At Star Primary, we are passionate about Global Citizenship and are steadfast in our commitment to raise international awareness and understanding. Exciting collaborative projects with our international partner schools are at the heart of our curriculum and we are very proud of the international partnerships we have established.
Our pupils are incredibly fascinated and intrigued by the world around us and greatly enjoy the opportunity to collaborate with their international peers at our partner schools in Spain and South Africa. Our partnerships and a summary of our collaborative projects are detailed below:
Our international partner schools –
CEIP Gaspar Melchor de Jovellanos (Spain) –
Location: Situated in the region of Asturias, in north-west Spain, CEIP Gaspar Melchor de Jovellanos is a primary school in the heart of the city of Gijón.
Asturias may not be one the most well known regions outside of Spain but it should be! Asturias has beautiful landscapes, delicious and varied cuisine and unique customs and culture.
Partnership overview: Our partnership allows pupils from both schools to gain an insight into what life is like for primary aged pupils in the United Kingdom and Spain. Each year, we collaborate on a range of different projects, primarily with a language focus, to add a layer of intrigue and challenge for our Key Stage Two pupils who study Spanish. The projects are as follows:
Autumn term – Christmas card exchange
The pupils write a Christmas card to their peers in Gijón in Spanish after having learnt about Christmas traditions and customs in Spain. The sophistication of the vocabulary and sentence structure increases as they move up through the school. Our pupils love receiving cards from their Spanish peers and learning about life in Spain.
Spring term – Digital presentation
During the spring term, our pupils exchange group presentations giving their peers in Spain a greater insight into life at Star Primary as well as share some of the special events that take place in our school across the year. The pupils use different presentation tools to do this such as Google Slides or Explain Everything.
Summer term – Postcard exchange
In the summer term, we write postcards describing the main attractions and places of interest from our local area to more widely in the United Kingdom. The area of focus for our pupils are as follows:
- Year 3 – Canning Town
- Year 4 – Stratford
- Year 5 – London
- Year 6 – The United Kingdom
Although our partnership has a languages focus, we intend for this to grow and develop into other curriculum areas as well. For example, in the next academic year, we will be working together on a geographical project to learn more about the impact of rising sea levels around the world. With CEIP Gaspar Melchor de Jovellanos being located in Gijón – a coastal city – and our school being located in London, a city with a major river, we will be able to draw parallels in how both cities are currently prepared or will need to prepare for rising sea levels in the future.
Boet Jegels Primary School (South Africa) –
Location: Boet Jegels Primary is situated in Gqeberha (previously named Port Elizabeth) in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa.
Partnership overview:
Our partnership allows pupils from both schools to gain an insight into what life is like for primary aged pupils in the United Kingdom and South Africa. We would like our children to develop a deep understanding of growing up in South Africa, what school is like and what are the future aspirations of the pupils at Boet Jegels Primary School.
Some of the key areas we intend to work together on include, but are not limited to:
- Climate Change
- Human Rights
- Pupil Leadership
- Personal Development
- Music
- Sports
Furthermore, we would like our pupils to be involved in fundraising for the improvement of facilities and resources at Boet Jegels Primary School and facilitate correspondence between the pupils at both schools. Our ultimate aspiration is to establish reciprocal visits to the school in the future.
Furthermore, we intend to work collaboratively as school professionals to share staff training and development, current research and educational thinking.
International Week at Star Primary
Our school is located in one of the most diverse boroughs in all of Europe and here at Star, we are so proud to serve and be a unifying force for our multicultural community. With this context in mind, we explore the theme of identity each year with the children so that they have a greater understanding and appreciation of all the factors which help to shape their identity even if our backgrounds and origins may vary greatly. Some of these factors include our personality, our interests and our countries of origin for example.
We also use this week to explore the wonderful opportunities languages can lead to both now and in the children’s futures. We have many bilingual children in our school and it forms a large part of our communities’ identity. You may already know that learning a modern foreign language is statutory from year 3 in England and each Key Stage Two class has a weekly Spanish lesson here at Star.
International Week – events
We always have an action packed week for the children to enjoy! From Flamenco dance workshops, Spanish taster lessons for Reception, Year 1 and Year 2 to an end of term Mariachi concert – International Week has it all!
During the week, each year group delves into the traditions and culture of a particular Spanish speaking country. This way, the children will have a deeper understanding of the Spanish speaking world as they progress through the school. The countries that each year group learn about are as follows:
- Nursery + Reception – Colombia
- Year 1 – Argentina
- Year 2 – Mexico
- Year 3 – Peru
- Year 4 – Spain
- Year 5 – Chile
- Year 6 – Costa Rica
International School Award – Intermediate Certificate
We are very proud to have been recognised for our international work by receiving the prestigious International School Award – Intermediate status by the British Council.
The International School Award encourages and supports schools to develop:
- An international ethos embedded throughout the school
- A whole school approach to international work
- Collaborative curriculum-based work with a number of partner schools
- Year-round international activity
- Involvement of the wider community
Shannon West, Head of UK Schools for the British Council, said: “Star Primary School’s international work has earned the school well-deserved recognition with the British Council International School Award – Intermediate Certificate.
We are proud and delighted to work with this great school. Many thanks to everyone for all their commitment to developing international work and sharing excellent classroom practice and resources. This is enriching education for its pupils; and their excellent collaborative projects with partner schools overseas are bringing the world into their classrooms. International work is key support for the development of skills young people need to be the globally aware citizens of the future.”
Global School Award – Silver level
- Have an established long term partnership with an overseas school, involving collaborative projects
- Provide staff training and CPD opportunities to support our global work
- Outline that global activities are a year-round feature of the school curriculum
- Run and participate in joint projects collaboratively with students overseas
Turing Scheme
The Turing Scheme is the UK government’s global program to study and work abroad. The scheme provides funding for international opportunities in education.
This year, we have made an application for funding with the view to sending a group of Year 5 pupils to Gijón – Spain, the city of our partner school CEIP Gaspar Melchor de Jovellanos in the summer term of 2025. The outcome of our application will be announced in June 2024.
