Diversity in Early Years

With financial support from Children’s Services (Cumbria County Council) and DfID (Department for International Development), CDEC has been able to support Practitioners in promoting an appreciation of diversity among 3 – 5 year olds.
Meeting three times with CDEC, Practitioners piloted, shared and reviewed a range of activities using global resources from big books to Persona Dolls and came up with a wealth of good ideas – the simplest being to make sure that when the children were asked to paint people, there was a full range of colours available in the paint pots.

One powerful aspect of the project was the linking of Early Years Settings – with an urban school/nursery partnering up with a rural school/nursery in the same area of Cumbria .  Children were able to explore their own environment and personalities in order to tell others about themselves; to anticipate what the “others” might be like and then to compare their speculation with reality, with a fun day shared in the summer term.

CDEC ran this project in East Cumbria in 2007, in West Cumbria in 2008 and is now working with a focus group of Practitioners in South Cumbria.  We are very grateful for the contributions of all concerned and plan to produce a resource inspired by their work in due course.   As Robert Fulghum said, “Most of what I really needed to know about and what to do and how to be, I learnt in Kindergarten”, so CDEC is very grateful to all the Practitioners who have been/are/will be involved in this valuable project.

Supporting school clusters in embedding the global dimension

How can we:

* embed the global dimension across the curriculum?
* benefit from other teachers' ideas and share resources and expertise?
* get everyone involved (from the SMT and governors to the pupils and school council)?

and
* where can we go for advice?

From 2008 to 2013, CDEC is supporting small clusters of schools in Cumbria in reviewing, planning and implementing the global dimension (proving that the global dimension enriches the life of the school and the curriculum without being a burden or "add on").

Funded by DfID (the Department for International Development), this is part of a project managed across the region by NWGEN (the North West Global Education Network).  CDEC represents NWGEN in Cumbria.

CDEC will meet with lead teachers, visit staff meetings and give individual support to schools - in the long run, though, the clusters will have a life of their own.  Everyone recognises the added value that working together brings, like:
 
* pupils sharing their ideas and experience, eg visiting assemblies in other schools
* teachers sharing lesson plans instead of reinventing wheels
* showcasing work as a group

The first clusters (2008-9) are in the Barrow area - watch this space for news on how the project develops.