Kineton Cluster gets look at life in a city
Teachers and pupils from schools in central Birmingham joined counterparts from the rural cluster of Kineton in a community cohesion day at Gaydon Heritage Centre to plan a series of projects that pupils from primary and secondary schools can undertake together.
The event, organised by the schools’ cluster co-ordinators, included a presentation by pupils on what they wanted to do with the partner school as part of Warwickshire County Council’s Extended Services programme.
Each school’s environment presented a marked contrast to the other and this was reflected in what the young people identified that they would like to do.
Already this year 40 students from Kineton have taken part in an enterprise day at Holyhead school, and 40 students from Holyhead have taken part in a sports event at Kineton High School.
Safina, 15, is a year 11 pupil at Holyhead School in Handsworth. She said:
"Our school is an inner city urban school with pupils from lots of different cultures we were chosen to do the community cohesion project with Kineton High because of the contrast as they are a rural school with mostly white British students."
"Today we have been looking at ways we can develop further cohesion in 2011 and have come up with two project ideas. The first would be for a student exchange where pupils would spend a week at each other’s schools, staying with their family and their friends keeping video diaries throughout to compare experiences. A second idea is for a drama performance to show different cultures.
"As the young people have had more exposure to different cultures, we are all beginning to see our similarities rather than focusing on any differences."
"I have really enjoyed being involved in this programme, it has been a great experience and I’ve met some really nice people who I will keep in touch with through Facebook."
Joel, also year 11, of Kineton School found taking lessons for days at Holyhead a completely different experience from his usual schooldays. He said: “Here at Kineton, we are sometimes almost in our own world, in a close knit community.
“You sensed at Holyhead that you were somewhere different from what you were used to. That’s not to say that one school was better than the other and it did us a lot of good and helped us to understand what other communities are like and how they go about their day to day business. It’s important to realise that other communities can be so different even when they are only 40 miles away.”
Councillor Heather Timms, portfolio holder for Children, Young People and Families, said: “Great Britain is a wonderfully multi-cultural country and it is important that we recognise the different cultures within our communities and benefit from the diversity they offer.
"Where communities do not have a population from various ethnic backgrounds, it is important that their young people mix with other young people, develop a sense of understanding of other cultures and their people.
“These young people have benefited greatly from exposure to other cultures. The extended services programme has given them an essential life skill in being able to work effectively and they, and the communities in which they live, will benefit greatly as a result.”