Case Study: Ken Stimpson Community SchoolWerrington, Peterborough
Global Teacher placement and the Link Schools ProgrammeLiz Bartley was a Round 2 Global Teacher in the Eastern Cape, South Africa in 2002. The impact of that experience prompted her to apply to go out again as a member of the Global Teacher Support Team (GTST) in 2003. She is now deeply involved in a community project which, by its very nature, will ensure that she makes several more visits to Upper Culunca Senior Secondary School. Liz teaches sociology in a large community school on the outskirts of Peterborough where there are about 900 students in Years 7 - 13. There is also a separate post-16 centre. The students are of very mixed ethnic backgrounds and come from all over the world. Iranians, Turks, Italians and Bulgarians study alongside South Americans and a large group of Asian girls who have transferred from the old county grammar school. Upper Culunca is a relatively small and very remote rural secondary school about three hours drive from the nearest town of Umtata. The whole infrastructure of the area is very poor: no electricity, no water supply and dirt roads which are impassable at certain times of the year. Unemployment runs at about 70% and those who are able to get a job leave the community for the larger towns and cities. Upper Culunca has three classrooms, as many toilets, a staff-room and is fenced. This last fact is one of particular significance for the Farming Project that Liz has helped set up and will be described in the last section of this report. Upper Culunca has had three Global Teachers, Liz being the second. The school is not renowned for its speedy reactions to change initiatives, but the Principal, Mrs Malindi, is very aware that many benefits have occurred as the result of working with Link Community Development. Activities and BenefitsAmongst those directly arising from the Global Teachers Programme, Mrs Malindi lists:
Several other benefits are part of the ongoing relationship with Link in South Africa whereby regular training sessions are organised for school governance, financial management and the involvement of the parents on the School Governing Body. Perhaps the most significant comment listed was one that is least available to evaluation strategies or techniques: "The placement of the Global Teachers in our school (white people from the UK) has given the pupils the feeling that their school is recognised by first world countries." This is echoed in some of the comments by students (18 and 19 year-olds) when asked what they had learnt from being linked. They were surprised to find that they "could be helped by outsiders". They have noticed that since the link there have been some significant changes in their school: "There's been an improvement in the infrastructure of our school. The teachers use a variety of teaching methods and they are using student-centred methods." The specific benefits of linking with Ken Stimpson Community School have been beyond their wildest dreams. In addition to all Liz's help and advice on school management and methodology while she was there, Upper Culunca benefited by over £1,000 that was raised by her school and her sister's church and has been used to buy water-butts to save rain water, a very precious resource. It also helped to fund two new classrooms that have now been completed. The longer term Farm Project will be funded by over £3,000 raised by Rotary Clubs in the UK and in Umtata. The benefits to Ken Stimpson School have been equally far ranging.
For two young men, hearing about the Link school in South Africa motivated them to take action themselves. When Liz told them about the Active Citizens In Schools (ACIS) project, they they decided to do a sponsored run to raise money for the school. They had T-shirts printed stating that they were "Raising Money for Upper Culunca Senior Secondary School", complete with South African flag, and ran to change their own lives, as well as those of their peers in the Eastern Cape. Curriculum and citizenshipIn her role as PSHE and Citizenship Co-ordinator, Liz has ensured that these
subjects have been mapped across the curriculum and are embedded into both
School and Department Improvement Plans. She has used her experiences in South
Africa together with a TIPD (Teachers' International Development Programme)
opportunity to visit Texas to learn about the "Character Counts" scheme, to help
train all the staff in several aspects of Citizenship. She has also been recognised by the Peterborough Evening Telegraph as Volunteer of the Year and has every reason to be proud of the silver trophy and the Link Community Development certificate displayed in the school entrance hall. In her annual report to the governors, under Whole School Strategies and Policies, Liz recorded her "training of the whole staff on the potential of school linking". She also noted the "embedding of Citizenship in the whole curriculum (which) is currently focusing mainly on our Link School, with work being done in Art on (African) landscapes and in Dance with African dancing." Furthermore, "We aim to develop the school linking further, getting other departments involved. We also aim to involve other departments more in the delivery of specific Citizenship modules. A system of end of module assessments is being refined ... We have trialled a reporting system for citizenship as this will soon be a statutory requirement."
Internet research, maps, photos, posters and biographies are being accompanied by more writing than she has ever seen from many of the class. One lad who had a reputation for 'sobbing' his way through reading lessons has produced an illustrated page on the township of Soweto and details of the effect of apartheid on the beaches in Durban. Questions implicit in the book have been made explicit in posters and pictures from the characters' perspectives: "Why do we not have much food or money?" "Why does Mma work for this white lady? Why is she called the madam?" "Why do we need a pass?" "What makes whites and blacks so different, other than skin colour?" Carefully written letters of thanks to Liz for coming to talk to them in her 'free' periods have also exercised their literacy skills: "Thanks for the talk you did about South Africa; it made me think just how lucky I am, like they don't have any shoes to wear, neither socks as well, on that spiky grass. I really liked that metal toy hand-made car by the South African infants, I wish I could do stuff like that, it's really clever." And Liz's personal favourite: "... When I am older I would love to go out there and teach those children. I would probably teach them English, Maths and Music and they can teach me how to make stuff out of rubbish (plastic bags)! ... Again, thank you loads."
The success of the first one in 2002 encouraged her to run another one in October 2003 at Peterborough Town Hall. 180 students were given a choice of three workshops during the day's programme run by representatives from international organisations:
The summary "As a result of the workshop I will:
The longer term outcomes are potentially even more sustainable: for the first time, students are beginning to enquire about courses in Development Education at university. Two have been offered places for next year and Liz is hopeful that they will achieve the required grades. Connecting communitiesBefore embarking on a placement all Global Teachers have to complete a baseline assessment indicating their hopes for the outcomes both individually and for their school. Liz recognised from the outset that "Ken Stimpson School is a very insular community, with little knowledge of even European events outside of the media ... We do not currently have links with any other schools ... I hope through newspaper coverage and contact with parents to generate some interest in global issues." This was corroborated by Steph Wyton, who commented "The children are now aware that there's more to the world than Peterborough. They have been very blinkered in Werrington and had no sense of anything outside of their area. The Global Citizenship Conference really opened their eyes. They could see that there was something going on beyond Peterborough!" It would seem VERY clear that Liz has exceeded all her expectations in the activities she has organised and the various communities both within and beyond the school that she has influenced. Her sister's church has raised a lot of money for Upper Culunca and "are keen to forge links with a specific church in South Africa." In the wider education community, there is currently no Development Education
Centre (DEC) in Peterborough. One of the other unexpected outcomes of Liz's
follow-up work has been the further award of Advanced Skills Teacher Status for
Citizenship. This enables her to spend time (one day per week) in any of the 50
primary and 13 secondary schools in the area, supporting and promoting work in
citizenship and the wider area of global issues. She IS, in effect, the DEC! One other community that Liz has had a long connection with and concern for is that of those living with HIV/AIDS. As part of her work in PSHE she regularly raises awareness of these issues with colleagues and students at Ken Stimpson School. Her placement in the Eastern Cape, as for many other Global Teachers, was a real culture shock. Witnessing the teachers' and students' weekly attendance at funerals and their almost complete denial of the reason for so many deaths, is a powerful and poignant experience. Liz was so especially moved by this that she persuaded Link Community Development to focus on the pandemic as part of the brief for the Round 3 Global Teachers. She mentored the Global Teacher Support Team and facilitated their workshop on HIV/AIDS for all the principals and Global Teachers whilst in South Africa last summer (2003). She was instrumental in ensuring that more materials were ordered from an organisation called "Soul City" so that each school has booklets and posters to support what is undoubtedly the most significant area of education in the curriculum. Link Community Development, in partnership with Health Development Action, has recently been awarded a prestigious contract from the South African National Department of education to develop HIV/AIDS materials to be used nationally and future Global Teachers will be able to help take this work forward in schools. Her connections with the Rotary Club in Market Deeping have had consequences far beyond Liz's initial speech to them in February 2003. The national Rotary club added to the grant made by the local branch and suggested that during her return visit to Umtata in July, she should make contact with the branch there. The outcomes of those visits have ensured a project that should bring many long-term benefits to the Upper Culunca community. Sustainability for the futureThis is a link in which the phrase 'mutually beneficial partnerships' has a special resonance. Not only in the educational sense of forging links across the economic and educational equator but also in the sense that lasting changes in both attitudes and achievements are possible. The Farming Project could well form a case study in its own right. It contains literally and metaphorically, the seeds of hope for two communities that could have remained isolated and ignorant within their own cultures. Now, through this very practical initial endeavour to plant and grow basic vegetables and cereal crops, there is the opportunity for sustainable employment for the students studying Agricultural Science and for those who study Business Economics. With advice and support from Liz's host's son, Sivuyise Kulu, and the management skills of members of the Umtata Rotary Club, Liz has prepared a business plan, costed the initial outlay and projected possible developments over the next three or more years. (For full details please contact Link UK). From the perspective of Ken Stimpson School, this is a project which both staff and students have supported from the beginning and are highly motivated to see succeed. If the plans for restructuring in the Peterborough area mean that this school acquires Specialist School Status as a Business Enterprise and Citizenship College, this Farming Project could be well placed as a core item in an international business study and might facilitate Liz's dream of taking some of her students out to Upper Culunca to support the work being done.
As an example of Continuing Professional Development, Liz would rate the Global Teacher experience very highly: "The best thing I've ever done - changed my life completely. All teachers should have this chance. One unexpected spin-off is that you become a model for your students - because I took action, they want to take action." Compiled by Frances Hillier, Education Advisor, Link Community Development UK, Nov 2003 |
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This
has resulted in having a larger team of colleagues working in this field and
consequently becoming more involved in Global Citizenship.
In Year 7, colleague Stephanie Wyton, who is a
Curriculum Leader for Key Skills, a Year 7 tutor as well as an English teacher
spoke with great enthusiasm for her current work on the issues raised in
Beverley Naidoo's "Journey to Jo'burg". Liz's power-point presentations and
talks to her classes have "brought it all home. We may see
similar pictures in the Sunday supplements and although we may care, we don't
get round to doing anything about it." Staff and pupils have been moved
by Liz's reports on her visits and the progress of the Farm Project. Her
photographic displays and assemblies have made it all "real ... from someone you know. It's not 'in your face', but her
personal investment has permeated the school." Stephanie now feels much
more knowledgeable about the background to this slim but powerful novel and set
her class a project about the 1976 Soweto riots. The quality of work her Year 7s
are handing in has astounded her:
Recycling is only one of the features that the children
home in on when beginning to learn about a culture of poverty. Liz wanted the
older students to engage with wider dimensions of citizenship and conceived the
idea of running a World Citizenship Conference, not just for her own
pupils but for all Post-16 students in the area.
and evaluation reports reflect the immediate impact of the
conference.
This link demonstrates the breadth and depths of
possibilities arising out of one five-week placement. Link states that its aim
is "to give children a chance". This link is
certainly a manifesto for that on both sides of the globe and additionally shows
how connections between schools can develop connections between communities in a
wide variety of meaningful ways. Liz's continuing involvement in the Global
Teachers Programme has assisted in raising awareness of the schools' needs with
the district officials in the Eastern Cape and also with a wide range of other
Non-Government Organisations (NGOs) in her locality in the UK.
