Videos demonstrating a range of school linking programmes, held throughout the year.
The videos show examples of school children preparing to meet their linking partners, linking for the first time at a neutral venue, reflecting on linking sessions, and celebration events that children have organised, often with parental involvement, towards the end of the linking year.
Preparing to Meet
Pupils’ discussions in linked classes at two primary schools – following an exchange of information, the teachers explore the children’s responses to, questions about, and understanding of, the information received, and discuss the school children’s similarities and differences.
First Meeting - At a Neutral Venue
The first meeting of a pair of linked primary schools – the neutral venue chosen for the linking day is a local sports centre. Positive connections between the children are made through sporting activities, and firm foundations are established for a year of linking.
Allotment Project
The second meeting of a pair of linked primary schools – teachers and children meet at a local allotment. Working collaboratively the children, learn how to plant, prune, harvest and cook, and their day culminates in a shared meal.
Team Spirit – Theme Football
The second meeting of a pair of linked primary schools – the focus is sport and team-spirit. The children spend a day at Bradford City FC where they experience a tour of the ground, football coaching, a lesson on healthy lifestyles, participate in drama work about their shared experience of Bradford and interview a player.
Class Visit – Mixed Paired Classes
Two year-three classes, who have already met several times, watch a drama performance, followed by work in mixed classes. The play ‘Trail of Tears’ explores similarities between experiences of Choctaw Indians and Irish Migrants workers and demonstrates empathy between the two cultures.
Neutral Venue – Yorkshire Sculpture Park
A day of shared activity held between two linked primary school classes, at Yorkshire Sculpture Park. The children learn about the Barbara Hepworth Family of Man sculptures, discuss what they have learnt in mixed pairs, and play and work together in mixed groups to make animal sculptures.
Neutral Venue - Art Gallery
A typical example of a school linking day for primary school children, demonstrating good stimulus, planned input from education officers and activities that develop relaxed interaction between linked classes.
Community of Enquiry
A reflection session on a school linking day – the teacher introduces a ‘community of enquiry’ approach to help the children to reflect on issues of identity, difference and relationships. Using a story as a stimulus, the children are encouraged to think about the project and in particular the challenges of linking.
Reflecting Together
Pupils reflect together about the linking process throughout the year. Two linked classes of primary school children think back to the beginning of the year before they had met, when they first met and consider how things have changed.
Community & Celebration
Children invite their parents to participate in a food festival celebration event. All the children’s different communities and cultures are represented. Families contribute dishes from around the world.
Wider Participation
Children, parents and a school governor reflect on the linking year during a day of rehearsals for a show to be held in the city centre. Parents are involved in making costumes and together with the children learn about different cultures through dance and performance.
District Wide Celebration
The SLN project has become an integral part of the annual Bradford festival – several linked schools work with performance artists in the summer term – here the children come together to celebrate their relationships and share their performances in a public arena – a grand finale to a linking year.
