International School Award (2019-2022)

St. Francis de Sales has once again been awarded the British Council’s International School Award.
The award is given to schools that include international work as part of the curriculum and those that embed it within their culture. Here are some quotes from the assessor’s report:

“The international dimension is clearly embedded in the curriculum and whole school ethos. Your pupils are gaining citizenship attitudes and attributes and an appreciation of cultural diversity. Your support, commitment, creativity and innovative international work is greatly appreciated. You are a credit to the wider community.”

The team at St. Francis de Sales does a fantastic job and we are all incredibly proud of the job we do each day.
We would like to extend our thanks to everyone who had a part to play in achieving this award, but a special mention must go to the Liverpool Lord Mayor, Anna Rothery, who came to our school to present us with the award alongside John Rolfe- the British Council ISA leader who commented that our work in this area is "Inspirational".

Intent

As the demography of our community changes and the opportunities to travel and work globally increase, it is crucially important for our pupils to gain a deeper awareness, understanding and acceptance of different cultures and traditions.We aim for our pupils to welcome and embrace the diversity around them locally and globally, enabling them to become informed, accepting, outward looking global citizens. 

Learning is carefully planned and sequenced within and across year groups. It is centred around specific units of study which take their lead from the Geography curriculum, and also through collaborative projects in each year group with our partner schools regionally and Worldwide. We deliberately assess the perceptions and global awareness of our children through year groups as a measure of their developing knowledge and understanding.

Implementation

Termly ‘International Weeks’ see pupils undertake a unit of work, deepening their cultural understanding of their partner school. Activities during this week include:

• A whole school assembly celebrating diversity and highlighting the importance of compassion for others
• Daily lessons promoting an understanding of key areas such as the cultural history of our link school and its impact upon school life today 
• Group activities investigating the extent to which the demographic of an area impacts upon educational opportunities, using a range of case studies
• Enriching experiences celebrating the diversity of culture such as: traditional dance lessons; reflective art projects; and opportunities to taste native cuisine.
• MFL specialists deliver language lessons developing oracy skills such as pronunciation, intonation and pace.

Collaborative projects with our partner schools see pupils develop their cultural awareness and understanding. Examples of these include:

• The production of video messages whereby children compare and contrast schools, developing oracy and computing skills.
• Letter writing sees pupils increase their compassion and understanding as they write for a specific purpose and audience.
• Cross curricular opportunities are also evident through the creation of shared oral and digital presentations. Here, pupils critically reflect upon how their thoughts and attitudes have changed as a result of their learning.
• Art work is produced, showcasing respect and appreciation for our global partners.

Children are also provided with opportunities to broaden their global and cultural understanding through visits at home and abroad. For example:

• Exchange visits between ourselves and Manchester Muslim Preparatory School
• Y4-6 skiing trips to Europe provide experience of language and culture as well as building resilience and independence.
• Y6 visit to Barcelona takes in cultural and historical visits as well as providing pupils with the chance to use their Spanish

Impact

The impact of teaching and learning is measured and assessed by:

•   ongoing formative assessment of increased knowledge and understanding completed at the end of each task by the class teacher
•   pupil interviews to identify citizenship attitudes and attributes and cultural diversity completed termly by the International coordinator
•   a monitoring cycle to ensure collaboration is reciprocal and active completed externally by the British Council every three years

We annually review our policy and continue to build on previous success. This enables us to refine and adapt our planning further which, in turn, improves the quality of teaching and learning. To assess the children’s knowledge and understanding, whilst soliciting opinions on how collaborative projects could be adapted to improve them further, children are given opportunities to express their thoughts and opinions.

Our linear thread is measured by the lead coordinator through pupil interviews regarding attitudes and values toward cultural and global awareness termly. Progress will be shown through the responses; an increased cultural awareness and understanding of the diversity of the wider world, developing over four years, will be reflective of good progress.

Providing an insight into the wider world around them, the International Dimension provides children with the opportunity to explore the world, learn about different cultures and appreciate global diversity.