Lowton High teachers fly to Italy for Erasmus project in schools

As part of an Erasmus Plus project funded by the European Union, teachers from the Newton Road school travelled to the Italo Calvino School in Milan over February half-term.

As part of the trip, the quintet visited a kindergarten, a primary school, and a lower secondary school (aged 12-14) to look at the teaching methodologies.

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The teachers were shown Italian classrooms and learned about the education system (Image: Lowton Church of England High School)

The idea was to look at the Italian education system, how the schools meet the needs of all learners, and take these ideas into their own classrooms.

During their visit, the teachers also gave a detailed presentation to a group of teachers from the schools, and had the opportunity to complete some job shadowing in Spanish, English, French and Italian classes.

The UK teachers also ran a drama workshop with some classes to demonstrate some of the adaptive teaching methods which are commonly used in their own classrooms to meet the needs of all learners and allow all pupils to make progress.

The Lowton teachers also gave their own presentation (Image: Lowton Church of England High School)

Katie Thorpe, Teacher of Modern Languages said: “The Erasmus Plus visit was a fabulous opportunity to meet the staff and pupils from the Italian Schools and share teaching methodologies with one another.

"The Italian and UK Education systems are so very different and we discovered a lot about the culture. We are looking forward to linking our own classes up with the classes in the Italo Calvino School.

"This is just the beginning of a great partnership between the cluster of schools.

The trip is said to be the start of a great partnership between the schools (Image: Lowton Church of England High School)

While observing the education system, the teachers also learned of the inclusivity and diversity of the Italian education system, with classes of mixed ability and including children with some very severe and complex learning needs.

Learning of the diversity in Italian classrooms, Laura Cooper, Leadership Director (Inclusion and SEND) added: “The visit was a wonderful opportunity to learn about different approaches to inclusion and to share good practice with colleagues in Italy”.

The British Council and Erasmus Plus have provided an excellent opportunity for continued professional development. It is hoped that this cultural and professional partnership will continue for our future generations”.