May 2023

Meeting the needs of all learners

Erasmus+ Job shadow project

Meeting the needs of all learners

DeC 2020 - MaY 2023

Project Goals

To link IES Calvino and Lowton Church of England High School

We have been working together over a three year period to link the schools

To promote opportunities within Europe

We are working together to encourage European collaboration

To build friendships

We aim to connect the pupils at both schools through the major job shadow project

Project Report

March 2023

Lowton Church of England teachers worked alongside Italian colleagues and took part in a job shadowing project over the course of the week Collaboration between both schools took place over a period of time to see how we can help one another understand the needs of our learners

Representatives from both

schools Italo Calvino and

Lowton Church of England

High school spoke about their

schools, the rules, norms and

expectations in a question and

answer session.

Teachers observed some sessions but also the UK teachers led some sessions and demonstrated some learning styles the Italian pupils did not use so frequently. For example, in a language lesson we played Fizz Buzz and Quiz, Quiz, Trade.

Children start kindergarten at the age of three. It is entirely optional and Primary school doesn't start until the age of six. The children have English lessons which has a focus on complete immersion of the language.

This is a Primary school we visited. Children have an English lesson every day. It is taught entirely in English by a member of staff. Skills taught are listening, reading, writing and speaking. Children learn through song and video and repetition of the target language.

Many different subjects were observed during the space of time and teachers had time to collaborate and share ideas. This collaboration has continued and a strong link has been formed. These schools will continue to work together in the future.

Timetable for the teachers completing the job shadow- A variety of lessons in different subjects were demonstrated. We saw that some lessons were very similar to those in the UK but in language lessons in Italy there is more emphasis on oral work to enable pupils to communicate.

Classrooms are very traditional in Italy. Understanding the needs of the learners is very important as all classes are mixed ability including the children with more extreme special educational needs. More support teachers are put into the classrooms to assist the class teacher.

Both schools try to encourage children to choose the correct behaviours and to make the right choices The staircase on the left shows some messages of encouragement Eg Stay positive do your best The bottom picture shows that out of COVID came positivity

This is an example of work from a pupil who has extremely complex learning needs. A lot of visual signs are used in the classroom. Some children are non verbal but still enjoy participating in subjects. Here are some examples from work produced in MFL and art.

Both schools want to promote collaboration and understanding of one

another. Despite cultural differences everyone wants peace and

to be able to learn in a calm, well organised environment. This is an

example of collaborative peace posters.

-work hard

-work together

-everyone can contribute whatever type of learner they are

Many thanks to the British Council, Erasmus+, Italo Calvino, Lowton Church of England High School for providing these opportunities for all.