Ready, Steady, Go! – Bridging Languages & Cultures through Sports Erasmus Project

Project Title

Ready, Steady, Go! – Bridging Languages &
Cultures through Sports

Project Key Action

This project related with these key action: Cooperation for innovation and the exchange of good practices

Project Action Type

This project related with this action type : School Exchange Partnerships

Project Call Year

This project’s Call Year is 2019

Project Topics

This project is related with these Project Topics: Intercultural/intergenerational education and (lifelong)learning; Teaching and learning of foreign languages; Access for disadvantaged

Project Summary

CONTEXT/BACKGROUND
Our schools have experience of working together on previous international projects. All 3 schools strive to provide an outstanding education for all 11-18 year olds, ensuring that students aspire and are challenged to achieve academic success whilst supporting and developing individuals to prepare for the future as global citizens. Gymnasium auf der Karthause has held some successful staff football matches with Meadowhead in recent years which strengthened relationship ties between the schools. The same results can be expected from student-student interaction. Sports is an excellent topic which will enable socially challenged students to participate as they can communicate without requiring too many words in the target language to engage from the outset. Furthermore, the cadre athletes, don’t normally take part in the exchanges due to their fear of missing training sessions or having no possibility to do their individual fitness program. By giving them the opportunity to continue doing sports and to broaden the vocabulary necessary for international competitions, we expect uptake from this cohort to rise significantly.

This project will allow disadvantaged students to participate in their first trip overseas – the main barrier to participation in overseas visits is prohibitive costs for our families, especially those disadvantaged economically.
This project will improve both student and staff language competency through an exciting sports related theme.

OBJECTIVE
1 : To improve language skills of students aged 13-18, and to encourage uptake of MFL study at Further/Higher Education level.
2 : To increase the number of disadvantaged and cadre athlete students participating in exchanges abroad
3 : To enrich language teaching and learning, and intercultural education through a new collaborative project focused on European sports.
4: To make students aware of the importance of a healthy lifestyle

NUMBER/PROFILE OF PARTICIPANTS
We will take two different cohorts of up to 15 students aged 13-15 per year on reciprocal exchanges visit to Germany and Spain to exchange skills and knowledge based on the theme of popular local sports . Disadvantaged UK/Spanish and German cadre athlete students will be actively encouraged to participate and make up at least 30%. This project will give the cadre athletes the rare opportunity to take part in an international exchange without endangering their fitness level. Sports/language teachers from Germany and Spain will also undertake job shadowing with each other with a view to introducing a new Spanish/German club and setting up future exchange links, between the two schools.

ACTIVITIES/METHODOLOGY
Host students and staff will teach visiting students and staff about the history, popularity and sporting culture in their schools, towns and nations. Peer-learning will be encouraged since they will teach each other how to play typical sports from their region/country, and the language associated with that sport or leisure activity in the target language. Students will compete against each other in a final sports tournament at the end of the exchange week. Visiting students will also visit local primary schools to offer a presentation about popular sports in their country, to practice their language skills and teach younger pupils about their culture.
Students from all schools will prepare videos with the help of the Spanish CPA, photo displays, and Powerpoint presentations about sports and language learnt to support dissemination.

EXPECTED RESULTS & IMPACT
Since many of the German cadre athletes are working on becoming world-class champions, their new language skills will benefit their professional career. English sports could be integrated into German P.E. lessons. Students will benefit from new language skills and will not drop their bilingual subjects. An increase in CertiLingua applications is to be expected. In the UK and Spain we expect students to improve their attainment in languages and new sports enrichment clubs to be offered.
Uptake for the Year 2 exchange – Cohort 2, should be more competitive as the Year 1 participants (now acting as Erasmus ambassadors) will raise the profile of the exchange programme through dissemination of their knowledge and skills to younger peers, thus engaging and persuading them to take part.

LONGER TERM BENEFITS
Student participants will act as language ambassadors in subsequent years to raise the profile of language learning and exchange benefits, talking to classes to encourage younger peers to apply for future language exchanges, which will support the sustainability and enrichment of these subjects.
We expect GCSE and A-Level uptake of German and Spanish in the UK will increase. In Germany, an uptake of bilingual PE lessons will increase as well as the introduction of new Spanish lessons. Furthermore, an exchange between Spain and Germany will be planned.

EU Grant (Eur)

Funding of the project from EU: 98688 Eur

Project Coordinator

Meadowhead School Academy Trust & Country: UK

Project Partners

• FUNDACION SAN VALERO
• Gymnasium auf der Karthause