A global timetable

Elgin Academy’s links with a South African school represent more than just an opportunity for pupils to get to know each other. The partnerships have also had a deep impact on the school curriculum and even spread to the wider community of Inverness

Pupil power is a force to be reckoned with at Elgin Academy, a Scottish secondary school in Elgin, near Inverness. The first move to engender a global dimension at the school was made by a pupil group formed to investigate the possibilities of a global link.

Fittingly the original group still exists and plays an active part in the international activities of the school.

Two schools were identified in South Africa as partners:

• Fanti Gaqa Senior Primary
• Mzomhle High School, in Mdantsane, Eastern Cape, South Africa.

Initial contact between the schools focused on writing letters but with the aid of a DFID (Department for International Development) Global School Partnerships Curriculum Project Grant, collaboration between the schools was able to progress much further.

The link has now evolved into a ‘curricular exchange’ between all the schools, involving the English, RME (Religious and Moral Education), technical and chemistry departments.

The curricular exchange involves sharing good practice in these subjects to assist in the teaching and learning within each school and to help raise attainment and realise potential.

Equally important to the schools is how their links can help eradicate cultural misconceptions. Together the schools have agreed their mutual objectives and written a joint agreement or ‘pledge’.

Sharing resources

Slumko Tsotsi is LINKS coordinator at Elgin Academy, (LINKS is an acronym for Linking International Nations through Knowledge in Schools, devised by one of the pupils).

‘This link is about sharing curricular resources with an objective of international cooperation and an attempt to break down some cultural, racial and economic barriers,’ he explains.

‘We agreed to structure our mutual educational projects within the broader school curriculum and provide practical, yet different objectives in the overall learning experience for our pupils.’

Engaging students

In RME, for example, Slumko says, ‘The key issue of citizenship is soon to occupy Scottish schools. Sharing the learning from our South African sister schools on what and how they are doing with their Life Orientation course is of great curricular importance. South Africa seems to be inculcating citizenship at a more successful rate than we are in the UK.’

In English, the plan has been for the global dimension to be incorporated into the Scottish English 5–14 curriculum and similarly into the South African curriculum 2005.

Pupils have written an imaginary story about an issue important or pertinent to themselves and have considered the backgrounds of their contemporaries in the link schools. Pupils were also invited to write poetry or drama pieces.

‘In other words, our pupils are reading and learning about something outside their Scottish experience,’ Slumko explains.

Eventually, the plan is to incorporate the global work between the schools into the existing marking scheme. This is easier said than done, Slumko admits. ‘The agreement is realistic enough to acknowledge that time, money, geography and crucially, change of personnel can hamper the intended progress.'

Therefore, we are looking at a timetable of a two-year cycle. Every two years this work is to be dynamically evaluated and a new pledge put into place.’

Financial support

With the support of the DFID Global School Partnerships team, the schools have been able to facilitate reciprocal visits of teachers and pupils and the grant has assisted in bringing two teachers and a pupil to both countries.

During the visit, the schools ensure the curricular focus is maintained with the visitors following curriculum activities at the school for at least four to five days.

The pupils’ visits have been a great success. ‘Both sets of pupils, from South Africa and Scotland have been a great credit to their respective schools and countries,’ says Slumko. ‘Their articulacy and fostering of friendship has been a wonderful outcome.’

The teachers’ visits have also been an important element of the partnerships. Slumko believes they are fundamental in keeping the links going and says there has been great professional recognition of the teachers’ work on the visits. ‘A lot of work is being done in both schools,’ he says.

Elgin Academy has also used its school links to involve the local community. A book collection project between the schools elicited a terrific response from the wider Elgin community. This gave children and parents outside the Academy a chance to get involved with the link and learn about another culture.

Positive impact

No one is pretending that it hasn’t been hard work at times to incorporate the global dimension into the schools.

While the partnerships have had an extremely positive impact on the schools involved, Slumko points out that it would be equally unfair not to state the glaring differences between the schools and systems.

‘Our colleagues from the south lack quite a lot. This can hinder the possible progress of the very same hard work embarked upon. Admittedly, this has been a sharp learning curve for some of my Elgin Academy colleagues and for the pupils, too. On balance though, this aspect has actually sharply focused our minds to the task in hand.’

Further information

The DFID Global School Partnerships Programme promotes partnerships between schools in the UK and schools in Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean.

The programme can provide guidance, professional development opportunities and grants to schools that are using school partnerships as a means for developing a global dimension within their curriculum.