Two of our school linking advisors, Nicole Hand from Stockport and Sarah Hetherington from Lancashire Global Education Centre, inspire us with their reports about the latest SLN activities that are happening in their local authorities …
A Letter from Stockport
Nicole Hand, Local Authority Advisor for Stockport reports on recent school linking activities in the North West hub …
The Stockport programme continues to grow in strength and size. From initially working with 16 schools, the programme has now expanded to include 40 schools including links from Manchester, Trafford, Tameside and East Cheshire.
Operating as a North West hub is really interesting because we get to work with a very diverse range of schools from across the region. It is fantastic for the schools as they get to experience other communities, cultures, and religions in their localities, as well as seeing different ways of working as they share good practise. It enriches the programme for everyone involved, especially the children and young people, and it also brings a lot to the CPD sessions with the lead teachers.
Each day in my role is totally different, as I work with so many varied venues, artists, facilitators, schools and teachers in the North West. It is this variety, in addition to seeing the positive impact that Schools Linking has on the children, young people, and teachers involved on a daily basis which is totally inspiring, and makes working as a North West hub truly rewarding and exciting.
Visit from Andrew Stunell OBE MP
On Friday 2 December 2011 Andrew Stunell OBE MP and Parliamentary Under Secretary of State to the Department for Communities and Local Government, visited a Schools Linking Network event at the Romiley Forum Theatre in Stockport. It was the first time that the Year 3 children from Didsbury Road Primary School and Vernon Park Primary School had met and all the participants were very excited. NK Theatre Arts facilitated a fantastic linking programme to encourage the children to find out about each other and explore their similarities and differences through drama and dance activities.
The Stockport team were delighted that the Minister, who is also the MP for Hazel Grove and has been very interested in and supportive of SLN, was able to informally observe the linking work in action and meet some of the children and staff.
NK Theatre Arts and Stockport Council’s Ethnic Diversity Service have just completed the latest regional Schools Linking Network programme. The SLN programme began linking local primary schools from different areas of the borough in 2009.
News from Blackburn with Darwen
Sarah Hetherington, Schools Project Coordinator with Lancashire Global Education Centre (LGEC) reports on recent school linking activities
New Partnership: Faith Linking
In a brand new partnership for 2012, Lancashire Global Education Centre (LGEC), supported by SLN, are working with Blackburn Cathedral to help schools from Blackburn with Darwen and Lancashire to work together in exploring identity, diversity, faith and community.
Linking partnerships are underway between five schools from each local authority and a meeting with headteachers from each school will be held early in the new term to ensure everyone is clear about the aims of the project and the commitment involved. An initial CPD event will take place at Blackburn Cathedral on 30 January 2012 with a follow-up day on 25 April 2012.
Thank you to all involved, especially to Anjum Anwar from Blackburn Cathedral for helping to facilitate the programme and hosting the linking days.
Case Study: Joint Staff Meeting
Rosewood Primary School in Burnley and Woodnook Primary in Accrington each wanted to broaden their linking work to involve their whole school. To raise staff awareness and increase understanding of the programme, the schools requested for a joint staff meeting to be held.
The staff from Rosewood Primary School travelled the 10 miles to Woodnook Primary School to get to know each other better and discuss the aims and principles of school linking. The meeting commenced with staff using the SLN activity to explore visible and invisible similarities and differences with someone they had not met before, and ended with plans being discussed for future linking work.
Case Study: Cluster Meetings
To ensure communication was maintained and school linking work kept on track, cluster meetings were arranged for established link schools in East Lancashire and West Lancashire. Thirteen schools attended and were updated on national SLN developments, relevant projects, website resources and upcoming training and events. Teachers were able to share their experiences and plans with the group. It was an opportunity to support each other as they continue to develop their linking work.
SLN Winter Newsletter 2011
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