Dunkirk welcomes visitors from Norway, Finland and Italy
Dunkirk has been working with link schools in all three countries for two years. Teachers and Head Teachers from the schools visited Dunkirk in April. They were only here for two days but were able to visit classes, join assemblies led by our International Ambassadors at both Highfields and Abbey Campus and take part in a meeting where the whole two year project was evaluated. Future linking plans were also discussed. They watched the film 'The Man Who Planted Trees' which showed the amazing collaboration that took place between Abbey Campus pupils and pupils in our link school in Italy. They also took part in in the whole process of making bread with Oak Class and Cedar Class hosted an amazing Tea Party which had a wonderful range of food from across the world that the pupils brought in.
Dunkirk's International Ambassadors visit Finland
7 pupils from Cedar and Banyan travelled to Finland on 11th February to attend a pupil camp where many pupils from our link schools gathered to discuss a new Big Question! The question was
"What Kind of a World would you like to Live in?"
Abdul-Dayaan, Eddie, Alex, Sarah, Annekah, Shanice and Shola had an amazing time in Finland working alongside pupils from all the link schools. They visited Rastaalan School every day and worked in different subject lessons on the Big Question. They also enjoyed Sports Day at the school where they got to do some skiing and skating!
The Rastaalan School also organised an amazing sight-seeing trip around Helsinki and the Haltia Nature Centre.
Travelling on a plane, staying away from home and meeting new people from different parts of Europe were the high lights of the visit for the pupils. They enjoyed Skyping Dunkirk School during assembly and sharing their experiences.
See more pictures on our Small Action Big Change website.
"What Kind of a World would you like to Live in?"
Abdul-Dayaan, Eddie, Alex, Sarah, Annekah, Shanice and Shola had an amazing time in Finland working alongside pupils from all the link schools. They visited Rastaalan School every day and worked in different subject lessons on the Big Question. They also enjoyed Sports Day at the school where they got to do some skiing and skating!
The Rastaalan School also organised an amazing sight-seeing trip around Helsinki and the Haltia Nature Centre.
Travelling on a plane, staying away from home and meeting new people from different parts of Europe were the high lights of the visit for the pupils. They enjoyed Skyping Dunkirk School during assembly and sharing their experiences.
See more pictures on our Small Action Big Change website.
What questions would you ask a tree?
All classes at Dunkirk - and in our linked Comenius schools - have been exploring questions around "Why are trees precious?" as part of our Comenius work. At Dunkirk we asked the children what questions they would like to ask a tree - and Miss Claire has collated these into a film together with photographs of the children at Dunkirk exploring the trees around them throughout all seasons.
Dunkirk Visits Rome
Mrs Alford, Mrs Qureshi, Ms Lisa Hayes and Ms Parmjit visited our link school in Rome in November 2013.
Mrs Alford and Mrs Qureshi spent the time in meetings with the other link school coordinators and Head Teachers, discussing the forthcoming Pupil Camp in Finland and also the next steps for the group after the funding ends in July 2014.
Ms Hayes and Ms Parmjit worked with the same class for three days. They looked at the same book the pupils at Abbey Campus have been studying, 'The Man who Planted Trees'. As none of the children could speak English, the work was done through movement, Drama and Yoga. On return to Dunkirk, Ms Hayes and Ms Parmjit have been putting together a performance of 'The Man Who Planted Trees' with the classes at Abbey Campus. This will be shared at Christmas with parents and friends. The work done with Rome will be incorporated into the performance.
The school in Rome had been working hard on investigating the Big Question, 'Why are Trees Precious?'. They displayed their findings around the school.
Mrs Alford and Mrs Qureshi spent the time in meetings with the other link school coordinators and Head Teachers, discussing the forthcoming Pupil Camp in Finland and also the next steps for the group after the funding ends in July 2014.
Ms Hayes and Ms Parmjit worked with the same class for three days. They looked at the same book the pupils at Abbey Campus have been studying, 'The Man who Planted Trees'. As none of the children could speak English, the work was done through movement, Drama and Yoga. On return to Dunkirk, Ms Hayes and Ms Parmjit have been putting together a performance of 'The Man Who Planted Trees' with the classes at Abbey Campus. This will be shared at Christmas with parents and friends. The work done with Rome will be incorporated into the performance.
The school in Rome had been working hard on investigating the Big Question, 'Why are Trees Precious?'. They displayed their findings around the school.
Norway visits Dunkirk
Ms Inger-Johanne, Ms Evi and Ms Jannicke visited Dunkirk School in October. They worked with Oak, Maple and Cedar classes looking at the Big Question, Why are Trees Precious? They went on a tree walk with Ms Claire and looked at the trees in our local environment. It was lovelyVoksen School, Oslo visit Dunkirk
to have the teachers here and they brought and shared stories from Norway. Our teachers, Mr Woodings, Ms Taylor and Mrs Hollis are returning the visit in December when they will visit Oslo.
to have the teachers here and they brought and shared stories from Norway. Our teachers, Mr Woodings, Ms Taylor and Mrs Hollis are returning the visit in December when they will visit Oslo.
Why Are Trees Precious?
The new year sees the start of a new Big Question which will drive our Comenius Project, Small Action Big Change this year.
There is now a dedicated website being used by all for schools in the Comenius
Project
www.smallactionbigchange.weebly.com
All four schools; Dunkirk, Voksen in Norway, Rastaala in Finland and Il Circolo Didattico of Ciampino in Rome will all work on this question in their schools. Joint planning and projects will happen over the year and there will be a number of teacher exchange visits this year.
Preparations and planning is underway for 6 of our year 5/6 pupils to attend a Pupil Camp in Finland in February 2014. Pupils from all 4 schools will attend and work on the Big Question. The weather in Helsinki in February should be VERY cold!
The new year sees the start of a new Big Question which will drive our Comenius Project, Small Action Big Change this year.
There is now a dedicated website being used by all for schools in the Comenius
Project
www.smallactionbigchange.weebly.com
All four schools; Dunkirk, Voksen in Norway, Rastaala in Finland and Il Circolo Didattico of Ciampino in Rome will all work on this question in their schools. Joint planning and projects will happen over the year and there will be a number of teacher exchange visits this year.
Preparations and planning is underway for 6 of our year 5/6 pupils to attend a Pupil Camp in Finland in February 2014. Pupils from all 4 schools will attend and work on the Big Question. The weather in Helsinki in February should be VERY cold!
Why is Water Precious?
Cedar Class Project- Virtual Water
Cedar Class Project- Virtual Water
Cedar Class investigated the finite nature of water on planet Earth. The children discovered that the water we drink today is the same water that the dinosaurs drank billions of years ago. The children in Rastaala school in Finland and Dunkirk concluded that the problem we have today is that there are more people on the planet to share the water with. Each school used a table to discover how much 'virtual water' they each used in a day. E.G How much water did it take to make one slice of toast or for a chicken to produce an egg.. They were all able to compare their findings and realise how preciuos water is! Our link school in Pakistan, The Lahore Lyceum also joined in this activity.
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Work sent from Pakistan
Rastaala School Teachers and Pupils visit Dunkirk
Ms Taija, Ms Minna, Heini and Katarina visited London and Dunkirk Primary School this week. During their stay many activities and lessons were covered. There were a number of visits to the school allotment where careful observations of life in the pond were made, fires were lit and activities connected with the big question 'Why is Water Precious?' took place. A narrow boat adventure took place where different year groups were able to travel and steer a canal boat along the local canal network. The weather was glorious and everyone who steered the boats managed to get their classes back to school safe and sound! The visitors answered many questions pupils and teachers had for them about life in cold and snowy Finland. Cedar Class and Willow Class continued working jointly on the big question and this work will continue once the visitors return to their school
Everyone at Dunkirk really enjoyed their visit and learnt a lot. We would like to take this opportunity to thank Taija, Minna, Heini and Katarina for the lovely gifts they brought from Finland for the school and for all their hard work and time.
Everyone at Dunkirk really enjoyed their visit and learnt a lot. We would like to take this opportunity to thank Taija, Minna, Heini and Katarina for the lovely gifts they brought from Finland for the school and for all their hard work and time.
Local Newspaper reports on our link with Finland
More images from Finland
It’s been an amazing and inspirational time in Finland. Rastaala
school, in Espoo (near Helsinki), gave us such a wonderful welcome and we have returned with so many ideas and thoughts. It was wonderful to use skype to talk with everyone back at Dunkirk.
Below are a few more images from our time there – more to follow.
school, in Espoo (near Helsinki), gave us such a wonderful welcome and we have returned with so many ideas and thoughts. It was wonderful to use skype to talk with everyone back at Dunkirk.
Below are a few more images from our time there – more to follow.
4 Staff Visit Helsinki - February 2013
Ms Gallagher, Ms Jurkiw, Mrs Hollis and Ms Simpson have all made a visit to our link school in Finland. It was very brave to go in February...the weather can be extremely cold and very snowy. They have been exploring the Big Question, 'Why is Water Precious?' with their link classes and teachers. They have skyped Dunkirk at assembly time and we have been able to ask them questions and find out all about their visit. We look forward to hearing more on their return! Here are a few photos they have sent us so far...
Visit to Helsinki October 2012
Mrs Alford and Mrs Qureshi went on the first visit to Helsinki to organise and plan for our new Comenius Project. All schools were represented. Rastaala School in Helsinki were the hosts and the Head Teachers and coordinators from Norway, Italy and UK travelled there. The welcome was amazing and many exciting plans were made for the forthcoming months.Our link schools are Voksen Skole in Oslo, Norway; Rastaala School in Espoo, Finland and Il Circolo Didattico of Ciampino in Rome, Italy.
Our new 'Comenius Family' has already begun communicating with each other across the 4 countries and the first Big Question we are all going to look at together is 'Why is Water Precious?'. This work will specifically link to the work Cedar Class will be doing next term. 4 teachers will visit Rastaala School next February 2013- Mrs Hollis, Ms Jurkiw, Ms Gallagher and Ms Simpson.
It is a very exciting time for us at Dunkirk...starting a link with 3 other countries will make our curriculum very interesting. Our link school in Pakistan, The Lahore Lyceum are also going to join in with this work.
Our new 'Comenius Family' has already begun communicating with each other across the 4 countries and the first Big Question we are all going to look at together is 'Why is Water Precious?'. This work will specifically link to the work Cedar Class will be doing next term. 4 teachers will visit Rastaala School next February 2013- Mrs Hollis, Ms Jurkiw, Ms Gallagher and Ms Simpson.
It is a very exciting time for us at Dunkirk...starting a link with 3 other countries will make our curriculum very interesting. Our link school in Pakistan, The Lahore Lyceum are also going to join in with this work.