WORLD CUP

As our students all gear up for next month’s World Cup in

South Africa, schools are using the event to create motivating material for the classroom and even to develop links with Africa.

David Taylor reports

‘T

HE FOOTBALL World Cup is really a project in a box, ready-made to be used in the classroom – it’s about cultural literacy on a global scale.” Jon Peace at the Preston School

in Yeovil is not only using the World Cup to the full with his pupils, but has

got more than 160 schools around the world involved in a project to explore the event. On December 9, 2009, when the World Cup draw

took place, each class at the school drew one of the World Cup competitor countries out of a hat. They then had the six-month countdown to the World Cup to research “their” country – from its traditional food, weather and geography, to its football team, history and language. The winning class, with the most informative,

comprehensive and colourful results, will be selected on June 11, the day the World Cup kicks off in South Africa. Each class will display their work at an all- school exhibition where the Yeovil City Football Club will hold a penalty shoot out. But it is not just Preston that is getting World Cup-

obsessed. Through an e-languages page set up by Mr Peace (an online collaborative project space for schools) schools around the world are replicating these activities and posting their research for others to view and share. He explained: “We did a similar project on a smaller

scale four years ago, but the power of e-languages has sent it global this time. I am getting messages from more schools asking to join each week. Our pupils have the chance to find out more about their adopted countries from people living in those countries – so we’ve got collaboration happening with Australia, New Zealand, Argentina and South Africa, among others. “Although students have opportunities in class to

work on their research, they are so enthusiastic they also work on it in their own time. I had a student come to me this week who has rewritten the South Korean national anthem as a World Cup song, complete with sheet music, all out of school hours! “The World Cup is a way of engaging all students,

not just those who are into football – through music, art and language. The element of competition in the World Cup is mirrored in our project too – even the staff are getting quite competitive now!”

Increasing access

At a school in Hertfordshire for pupils with severe learning difficulties, a World Cup project aims to broaden pupils’ horizons and increase their access to sport. While the majority of the 62 students at Breakspeare

School are not able to play football themselves due to their level of disability, and many are not even aware of football or the World Cup, international schools co-ordinator Darren White sees the event as a valuable opportunity. He explained: “It’s much harder to get our children

involved in football, but it’s great for them to experience it. Focusing on the World Cup, which is happening in our partner school’s country, gives the project the added dimension of learning more about pupils’ lives there, and gives us a vehicle to learn about all the countries involved.” The school has a partnership with a school in

Kimberley, South Africa, supported through the Global School Partnerships programme. Funding from the programme enabled two teachers to visit the Boitumelo School in March to share their plans for the World Cup and learn about the school’s plans for the tournament. Breakspeare’s World Cup activity will be central

to a wider National Sports Week in June that will see students experience different sports from around the world. Class groups will take on a different country involved in the World Cup for the week, with pupils making flags and dressing in traditional clothing, and presenting these at an opening ceremony. Where possible pupils will play adapted games of football and watch one of the actual World Cup games in school.

Re-engaging pupils

The Pavilion Study Centre, a pupil referral unit in London and another school with a Global School Partnership with South Africa, is finding the World Cup a useful vehicle to motivate some of their most challenging pupils, through an initiative that aims to

SecEd • May 13 2010

promote trust between football fans internationally. As part of the scheduled plans for England fans on tour in South Africa, the British Council has organised visits to schools involved in its international linking programmes. Prior to departure, fans will visit UK schools to collect football-themed materials pupils have created for their partners, and will deliver them to the schools in South Africa. The visits not only provide a direct link for the

school partnerships, they also enable the England fans to engage with local communities in a way they would not usually do on tour and take the excitement of the World Cup to more children in Africa. Schools are preparing materials from posters, songs,

flags, dance, music or clothing along football-related themes, to explore the diversity of the different football teams, challenge stereotypes about English and South African culture and explore the historic relationship between the two countries and the fan cultures that exist. Pavilion students are creating games of player cards

based on the different England football team players. They have been researching the players across different classes including maths, IT, science and food technology (finding out what football players eat for breakfast!) and are creating football chants that will be recorded on CD. These will be delivered to their partner school in Grahamstown during the World Cup. Students at the Pavilion Study Centre, a short stay

school, have been excluded from mainstream schools because of behavioural problems, so lesson plans and teaching methods are varied and flexible to re-engage them. Teacher Sanjo Jeffrey explained: “The World Cup is

really motivating. Our kids usually vote with their feet so it’s been very telling that they’ve been so enthusiastic and engaged in this project. Not only is this boosting their academic engagement, it’s developing their social skills too, working together in a team. “There’s a wide range of ethnic backgrounds at our

school but the children don’t see the countries their parents and grandparents come from as relevant to them in many cases. Football is a universal language – through the World Cup they are going to be having a very similar experience to young people in South Africa and other countries involved, so it helps them to realise that we are not so different.”

Creating links

As well as interesting teaching content for schools that already have links with Africa, a free, light-touch project on offer through the Global Gateway provides opportunities to actually create those links. The team on the Department for Children, School

and Families’ international school linking website have been putting UK schools in touch with partners in South Africa, Nigeria, Ghana or Ethiopia to work together on a range of simple downloadable lesson templates, which use information about football players to provide a basis for discussions on racism, migration and community cohesion. Activities are designed to be done via fax, post, or

email or online project space, depending on schools’ communications capacities. Liz Hitchcock, Global Gateway manager at the

British Council, said: “Schools clearly think the World Cup offers exciting learning possibilities – we’ve seen lots of schools that are doing the International School Award this year designing projects around the languages, art or culture of the World Cup countries and many are including their partner schools in their activities. “There’s still plenty of time for schools to get

involved and join in the projects that have been set up on online spaces like e-languages, or to create their own. From designing World Cup logos, going on a virtual “tour” of South Africa designed by a South African primary school and learning the South African national anthem from a school’s recording to singing along to the official Ghana team song, there are lots of options that we can direct schools towards.”

africa.indd 1

About Us

With over 30 years experience in

international development, Build Africa works exclusively in rural areas of Uganda and Kenya to help young people escape poverty through education and income generation.

What Fundraising can Achieve

Since 2004, our Build a School programme has worked with 101 schools and benefited over 100,000 children. We train and support teachers, school management committees and work with parents to ensure that the children receive the best education possible now and in the future.

www.build-africa.org.uk

BUILD AFRICA, 27 Church Road, Tunbridge Wells, Kent TN1 1HT, United Kingdom, EMAIL hello@build-africa.org.uk,

TEL +44 (0)1892 519619, FAX +44 (0) 1892 529029 Registered Charity No. 298316

Even the BBC is urging schools to share football

experiences, in its World Cup coverage. As part of the ongoing partnership with the BBC to encourage international school links, the BBC will invite schools to create an international photo gallery of school football teams. Schools around the world will be able upload photos of their teams to an interactive map, which will create another classroom resource to use in June. Teachers involved across all the projects are all

hoping that the World Cup will have a lasting impact on their students.

SecEd

Further information

• For more on the Preston School World Cup project search online for “e-languages Preston School World Cup project”.

• e-Languages: www.elanguages.org • Global Gateway: www.globalgateway.org/ worldcup

• Visit www.bbc.co.uk/worldclass to upload a photo of your school football team.

• The Global School Partnerships Programme

Getting involved: The Fifa World Cup draw is screened at Preston School in Yeovil

is funded by UKaid from the Department of International Development and managed by a consortium including the British Council. Visit www.dfid.gov.uk/globalschools

• Also see British Council article on page 16 for more World Cup resources.

World Cup fever

School Linking

Interested in forming a link with a school in Uganda or Kenya? Want your school to gain an insight into different cultures? Contact Helen Sharpe on helen@build-africa.org.uk or 01892 519619 to discuss our school linking programme. For more information on school links visit our website on http://www.build-africa.org/pages/ get-your-school-involved.html.

11/5/10 12:43:58

15 Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16