From Literacy and Numeracy to Art, the links between a Welsh and an Indian school have been a huge benefit to the children at both, says Audrey Roberts

Building a model of the Taj Mahal, smelling the fragrant spices of India and examining the beautiful henna mehndi patterns that decorate the hands of Indian brides. It’s no surprise that these activities have enthused our Key Stage 1 pupils. But they’re also gaining an understanding of our diverse world and their place in it, as global citizens. Our link with India has helped them to discover international trade and the ties and interdependencies between India and our own country of Wales – and it’s made these concepts accessible and fun.

It all started three years ago, when we set up a link with the Little Kingdom School in southern India. Ysgol Llywelyn is a large, urban primary school in Rhyl, north Wales. The socioeconomic background of the children is mixed, with 25% receiving free school meals and 10% on the special needs register. Just 1% of the children are of minority heritage, with backgrounds in Bulgaria, China, Kenya and Pakistan. With the aid of a grant from the British Council-managed DFID Global School Partnerships scheme, we have developed our partnership and now the whole school is involved. Each yeargroup works on relevant topics and activities linked to their curriculum.

I have recently been working on two projects with our Under 7s Unit: Transport, and Connections with India. I thought Transport would be a good topic, as I could photograph different modes of transport while in India and share them with our staff and children. Connections with India would show us the items in our homes that come from India and also the goods that we send there. We would also look at how goods are transported between the countries. We would investigate the links and relationships that bind the nations together.

Global work right across the curriculum

With all this information and my first-hand experience, we were able to cover many areas of the curriculum. In Wales, we are working towards the Foundation Phase, which is a new approach to learning for children aged three to seven. Our children are working through different areas of the curriculum and we are integrating our global work in every area. For example, in the area of Knowledge and Understanding of the World, they now all know where India is on the map of the world, and the animals and foods that come from India. In the Constructive area, they modelled different types of transport and built the Taj Mahal out of Lego. Our role play area was an Indian takeaway; here they dressed up, wore bindis and had a super time. We looked at menus, wrote our own, tasted Indian food and smelled spices. Communications and language were enhanced and extended naturally through discussion and role play.

In Mathematics we looked at pattern work, examining the symmetrical mehndi patterns painted in henna on the hands and feet and the patterns found on Indian buildings. This extended into the Creative area. We investigated Indian dance as well as experimenting with how Indian animals move. We also studied Hinduism, celebrated Divali and even created a puja prayer room in the classroom with artefacts borrowed from the library.

The topic extended itself naturally because of the children’s enthusiasm. Parents also became involved by helping the children to research India on the internet and lending artefacts. The children enjoyed the topic immensely and it lasted for a whole term. They now have an amazing wealth of knowledge about India and are happy to share it.

Visits from India and the local community

We compiled booklets and sent them to the Little Kingdom School, along with a scrapbook full of photos of the extended activities. These were warmly received in India. The Principal and her husband have recently visited us, spending a week in our school and they were very complimentary about the projects that we had sent to them.

We invited parents and members of the local community into school one evening, to meet the Principal of the Little Kingdom School and her husband. We displayed our project work and gave a PowerPoint presentation about the partnership. We also sampled Indian food and had a fair trade stall selling goods from India.

The project has helped us to broaden our curriculum, and by doing so we were able to extend and enhance the children’s learning. It has also helped our pupils to understand and accept that there are differences in the way other people live. They now appreciate the rich diversity of our world and the fact that we are all global citizens.

Audrey Roberts is the Head of Infants at Ysgol Llywelyn, Denbighshire

More info DFID Global School Partnerships promote a global dimension in the curriculum through developing innovative, equitable and sustainable learning partnerships between schools in the UK and Africa, Asia, the Caribbean and Latin America. The programme is funded by the Department for International Development (DFID). For more information see www.britishcouncil.org/globalschools or e-mail globalschools@britishcouncil.org If you would like a partner school in Africa, Asia, the Caribbean or Latin America, visit www.globalgateway.org or e-mail editor@globalgateway.org