A primary school in Coventry is amongst the first in the country to develop international learning links with a school with a collaboration of schools in China, enabling year 5 and 6 local schoolchildren to broaden their horizons and learn on a virtual level across the Globe.
Through the 'Children's University' (CU) Finham Primary School in Coventry has collaborated with the Confucius Education Group in China to establish a firm basis for future learning for pupils. The scheme was inspired by a partnership approach to learning between the schools and the Children's University, a charity that enables children to develop learning and improve their skills in a fun and engaging way.
The Children's University has paved the way for the children to learn in an international setting. The CU is a charitable trust which offers 7 to 14 year olds (and 5 to 6 year olds with their families) exciting and innovative learning activities and experiences outside normal school hours.
One of the first tasks the children will be attempting is to script and produce a two minute video to for the International Children's University Conference on 5th December to convince the decision makers that the collaboration is a good idea and should be more widely adopted. The children have to develop the idea, source the music, write the script and produce the film to share at the conference. No easy task.
Richard Machin, Headteacher at Finham Primary School in Coventry has this to say about the scheme: "Inspiration is the spark that awakens us to the possibility of achieving awesome things. Through Children's University we are able to ignite a deeper level of learning within our children and show them the pathways and skills to their future. Having the opportunity to open our children's horizons beyond their immediate community and have a love of global learning, working with children from other cultures and countries can only serve to help them 'Learn to Learn, Collaborate, Understand and Communicate across many boundaries and develop the citizens of tomorrow'.
Having 7 year olds finding out answers to their questions by asking their friends in Africa, China, Malaysia or Australia removes the ceiling of what is possible and takes learning to a whole new level and creates tomorrows learners, today! It is incredibly exciting to see where the children will take this learning and as a Headteacher of a Primary School in the UK, I have no doubt it will serve to accelerate progress and outcomes for every child involved way beyond the immediate narrow data measures."
Mark Upton, Director of Education for the Confucius Education Group in China commented:"The children are extremely excited to be working with school children in the UK. This is a completely new concept to us and we are certain that it will bring many benefits for the children. They will be able to share their ideas and inspiration for new projects and learn from each other, bringing together not only different countries but also different cultures, and the benefits that brings."
Jenny Li from the Confucius Education Group commented: "Children's Passport To Learning are a great international bond. By linking China & UK in this filming project children become joint discoverers!"
