An Important Visit to Dale

Introduction

What an opportunity! A chance for Dale to open its doors to international visitors and share what we do. It gave us chance to share our vision of inclusion; it gave the children opportunities to be hosts, recorders, photographers and interviewers; It allowed us time to reflect on our practice and learn about how other educators in other places view our education system and their own. Time to listen, share and reflect are so valuable and can be so rare this was a wonderful day for all of us.

During the day, our guests visited and observed a number of different classes and activities. They watched our children and teachers working and then asked lots of interesting questions.

How many children are at Dale?Around 550 at any one time - we are a very big primary school!

How many classes do you have?We have 21 classes, 3 classes in each year group.

“There were no such thing as learning mentors when I was at school - I think they are an excellent idea as they help to build confidence.” Tina

“Learning mentors are key to helping our students - every child has a right to feel safe and have a good education.” Mrs Sullivan

We also took the opportunity to ask our visitors questions...

What kind of school do you work in?I also work in a primary school, although our school is much smaller.

Do you teach children with special needs?Yes, we have children with many individual needs in our school. I think our approach is quite different however - you seem to be a lot more independent here at Dale.

“Even though Dale is a very big school everyone is nice and polite and the dinner was yummy! I wouldn’t change anything about our visit.” Steve

Our visitors joined us for school dinners. France is famous for its food - what would they think of ours?

“I’ve been to uni and have a degree - there are plenty of extra courses and support if you need it.” Phillip

Two of our visitors, Phillip and Miro have physical disabilities which means they use wheelchairs to move around. With our Edwardian building, this meant the Phillip and Miro were not able to go upstairs to see our gym and the other classrooms. When we discussed this, our children realised that this was really the only thing Phillip and Miro were unable to do.

“We’re really enjoying our day. The students at Dale are great.” Miro

Our Foundation Stage children had prepared some entertainment for our visitors. They sang songs with actions. Singing and moving together like this helps us to keep fit and healthy, as well as develop our coordination and social skills. It is also great fun!

“Our school system is very different - we have a small school of 200 pupils with special needs, some have

physical disabilities, some have speech problems and some have learning difficulties.” Thierry

“I work mainly with eastern European families in our community, many who have experienced persecution - we need to do all we can to help with their education. Peter comes to see me every day and I am slowly learning to speak Slovakian!” Mrs Holness

Play is very important at Dale. We play to learn, make friends and gain confidence. We use play in all aspects of our school life - it is a great way to engage our children in their learning and to help some of our less confident children overcome their fears or difficulties.

“We have three learning mentors, at Dale - all helping to improve our student’s development.” Mrs Sullivan

Finally...Thank you so much for coming to see us at Dale. You have inspired us to find out more about living and learning in France and we hope you found your visit valuable.

We hope to see you again soon!

A Dale Community Primary School Publication 2011