Projects by themes
You could work on a project with an
existing partner school or just join one of the projects and
see who you meet along the way! Either way these projects are all
suitable to count towards the International School Award.
Why
do they work?
There's a huge boost in motivation and involvement
throughout the class. Increased effort goes into presentation
because the projects will be reviewed by a peer group. If your
class works in teams they reach an agreed common aim; they also
check their work and concentrate harder.
Widening participation
Projects engage pupils in what would otherwise be abstract and
distant issues, making them more immediate, relevant and real.
This can be extremely useful for groups such as looked-after
children, children from traveller communities, children from
minority ethnic communities or children who are at risk of being
excluded.
Projects are inclusive, offering participation on an equal
footing to children with learning difficulties, ASD or ADHD.
Learning is easily personalised: you can offer different
roles to different students within each project.
Top tips for topic work
- If you're working within a whole school
partnership, joint curriculum projects are top of the agenda if
you're able to visit a partner school and meet teachers.
- Remember it is not necessary to match children
exactly by year group (though it is best to stay within one
year) - see how the curriculum topics match up.
- For language projects (or if children from your
partner school are learning English), you could set up
mentoring groups to help with language skills, or match
up two differently aged classes that are at a similar level in
learning a foreign language.
- If you need a partner quickly, post messages on
messageboards at eTwinning
(Europe) or ePALS,
where you can search for a partner by subject.