultant has been identified to assist with this area of work.

Charlotte Tagart, WEDG (May 2007)

Thanet and Global Citizenship

This approach linked into established groups in Thanet and contributes to making Thanet a ‘Fairtrade Isle’. WEDG worked with Quartet , a KCC initiative of four Thanet schools, three primary and one secondary,to develop activities about fair trade for school children at the Thanet World Food Day event at Margate Winter Gardens.

Year 7 pupils from Hartsdown Secondary School were enlisted to help deliver activities about fair trade for Year 5/6 primary children. The secondary school pupils and three trainee teachers on placement at Hartsdown were briefed on the activities and tried out the activities for themselves.

On the day, the three trainee teachers and the Year 7 pupils delivered each session three times, resulting in a total of 9 primary classes learning about fair trade. It was a success for all concerned. The Year 7s enjoyed their responsibility and the secondary teachers were very pleased to have some experience of teaching primary children.

Everyone learnt about fair trade ‘I thoroughly enjoyed the day – great interaction with the students from the primary school and Hartsdown. The Year 7s who assisted us worked well, and were a credit to the school’ Citizenship PGCE student teacher

Charlotte Tagart, WEDG, May 2007

Read more about WEDG Games and citizenship >>
Read more about WEDG Early years >>

Dolls Defying Discrimination - a pilot project in East Kent.
Read about this project for foundation, reception and Y1/2 here.

Read this Fair Trade Project Report Oct 2006 >>

Two schools in East Kent are on the way to becoming Rights Respecting Schools. This is a UNICEF national initiative that in East Kent is being channelled through WEDG.

The award recognises schools, which have embraced the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. The award is at two levels, and is recognised by both the DfES and Ofsted. Schools gaining the award will be entitled to use a Rights Respecting School logo.

WEDG has two trained UNICEF workers and is providing advice and guidance for the Senior Management Teams as well as Continuing Professional Development for the staff. Paula Owen, Deputy Headteacher at Eastchurch Primary School said,
‘We are thrilled to be one of the first schools in the area to take this route and WEDG are providing very useful support, both on a 1:1 level and also with more general twilight sessions for both teachers and support staff.’ she added,
‘We look forward to the Rights agenda influencing all areas of school life, not just the curriculum.’

Schools can submit the application when they feel ready – usually at level 1 – but some schools may feel ready to go straight to level 2. For further information about this initiative contact WEDG.

Charlotte Tagart, WEDG, 2006