Monday 06 February 2017


Teachers from across Wales are learning lessons from education systems around the world.

From 5 -10 February five teachers from five schools in west Wales will head to Ontario to see the province’s innovative approaches to modern foreign language learning.  

The Welsh Government’s Global Futures Plan aims to tackle the decline in the number of pupils in Wales studying modern foreign languages at GCSE level. It is hoped that this visit, arranged with the Ontario Ministry of Education and British Council Canada, will help the teachers develop new approaches to teaching languages back in Wales.

A group of seven senior managers from five Welsh further education colleges and Colleges Cymru will visit Seattle from 27 February to 3 March, to see how colleges in the city work with partners to ensure students are successfully prepared for the world of work. Colleges Wales say ideas gathered from the visit could help shape the future of Wales’ further education sector.

Wales’ new school curriculum has a major focus on digital skills and eleven teachers from nine primary schools in Cardiff and north Wales will be heading to Hong Kong in March, to find out how local organisations and schools have developed a high level of digital skills among their students. A previous visit to Hong Kong influenced the development of Wales’ Digital Competence Framework and has also led to schools allowing pupils to bring their own mobile devices to school to use in the classroom.

The visits are organised by British Council Wales and funded by Welsh Government as part of its International Professional Learning Communities (IPLCs) programme. IPLCs are a ground breaking initiative, unique to Wales, and allow Welsh teaching professionals to work together to learn from other countries and then use this knowledge in their own schools and colleges to better implement Welsh Government education priorities. 

Other recent IPLCs have included school leadership in Malaysia, numeracy in India, literacy in Canada, arts in special educational needs in Los Angeles and reducing the impact of poverty on attainment in New York.

Notes to Editor

Ontario

Ysgol Gyfun Gŵyr, Gowerton

Cwmtawe Community School, Pontardawe

Pentrehafod School, Hafod

Penglais School, Aberystwyth

Ysgol Bro Dinefwr, Llandeilo


Hong Kong 

Whitchurch Primary, Cardiff

Lakeside Primary, Cardiff

Ysgol Gymraeg Pwll Coch, Cardiff

Birchgrove Primary School, Cardiff

Ysgol y Creuddyn, Llandudno

Ysgol Morfa Rhiannedd, Llandudno

Ysgol Dyffryn Conwy, Llanrwst

Ysgol Bro Gwydir, Llanrwst

Ysgol Glan Clwyd, St Asaph

Ysgol Twm o’r Nant, Rhyl


Seattle

Coleg Sir Gar

Coleg Cambria

Grwp Llandrillo Menai

Bridgend College

Cardiff and Vale College

ColegauCymru

About the British Council

The British Council is the UK’s international organisation for cultural relations and educational opportunities. We create friendly knowledge and understanding between the people of the UK and other countries. Using the UK’s cultural resources we make a positive contribution to the countries we work with – changing lives by creating opportunities, building connections and engendering trust.

We work with over 100 countries across the world in the fields of arts and culture, English language, education and civil society. Each year we reach over 20 million people face-to-face and more than 500 million people online, via broadcasts and publications.

Founded in 1934, we are a UK charity governed by Royal Charter and a UK public body. The majority of our income is raised delivering a range of projects and contracts in English teaching and examinations, education and development contracts and from partnerships with public and private organisations. Eighteen per cent of our funding is received from the UK government.