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June Update
News from UNESCO Associated Schools
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Dear Contact Teacher
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Welcome to the June update from UNESCO Associated
Schools in the UK.
This update is part of a regular series of newsletters which aims to highlight events and resources available to support activities in member school across the UK.
Unless specified, the activities listed are not
organised or sponsored by UNESCO Associated Schools in the UK.
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UK schools featured in UNESCO publication
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 The Education for Rural Livelihoods and Food Sovereignty
(ERLAFS) project, involving six members of UNESCO Associated Schools in the UK,
has been featured in the UNESCO publication 'Second Collection of Good Practices:
Education for Sustainable Development'. ERLAFS aims to develop shared learning
opportunities between secondary and primary school in Wales and Zanzibar
and to foster the professional development of teachers in support of poverty
reduction.
The project, coordinated by Sazani Associates, has been included as
a success story in Education for Sustainable Development for its focus on capacity
building both inside and outside the classroom. To download an electronic
version of the publication, please click http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0018/001812/181270E.pdf.
For a hard copy version, please contact Anne Breivik on
abreivik@unesco.org.uk or 020 7766 3460. |
Heritage and Environment Conference in Russia
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 A UK
delegation (1 teacher and 1 pupil) will have the opportunity to take part in an
international conference for UNESCO Associated Schools titled, "We are
together to protect rivers: youth for conservation and enrichment of natural
and cultural heritage". The conference will take place in Yakutsk
(Republic Sakha-Yakutia), Russian
Federation (Russian Far East), 7-10 July
2009. Each participating country will be represented by a delegation of 1 teacher and 1 pupil from a school in the UNESCO Associated Schools network.
Board and lodging and all the activities in Yakutsk will be covered by the conference host.
Participating schools will have to cover their own travel costs.
All delegations are invited to make presentations on
activities relating to natural and cultural heritage in their country. The
working languages of the Conference are Russian and English. The Conference will start in Yakutsk and will be held on board a ship. A
visit the famous Lena Pillars is planned as part of the cruise down the Lena
River.
If your school would like to take part in the conference in Yakutsk, please contact
Anne Breivik on abreivik@unesco.org.uk
or 020 7766 3460 as soon as possible. The deadline for registration is 14 June
2009.
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Link with Dubai
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 St Mary's Catholic School in Dubai, a
member of UNESCO Associated Schools in the United
Arab Emirates, is looking to establish links with a UK school. St
Mary's is interested in developing joint projects around cultural heritage and
intercultural dialogue. If you would like to find out more about a potential
link with St Mary's, please contact Anne Breivik on abreivik@unesco.org.uk or 020 7766
3460.
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Take part in a European Comenius project on doping in sports
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UK
schools are sought to take part in a European Comenius project on doping in
sport. The project has been initiated by a member of
UNESCO Associated
Schools in France and already involves schools from
Poland, Bulgaria, Czech
Republic, Spain,
Italy and Germany. The
project aims raise awareness about the dangers of doping in sport through
developing leaflets, a DVD and organising a conference bringing together
schools from all participating countries.
The project will cover a number of subjects including sciences,
history, arts, physical education and ICT.
If your school would like to take part in this project,
please contact Christine Pezet Gonnet (Project Coordinator) on christine-sportnet@hotmail.fr
or
Anne Breivik on abreivik@unesco.org.uk / 020 7766 3460.
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Cumbria school links up with Mexico
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 Ulverston Victoria High School in Cumbria recently joined
UNESCO Associated Schools in the UK and already has well established links with
'Secundaria Tecnica 44 - Francisco Villa' in Mexico City through the British
Council. Utilising the British Council's Global School Partnerships, staff and
students from Ulverston Victoria have been
able to visit Mexico
several times. Students from Cumbria
are also in regular contact with their Mexican friends through email, and
recently got a first hand account of how their friends in Mexico are
coping with the swine flu epidemic.
Philosophical enquiry has been at the core of the link
between the two schools which has been running since 2001. Philosophical
enquiry or Philosophy for Children (P4C) emphasises the importance of
enquiry/questioning skills, imaginative and meaningful dialogue, and careful
reasoning/reflection in the process of education. Nathan Cumberbatch, a student
at Ulverston Victoria said: "Some may think of
the visit to Mexico
as being a holiday however it is not. The linking has influenced a deeper
exploration and understanding of a whole range of subjects and it has also
changed my life in ways that I cannot simply mention as it would take weeks to
write about it all".
Having established a successful and sustainable link with 'Secundaria
Tecnica 44 - Francisco Villa', Ulverston Victoria
has now embarked on an additional Mexican link, this time with Pequeno Sol
School. Pequeno
Sol School
is a member of UNESCO Associated Schools in Mexico
and is located in the Chiapas region of Mexico. This
project will initially bring together students of 13-15 years of age from both
schools for a project developing the theme of 'Living Sustainably ' which will utilise
philosophical enquiry to empower the students to 'Think Globally and Act
locally'. For more information about Ulverston Victoria's links, please see http://www.mexicolink.co.uk/
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OTHER EVENTS AND OPPORTUNITIES
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Philosophical
Thinking for Global Change - conference in Cumbria
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Ulverston Victoria High School's link with Mexico
will also be showcased at a Philosophy for Children Conference at the University of Cumbria 10 -12 September 2009. The
conference is organised by Cumbria Development Education Centre, Global Link, Ulverston Victoria
High School and the University of Cumbria
and is aimed at educationalists, policy makers and researchers interested in
the ethical potential of philosophical enquiry in education. The programme
includes a presentation from UNESCO Associated Schools in the UK. For further
information, please contact Cumbria Development Education Centre on 015394
30231 or office@cdec.org.uk. The conference
fee is £300. Teachers from UNESCO Associated Schools can contact Anne Breivik
on abreivik@unesco.org.uk or 020
77663460 to enquire regarding a subsidised fee.
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Grants available from
the Royal Geographical Society
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 The Royal Geographical Society awards five grants of up to £800
each to fund innovative geography teaching at secondary level to enable
imaginative, innovative or creative teaching materials and teaching methods to
be developed. The aim is to serve both geography pupils and the wider teaching
community. Grants are for secondary geography teachers, NQT's, GTP Trainees and
PGCE Students. The application deadline is 16 October 2009. Please see www.rgs.org
for more information.
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Who do we think we are? Week
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 Who do we think we
are? Week runs from 22 to 28 June. Who do we think we are? is an
educational programme which engages primary and secondary school teachers in
the exploration of identity, diversity and citizenship with children and young
people - in their schools, local communities and nationally. Each year there is
a national week of events and activities. See www.wdwtwa.org.uk for more information.
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| World Day Against Child Labour - 12 June
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 The World Day Against Child Labour will be celebrated on 12
June 2009 and aims to promote awareness and action to tackle child labour. This
year, the World Day marks the tenth anniversary of the adoption of the landmark
International Labour Organisation's Convention No. 182, which addresses the
need for action to tackle the worst forms of child labour. Whilst celebrating
progress made during the past ten years, the World Day 2009 will highlight the
continuing challenges, with a focus on exploitation of girls in child labour. Around
the world, an estimated 100 million girls are involved in child labour. Many of
these girls undertake similar types of work as boys, but often also endure
additional hardships and face extra risks. Moreover, girls are all too often
exposed to some of the worst forms of child labour, often in hidden work
situations.
ILO has developed a special education pack to address the
issues of children's rights and child labour called SCREAM, Supporting Children's
Rights through Education, Arts and Media. SCREAM includes ideas for how to
celebrate the World Day Against Labour and uses creative and innovative
teaching methods to engage young people in issues around child labour. To download the SCREAM pack, go to http://learning.itcilo.org/ilo/ipec/scream/pack_en/
Save the Children UK has recently developed teaching
resources on child labour for a project called Eye to Eye with links to the
National Curriculum for England
and Global Dimension cross curricular strands. The resources include photos,
stories, introductory activities, presentations, worksheets, handouts and
background materials. As part of the project, Save the Children worked with
local organisations in Bolivia,
Pakistan, India and South Africa to gather stories from
young people directly involved in child labour. The materials are also
available in Spanish. For more information, see http://www.savethechildren.org.uk/eyetoeye/english.htm
The Human Rights Pack developed by UNESCO Associated Schools
in the UK
and United Nations Association UK is also a good introduction to human rights
and children's rights, and includes assembly presentations on the UN Convention
on the Rights of the Child and Child Rights and Armed Conflict. To download the
pack, go to http://www.una.org.uk/learnabouthumanrights/ |
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UNESCO Associated Schools
in the UK is part of a global network of schools promoting quality education.
The UK
network supports the integration of international perspectives in schools and
promotes the values of UNESCO, including human rights, mutual respect and
cultural diversity.
We are eager to
showcase activities related to the UNESCO Associated Schools network. If you
have a story about your school you want to share, please contact Anne Breivik,
UK National Coordinator (T: 020 7766 3460 / abreivik@unesco.org.uk).
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