SCHOOL  EXCHANGE    BROOKFIELD  COMMUNITY  SCHOOL  (CHESTERFIELD,  UK)    

INS  MIQUEL  BIADA    (MATARÓ,  BARCELONA,  SPAIN)  

 

3  November  /12  December    

 2011  

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INDEX

HISTORY……………………………………………………….……3 STAFFING ON ENGLISH EXCHANGE VISITS………….……...4 2011 ACTIVITY SCHEDULE EXCHANGE PROGRAMME…….4 AIMS OF THE PROJECT……………………………………….….5 PREPARATION FOR THE PROJECT……………………………5 THE WORK EXPERIENCE………………………………………...6 THE WORKING DAY……………………………………………….7 WORK PLACEMENTS IN CHESTERFIELD………………..……7 EVALUATION……………………………………………………..…8 THE PLACEMENTS………………………………………………...9 COMMENTS FROM SCHOOL REPORTS……………………….9 STUDENT’S OPINIONS…………………………………………...10

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HISTORY Miquel Biada School has had links with schools in England, France, Italy, Denmark and Poland for the last twenty years. These links have provided opportunities for our students to travel and get to know other cultures and people around Europe. Among all these exchanges, we especially care about one and we claim this with pride as we boost to keep alive our long standing link with England and the town of Chesterfield. Let’s remember a bit how all this started. In the nineties, Àngela Guerrero, teacher of English at vocational training studies, set a link between Mataró Miquel Biada School and Chesterfield Technical College. For several years our vocational training students took part in that exchange which eventually faded away. Luckily, in summer 2003, Marisa Sedgwick and Maria Staton, teachers of Spanish at Chesterfield College, told our school about the possibility of developing links with another school in Chesterfield. Miquel Biada School was delighted to resume the English exchange which was also endorsed and encouraged by Fàtima Prat, Miquel Biada’s Deputy Head Teacher. Communications by e-mail between Sue Webb of Brookfield Community School and Carme Jané of INS Miquel Biada began in order to arrange the first exchange. This took place in November 2004, when a group of 16 Spanish students accompanied by Àngela Guerrero and Juan Manuel Salas visited Chesterfield. The partnership began as an exchange between Spanish students in Year 12 (1º Bachillerato) and English students in Years 12 and 13. The Spanish students visited Chesterfield for one week in November and spent two days in London and the return visit by the English students took place in February. The exchange with Brookfield Community School has run successfully for eight years and at this point it seems appropriate to consolidate the several improvements introduced along this time such as the 10 day-stay in Chesterfield in November and the Work Experience element.

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STAFFING ON ENGLISH EXCHANGE VISITS 2004-2005 Àngela Guerrero and Juan Manuel Salas 2005-2006 Àngela Guerrero and Juan Manuel Salas 2006-2007 Meritxell Roig and Juan Manuel Salas 2007-2008 Meritxell Roig and Juan Manuel Salas 2008-2009 Meritxell Roig and Juan Manuel Salas 2009-2010 Nur Garriga and Juan Manuel Salas 2010-2011 Nur Garriga and Laura Chacón 2011-2012 Nur Garriga and Laura Chacón (see picture) 2011 ACTIVITY SCHEDULE EXCHANGE PROGRAMME The programme of visits has been changed slightly each year. In the previous years the programme has included visits to London, Manchester, York and Leeds. Thursday 3 November

• Arrival at Brookfield at 2pm – 2.30pm.

Friday 4 November

• Welcome breakfast. • Walk into Chesterfield to meet Carol Brindle at the

Portland Hotel at 11am for a guided tour of the town. • At 2.45pm meet at the Town Hall for a meeting with the

Mayor at 3pm. Saturday 5 November

• At 10.00 guided tour of Leeds. Plus a walk around the city centre.

• At 2.30pm matinee performance of We Will Rock You. Sunday 6 November

• Family day.

Monday 7, Tuesday 8 & Wednesday 9 November

• Work Experience in Primary Schools and BCS

Thursday 16 December

• Visit to Brontë Museum in Haworth, Yorkshire at 11am. • Harry Ramsdens in Guiseley at 3pm.

Friday 17 December

• Visit to Castleton 10am (Peak Cavern). • Bakewell. • Chatsworth House at 2pm.

Saturday 12 November • Departure

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AIMS OF THE PROJECT v To encourage our students’ learning of English. v To continue development for a Work Experience project. v To enrich students’ linguistics skills, both in the placements and in the families. v To develop self-knowledge and self-reliance among our students. v To make our students be aware of another country and culture. v To involve primary schools in Chesterfield in working together with Miquel Biada to offer

relevant work experience opportunities to Spanish school students. v To enable students to gain the confidence and skills to travel abroad and be understood in

English as second language learners. PREPARATION FOR THE PROJECT Year 11 (4º ESO) and Year 12 (1º Bachillerato) Spanish students and parents were informed by letter of the opportunity to participate in the Exchange and Work Experience in Chesterfield. Once forms were returned to school, flights were booked through Easyjet at Barcelona airport. A coach was booked for transfer from INS Miquel Biada to Barcelona airport and from London-Gatwick airport to Brookfield Community School in Chesterfield. Insurance was arranged and all issues were carried out, completed and supervised by Fàtima Prat as Deputy Head Teacher who coordinated the whole project.

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THE WORK EXPERIENCE Nine Spanish students were placed at Brookfield and the other twelve students were placed in seven Primary Schools. A teacher from each of the six Primary Schools agreed to collect their assigned student(s) from Brookfield each morning. Arrangements were made for students to remain in the Primary School for lunch. At the end of the day they were collected from the Primary School or Brookfield by their English partner. Each of the students was given a report to hand to the teacher for them to complete at the end of the three days about the student as regards their participation/attitude/linguistic ability etc. The teachers were also asked to evaluate the project. In addition, the students were given a questionnaire, seeking their opinions and evaluating their experience. Four years ago our English colleagues showed us the way to introduce this part in our exchange. Like everything in life, our first steps were not confident enough and our students found the experience rather complicated as some had difficulty in making themselves understood. Hopefully, we reckon our students have been trained and better prepared to cope with this experience year after year. To start with, two years ago all of them received satisfactory comments on their reports by their English teachers. And especially last year, some of our students received excellent comments on their reports, too. This is why we could say our students are gradually doing better and it would be a wonderful opportunity for them to keep on working on this project. The aim during this time was to make our students aware of the importance of being courteous and helpful students in spite of the idiomatic barrier whilst encouraging them to be individuals, independent and self-reliant. During the three days each of the students was visited in their school by their Spanish teachers in order that they could observe the activities undertaken and foster good relationships with the MFL Department in Brookfield and primary staff. The feedback was, without exception, positive as regards both the Miquel Biada students and the concept of such a Work Experience visit. After these four years, we might say we have overcome difficulties and now we are delighted to seize the opportunity of consolidating and lengthening the duration of the project.

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THE WORKING DAY Time Activity 08.30-09.00 Arrive at school and met by School Mentor Teacher 09.00 Lessons start 10.00 Break 13.00 Lunch 13.30 Afternoon lessons 15.30-16.00 School finishes – partners collect them WORK PLACEMENTS IN CHESTERFIELD SCHOOL STUDENT ENGLISH PARTNER Wigley Primary School MIREIA TROYANO HANNAH TAYLOR Old Hall Junior School AGNÈS CHIVA IMOGEN TINSLEY Old Hall Junior School MIREIA GARRIGA EMILY GRAY Brampton Primary School JÚLIA ALBERT EMILY NEWTON Brampton Primary School VERÓNICA ANADÓN LUCY SAYERS Westfield Primary School ESTEFANÍA GIRALDO MEGAN BIGGS Westfield Primary School MARC JOVANÍ JAMES NUGENT Abercrombie Prim. School ALICIA CANO JESSICA JOHNSON Abercrombie Prim. School RAFAEL PÉREZ LOUIS PARKINSON

Highfield Hall Primary School

GLORIA HIDALGO ABBIE TURNER FERNANDO CALVO FREDDIE ANDERSON SANDRA GÓMEZ LAURA PARKES

Brookfield Community

School

CARLA DAURA ELEANOR HAUGHEY EIRA DE MAYA HANNAH WESTROP JOAN BARBA MYLES SPENCER PAU VARELA JORDAN HOOLE JUAN BERNABEU CHARLIE ROSE ARIADNA MORALES LAURA COPESTAKE VÍCTOR ERENAS DOMINIC WALKER IVANA MATÍAS CINDY STONE ISAAC MORENO BENJAMIN WARSOP

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EVALUATION We are delighted with the twinning with Brookfield School; the students are keen to go to England and Chesterfield and its surroundings are excellent places to visit, but most of all the staff Sue Webb, Angie Walker and Jo Slater are very committed to the partnership and are diligent in everything they undertake. These qualities have ensured the success of the exchange for the past eight years; and the patience with which they have taught us how to deal with our exchange have given us confidence that the project will continue for long. Along these years we have been through ups and downs, we have been learning from mistakes and we have been working even harder to make our exchange alive and kicking. Our relationship between Miquel Biada teachers and our Brookfield colleagues has also been cemented throughout these eight years. The more frequently we meet, the better the understanding and commitment. Each year has been easier to make all the necessary arrangements to achieve our purpose: a successful exchange. Much work has been undertaken so far and we will still be eager to keep on working in the future. It is a real pleasure to work with such enthusiastic teachers and share with them our worthiest school asset: our exchange. We are so lucky to have this link with Brookfield School and this is exactly what we would wish to transmit to everyone who reads these pages.

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THE PLACEMENTS All the students spent three days, some on their own and some with a partner, in an English Primary School or in Brookfield. Miss Nur Garrriga and Miss Laura Chacón visited all the students and the schools where they remained. Students got involved in all the activities and learned how to interact with children. TEACHER’S COMMENTS:

• “It was a pleasure to welcome Mark to the classroom. He supported the children well and they enjoyed his company.”

• “The children have really enjoyed Mireia’s company. They felt confident when asking for help.”

• “Due to working with a variety of students and level, Isaac has learnt how to change his manner to the environment.”

• “They seemed to particularly love having a foreign student, despite their young age.” • “She has been a superb representative for her school.” • “She was an absolute credit to her staff and school. She threw herself into everything,

working closely with the pupils and offering help wherever she could”.

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STUDENTS’ OPINIONS

What have you learnt about yourself during your stay in England? With this exchange I learnt a lot of things by myself that I will never forget. I am very happy to have taken part in it, because I think it is a fantastic experience that it will not be repeated again.

Has the exchange helped you reach your expectations on learning English? Yes or Not. Why? Yes, because I was “forced” to speak in English with the family and all of the people in there, and I have learnt a lot of new words with the English teachers and with the English students.

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INS MIQUEL BIADA Av. Puig i Cadafalch, 89-99 08303 Mataró Barcelona Spain Tel. +34 93 7981489

What would you advise to future students preparing to do Work Experience? The most important thing is to enjoy the beautiful experience and try to be very closely with the children. They have to help the teachers and don’t be shy with anyone. It’s very easy being happy with children.

What have you enjoyed and found more profitable about the Work Experience?

The best moments were when I was near the pupils and chatted with them, and helped them. It’s really nice when a pupil asks you something, because you feel yourself useful. Understanding what a child is saying is difficult, but very good practice.