This week we are really proud of...

Paddock Wood Primary Academy has been awarded the Foundation Level, International Schools Award from the British Council. The judges had the following to say about our application.

"Congratulations to everyone at Paddock Wood Primary Academy on the successful start of your International School Award journey; You have met the requirements at this level i.e. introductory statements and a minimum of one appropriate activity and have successfully achieved the Foundation Level. The values at the heart of your work are admirable and great starting point for internationalism. Your application was fantastic and a joy to read; your overall cultural awareness and respect and attention to all aspects of different cultures is admirable. You demonstrated that internationalism in embedded in all aspects of your schoolwork; you are conscious of your limitations in your immediate environment and have taken steps to overcome it. Having chosen a book as your starting point you also instil love of learning and reading in students. This activity is a well-rounded and diverse one that expands to all various layers of each culture and deepens understanding of students. It is wonderful that you have also looked at culture at a personal level e.g. the way people from different cultures express themselves. The document you have included was amazing and shows the different dimensions of your work. Your second activity uses story telling which is relatable for younger children. The approach you took to look at variety of versions for one single story, hopefully will show the children there is more than one side to everything. In re-telling the stories they develop their skills as well. Also, bringing in classical music would have a massive impact in how they perceive music as well. Again, this is multi-dimensional outlook towards culture and expands their knowledge and understanding while developing their skills as well. Considering you already have links in Tanzania, you are not far from your next level achievement if you wish to apply for the Intermediate Level. Collaboration with your partner can be carried out via online tools as long as the students get to work with their peers directly. You will need to submit details of three international activities carried out during a twelve-month period prior to the application date: the activities should be enabling children to learn about other countries and aspects of their cultures in a curriculum-based context.  One of the activities should be carried out in active and reciprocal collaboration with a partner school in a different country, by which pupils in the two schools should communicate and exchange/share information on a pre-agreed curriculum-based topic or theme, to facilitate intercultural comparing and contrasting, as well as enriching the learning outcomes.  We hope you will be able to apply for Intermediate Level certification in the not-too-distant future and wish you success and enjoyment with your ongoing international work. Congratulations again, it was a very strong application, and we are looking forward to receive your next."

A huge well done and thank you to Mrs Ait-Mansour for pulling all the information together and for submitting

such a strong application.