Busy Weekend

It’s been a while since I’ve been so busy over one weekend. However this weekend I shall be speaking in 3 different venues between Friday and Monday evening plus I am even going out with my husband!!

Tomorrow I am at the Northeast Regional ATLAS Conference at the Radisson Hotel in Durham. Myself and 7 of my best Year 10 eTwinners are talking about our school’s eTwinning activities

Tomorrow evening the Links into Languages Northeast Secondary Residential begins at Redworth Hall and I am to give a presentation on International Online Collaboration.

On Monday I am in Birmingham at my old stomping ground of Aston University for a Links into Languages West Midlands ICT event where I am speaking about eTwinning.

I will share all presentations next week…although 2 have the possibilitiy of being very, very similar…!

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Online International Collaboration

The second CPD session that I ran for Links into Languages was about Online International Collaboration. Here is the presentation I gave for that session…

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The French Exchange Finally Happened

Took this at the NRM and thought it was funny!

Many moons ago (so it seems)…well, 3 years, just when I was starting on this adventure into new technologies and discovering the possibilities for MFL teachers, such as myself, in terms of getting pupils using language for real, I was asked by my then Head of Area to find a French school in order to establish a link for exchanges. We already had an extremely successful link with Meppen in Germany and an equally successful link with Cheste in Spain but French was most certainly the poor relation in terms of links and opportunities for exchanges.

I had just discovered eTwinning via Joe Dale‘s marvellous blog and decided to find out what all of the fuss was about. Having registered with eTwinning, I quickly found a partner and established a project with a view to setting up an exchange the following year. The project “Je blogue, tu blogues…let’s blog!” was very successful with pupils from both schools develping frienships and helping one another with their language learning. However unfortunately for many reasons the link didn’t develop into an exchange and the hunt was on again.

One of my colleagues in the MFL Department had a link with a teacher in Caussade near Toulouse. I contacted her and things looked positive. We worked together on an eTwinning project (in English only, this time, as there were several schools involved) and my class exchanged letters every half-term or so with a class from her school and set things in motion for an exchange.

There were hurdles to overcome, as with any new link. The biggest hurdle being that our partner school wanted to bring 27 pupils!!! This was unheard of in Ian Ramsey history of exchanges…we are normally over joyed if we get to 20 (as I think most schools would be). Nevertheless, we persevered and, with a plan to house some pupils in a local hotel got plans underway. I was over-joyed when I managed to persuade the final 2 pupils to host French people, meaning that no-one was to stay in a hotel!

The week itself arrived and we had an action-packed programme, hightlights included a visit to Durham, the Angel of the North and the Metro Centre, a whole group trip to York and the National Railway Museum, project work at Teesside CLC and a visit to meet the Mayor of Stockton. The funny thing was, I got stick all week for organising the visit to Mayor and in fact our French friends loved it – telling me to definintely keep in on the programme for the future! As part of their CLC project, pupils started to work on a wiki as a diary of their week, to which I will add their presentations and leaflets about the history of the railways and York tourist leaflets as soon as I can. You can see what has been done so far here (still needs a bit of work!).

What of the future? Well things look very rosy. In 3 weeks time our pupils will return to France. Again, a record of 21 pupils (some of whom were so enthused by the whole event that they asked if they could come eventhough they didn’t take part in the home-leg!). In addition we will carry this through to another eTwinning Project specifically aimed at improving Speaking and Writing Skills for GCSEs.

Sadly I’m unable to go on the return leg – I’ve been off gallavanting around Europe too often already this year, so am indebted to my colleagues, Fiona and Julie for taking the return trip and for their invaluable support during the exchange week itself.

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Leo the Lion visits Ian Ramsey

Over the last few weeks, Ian Ramsey had a guest who came to visit from Germany. Leo, the Bavarian Lion, came to stay with us on his tour round the world.

Whilst he was staying at Ian Ramsey, Leo took part in many exciting activities. He took part in a science experiment. Next, he went off to the LRC to check some books out and pose for a photo with William Shakespeare. He then ran over to North Site (in the rain) had his photograph taken with the amazing sculpures that some Y9s created last year.

Back in South Site, Leo went to work on Reception in the Office, taking some phone calls. In addition to all of these activities at school, Leo came home with me at half term and went Halloweening. Naturally, Leo also observed the minute’s silence on Remembrance Day at 11.00am and even managed to get himself a poppy.

I think Leo had a great time at Ian Ramsey-he particularly enjoyed playing “Past Tense Pass the Parcel” with 8vD3 on Monday last week!

He now heads of to Brazil to experience life there. You can follow his further adventures on his blog by following this link: Leo’s Blog

You can see a selection of his photographs below.

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International School Award

Back in January, it was suggested to me that I went to the ISA briefing meeting in London “as I was involved in a lot of the projects in it so would be good for me to know what to put in”. A month later, no longer an innocentl by-stander in our bid to gain the Full International School Award, I was launched into compiling the whole portfolio.

For those who don’t know, in order to gain the Full ISA you need to complete an Action Plan in September/October of all of your international, curricular-based projects that are taking place within that school year. This is then (hopefull) approved by the “ISA people” and then you spend the academic year gathering evidence of your 7 (minimum) “Key Activities”, which  includes things like evaluations from pupils, staff and parents of events, photographs, samples of pupil work. All of this gets put together in a (very large) file and is then dispatched to the British Council in time for the deadline date, some time around the end of the school year. Simples…?

Or maybe not! It took over my life, the file went everywhere with me, I had evaluation forms coming out of my ears and chasing those evaluation forms, well…

However, in Ocotber I learnt that the hard work had paid off and we had been successful in our bid to be awarded the Full ISA – hurrah!!!

Alistair Armstrong receiving our ISA from George Alagia

The Award Ceremony took place in London on Friday 16th October and was presented by George Alagia and you can see our award being presented on the left. Those of you who know me will know that I have dramatically changed over the last few months…unfortunately I was ill in bed and couldn’t attend the ceremony, so one of our Assistant Heads went in my place.

What I didn’t realise was that, alongside the certificate we received, we are also the proud owners of an ISA flag which is now flying on one of the school flagpoles and a beautiful crysal. I could take a picture of the crystal today but not the flag as it was dull and raining all day.

Our ISA Crystal

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