Global Glitter Tribe November Link-up

By now you should know that I am a loud and proud member of the Global Glitter Tribe! If you don't know what we are all about then click here to visit our fantastic blog full of ideas and inspiration for teaching 'Global Thinking' and developing your children in 'Global Citizens'. 

This month's link-up has made me stop and think which I love! It is so easy to get swept up in the fuss and stress that this time of year brings so taking a moment out to reflect is a delicious treat-

Grateful

I live several hours away from all of my family which is something I hate! I have to embrace the fact that I live in a beautiful place, have an amazing husband and friends and a job I love but I would move home in a flash just to be close to my family who are truly my best friends too! 

Any chance I get to go home and visit I jump at- I feel grounded and totally myself when I am with them. These are the people who helped to shape me into the person I am today and I couldn't love them more. 

My totally BFF and big cousin Ali is extremely talented. Not only is she a great artist and crafts person but she is also a fantastic business woman too. Along with 2 of her friends she puts on an annual festive fair which celebrates and supports local, independent businesses. I had the privilege of attending and supporting her this past weekend- 

Local

As a school we made a conscious decision to structure our curriculum so that children spend time embracing and developing their understanding of their local area before spiralling their learning out to our country and then the wider world. During every spiral of learning the other 2 elements are brought in and applied for example during this term we have found out about where food comes from so visited a local farm and harvested and tasted locally produced food but then also explored the journey of food and where in the world our food comes from as well as looking at Fair Trade.

We work on a 2 year rolling program but here is an overview of how our spiral will look this year-

Autumn Term- Food (local produce and global)

Homes (our local area and castles around the country)

Spring Term- London (the geography and history of our capital city)

Baking- (national favourites and food from around the world)

Summer Term- Africa (culture and wildlife of another countries compared to ours)

Sea Life (Whales around the world)

Organisation 

This is not a new idea and by no means an original of mine but I love my Table Tubs-

To find out more, visit my previous blog post here.

Broad Perspectives 

As a school we are committed to developing our children into citizens who are able to make positive contributions to society. We call ourselves a team and the children in my classroom are not only part of our school team but our classroom team also. 

I encourage my children to recognise that they are all responsible for their choices and how they affect others in our team. We win points for our table teams and prizes are awarded weekly and we also win 'Rainbow Drops' for good class teamwork and rewards are usually earned half termly which results into a whole class celebration. 

Our aim is that our school community and the way our children behave within it mirrors their behaviours in the wider community and that their contributions to both are positive ones. 

Artists

I love teaching art and last half term we did one of my favourite projects ever! 

We look at how food is represented in art and the concept of still life. 

We then look at and discuss the work of Giuseppe Acrimboldo and then recreate it using food (the food has already been used for tasting and will be used for creating prints too) 

Let's Chat

I am one of the co-hosts of the Global Edventures Blab Show and I would love to hear your ideas for future topics so please feel free to comment below with suggestions- after all #2getherwearebetter

To link-up with Global Glitter Tribe yourself then visit us here and download your own graphic

Global Classroom Link-up

Hey you lovely people! 

If you've already joined Global Glitter Tribe then a massive 'HELLO' and if you haven't then what are you waiting for???? 

Click here to find out more about us and how to join. 

So… today is the day!!! 

Sign-ups for Global Classroom Link-up are now open.

This link-up is for those of us wanting to make a link with classrooms in other countries in a virtual 'pen-pal' type of way. If you would like to get to know a class in another country or culture through the power of the internet then this link-up is for you. All you need is the ability to Skype, Google Hangout or another such web based program and the commitment to virtually hang-out with your partner's class once per month. 

Sign-ups will be open until 12pm GMT/ 7am EST Friday.

 Once you have signed up and provided all of the relevant information then I will email you next Monday (3rd August '15) to let you know who you are paired with and provide you with their contact details. Don't wait for your partner to contact you- be proactive and take the first step. I will let you know if your partner has any holidays or prior arrangements for the coming week which might mean they can't get back to you but if your partner has not provided any information and you still haven't heard back from them by the following Monday (10th August '15) then please contact me before Wednesday 12th and I will try and provide you with another partner. I'm sorry but in reality this may not be possible at this time based on sign- up numbers but don't worry- I will open this link-up again  before the Christmas holidays so that new group members or those of you with failed links can have a chance to take part again. Once I've matched you up you're good to go! 

Click here to complete the form 

It will close on Friday 31st July

Spend a bit of time getting to know your new friend, how things work in their school, what topics or themes they may be covering or any specific needs you both have.  

You need to arrange a time and date which suits you both but as we know all too well, school life be crazy so it might be best to set up a back-up date and time too! Have patience with your new friend when it comes to this but also be polite- if you can let your partner know of a change in circumstances before hand then please make sure you do.

I would suggest planning your link-ups together so that they have a purpose and focus. 

Remember you will need to introduce the concept to your class and check that all children have permission to take part in such an activity. Aly over at Just a Primary Girl 'Scoped about permission forms the other day- here's the link to her store. 

That's it!!! Fly my pretties, fly!!! 

Fingers crossed this is a productive and inspiring process for us all.

If you do encounter any problems then feel free to contact me but my role here is simply to play match- maker so don't hate on me!!! Thanks!