INTERNATIONAL THINKING

in association with

Linked through time

The international links at George Abbot School date back as

far as 1966 and have been developing ever since.

Dorothy Lepkowska

explains

I

NTERNATIONAL LINKS are nothing new at George Abbot School in Surrey. A French “assistant” working at the Guildford secondary set up a partnership with the Lycée Jean Moulin in Montmorillon, near Poitiers, back in 1966 to facilitate student and teacher exchanges.

Forty-four years on and there exists a huge

network of friendships spanning decades of present and former pupils, which has resulted in several weddings and regular reunions. Some are now “second generation” links with the children of the early participants now enjoying their own cross- channel friendships. “We believe that this is the earliest and longest-

running French-English school exchange partnership,” said Jane Hamer, George Abbot’s advanced skills teacher for art and international links. George Abbot is a high performing specialist school

in visual art and languages, with more than 2,000 pupils. “International links are incredibly important here as they give an added dimension to teaching,” Ms Hamer continued. “Everyone has to do at least one language – French

or German – and this forms a major focus of our teaching and learning. This is backed up by an annual languages week and other themed activities throughout the year.” In fact, the global dimension runs through the

curriculum and is at the heart of teaching. Not surprisingly, therefore, George Abbot has been awarded the DCSF International School Award, run by the British Council, on three consecutive occasions. One of its most significant projects is its developing

link with Tanzania. George Abbot is in partnership with Mukidoma primary and secondary school in Usa River, near Arusha, which are English medium, co- educational boarding schools.

Developing relationships: One of George Abbot’s main links is with schools in Tanzania. Pictured here are some of the George Abbot staff in a classroom on a recent visit, and a teacher and student in an English class in Tanzania (below)

The schools are unusual in their country because of

some of the pupils they cater for. Ms Hamer, who has visited the school with

colleagues, explained: “Mukidoma is an excellent school which achieves some very good results, but what makes it even more noteworthy is its programme to educate some of the more vulnerable members of the community in Tanzania. “The school supports a small number of Maasai

girls whose parents want them to have the benefit of an education. The Maasai are highly respected in Tanzania, but educational opportunities are sometimes at odds with their traditional lifestyle. “It also provides places for a growing number of

albino children. These students are in real danger in Tanzania and there have been at least 57 killings of albinos since 2007 (their body parts are sold to witch doctors who believe this will bring their clients good fortune). “Albino students are fully integrated into the

mainstream at Mukidoma, and despite the attitudes elsewhere, it is clear that their fellow students see them as individuals and they form friendships in the same way as any other student. “As British teachers we have a unique opportunity

to support projects like this and we are now developing curriculum themes to support our link with Mukidoma.” Staff from George Abbot used the visit for curriculum

development and to research cross-curricular themes around creative and expressive arts for year 7, which will begin in September. This will include dance, drama, music, art and textiles. It will also be used to help teach citizenship in year

8, looking at themes such as prejudice, discrimination and equality. “The pupils with albinism in Tanzania are

happy members of the school community with high expectations and a sense of responsibility,” Ms Hamer said. “We have two such pupils in our school, who attend our visually impaired unit, which makes the link even more poignant. They have been helping us to select and prepare learning resources and materials – including magnifying glasses – to take to Tanzania on our next visit. “We hope that through the link we can change some

of the negative attitudes towards this special need in Tanzania.” Staff at George Abbot have a strong commitment to

the international programme. Ms Hamer said this was good for staff development and team-building because it encouraged colleagues to work together closely on curriculum development and new initiatives. The cross-curricular teaching approach for year 7s

is an excellent example. Each course last six weeks and allows pupils to choose to focus on the area they are

SecEd • May 6 2010

most interested in – whether it is dance, drama, music or visual arts. Professional artists and performers are brought

in to work with them and wherever possible, the themes reflect the existing international links and the ethnic minority representation among George Abbot’s students. One year, for example, a pupil taught her classmates

a Bollywood-style dance. “This is particularly important in an area such as

Guildford which is largely White and middle-class and does not have a rich ethnic mix. We like to share the culture of those pupils from other backgrounds with everyone,” Ms Hamer said. The focus of the creative curriculum for year 7s for

the last three years has been on China. Sixth-formers who visited Shanghai in 2008 on a cultural exchange presented information about their visit to year 7s on their return, to put their learning into context. “The 6th-formers went into a school and spent

some time visiting students,” Ms Hamer said. “It was difficult for them to participate in lessons because of the language barrier and because teachers have to stick rigidly to the curriculum so any deviation from that would have been hard. “But they also had a trip to Beijing ahead of the

Olympics and saw the Forbidden City. “When they returned they were able to show

photographs and give the year 7s some first-hand experiences.” It is hoped that the Chinese links will help to support

the teaching and learning of Mandarin at George Abbot. Currently there exists a small group of learners, and one teacher, who are learning the language together using online resources. Another important link is with the Transition

School in Vancouver, Canada, which is attached to the University of British Columbia and prepares high calibre high school students for early entry into higher education. Pupils from the two schools have been taking part in

science projects. This year a group of 20 year 9 and 10 gifted and talented students went to Canada to take part in an ecological study of flora and fauna at Bamfield Marine Laboratory, using a method known as “wet labs”. This involved working with marine divers, and going out in boats to collect samples for analysis. The students were expected to work with their

Canadian partners to design their own experiments, including collecting numerical data and then presenting their findings to the whole group. “These are wonderful experiences for our gifted

and talented cohort and can prove quite challenging for them as they have to work with similarly bright and dynamic young people from Vancouver,” Ms Hamer added.

No opportunity is lost at George Abbot to use its

international links to enhance the curriculum and use the experience of its partners abroad for lesson ideas. Another of its partnership links is with Maharaja

Sawai Man Singh Vidyalaya in Jaipur, India, which was visited by teachers from George Abbot last year. The school has won awards for its water conservation,

using a network of water tanks around the school to harness any rainfall and vegetation for filtration and cleaning. Teachers from George Abbot observed this in action, as well as visiting a small village school where a shortage of water was a major problem for local people. On their return to Guildford, they asked year 7

pupils as part of a geography project to consider what would happen if they were faced with a water shortage. They looked at how they would cope with the situation and where efficiencies could be made. They presented their diagrams and findings to the headteacher. International citizenship has also been a feature for

older pupils. Year 10 pupils have taken part in a project, over a series of five lessons, in which they were asked to form an imaginary company and consider how they planned to trade internationally. “One exercise involved them creating a soft drinks

company, so they looked at Fair Trade issues around importing fruit, and whether they should maximise their profits and exploit the local workforce by paying them less, or be more caring and use Fair Trade methods. “They also had to market their product in Europe, so

they learned about the Euro and dealing with different currencies,” Ms Hamer said. “The exercise was fun and it really got the students

hyped up about some of the issues, especially Fair Trade which they might not have yet been aware of.” She said the school’s international curriculum and

links were helping to break down national stereotypes. “It can be hard to measure the impact of the global

curriculum on our students because it is so ingrained in our school. “But it certainly gives them access to different

cultures, which they may not have had otherwise. It promotes good global citizenship,” she added. “For teachers, it allows us to think outside the

box and try new things. Examination results may be important but this type of curriculum has a value which is not measured in the usual way. “And the best thing about it is that is it something

that every school can participate in. You don’t have to be top of the league table to use the global dimension in your teaching and learning.”

SecEd

• Dorothy Lepkowska is a freelance education journalist.

Further information

ISA: www.globalgateway.org/isa

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