Minutes Meeting 4

Minutes of the Comenius Meeting 04.06.07 - Poland   All partner countries were represented The chair thanked our host school for their hospitality and welcomed everyone to the meeting. Members then introduced themselves. Minutes of the last meeting were read these included: ·       Project reports ·       Travellers Tales ·       A Logo ·       The proposed website ·       Dates for future meetings (see below)   Dates for future meetings October  2007                        Spain March    2008                         UK June       2008                         Poland October 2008                         Hungary March    2009                         Spain June       2009                         Turkey         The date of the meeting in Spain            Thursday October 18th 2007 The dates of the meeting in the UK        Wednesday March 12th 2008 (Bristol)                                                                  Thursday    March 13th Wales Each country then gave a short presentation of the work carried out on trying different methods for the teaching of reading. Turkey A powerpoint presentation (of high technical quality!) described how the students had been given a poem as a stimulus and asked to answer questions which became the basis for both their research and their homework. Students had to give a talk and assess each other. Finally a story had to be written that incorporated some of the vocabulary that the poet had used. Students had found the whole exercise both stimulating and interesting and staff felt they would work in this way again. England   A powerpoint presentation described the various ways that reading is both taught and assessed. The particular focus was the use of ‘Reading Theatre’ which had been a great success. Pupils had very much enjoyed the work, had been very enthusiastic. Staff noticed that all the pupils showed an increased enthusiasm for reading, and that this was particularly evident amongst the least able readers who also demonstrated a greater understanding of the subtleties of the text. Wales   Outlined their experience with ‘paired reading’ as yet the measurable impact was difficult to ascertain but it was possible to say that the student’s were enjoying the activity and it appeared to be increasing their confidence in reading and interest in books. Spain  A power point presentation (of high technical quality!) was used to outline the impact of a paired reading project where parents and their children chose a book to read together. The choice of book made from a list which had been predetermined by the teacher. Readers were expected to spend ½ an hour per day reading together at home. Assessment sheets had shown an improvement in reading. In almost all cases the parent partner had turned out to be the mother and it was hoped to involve more fathers in the initiative. Hungary   A powerpoint presentation was used to outline the reading project in which students are reading at home with their parents linked to the reading is a weekly assessment worksheet. In school paired reading had been undertaken, as yet results were not measurable. Students are also being asked to read a text on first reading to themselves and the aloud. An assessment list of what each year group has to achieve has been introduced. The meeting was also told that that our partner school in Hungary will be changing due to a school merger. We were introduced to Andrew the head of the ‘new’ partner school who was warmly welcomed by all. The partner schools also recorded their thanks to Agi for all her hard work as a founder member and mover of this and past projects. Everyone expressed their hope that she would continue to play a part in the current project.     Poland   Silent reading has been introduced, the target group being 9 – 11 year olds. Groups have been    reading silently on a regular basis for approximately 5 months. A preliminary assessment of the student’s    reading abilities was carried out before the project. Recent assessment results have shown an overall     improvement in the students reading ability, although this was more marked in girls than boys.    Results in reading comprehension have also improved.    An issue for the school and for some partner schools is how to raise boy’s attainment/achievement in reading. Etor Logo The meeting then fell to discussing how we might choose the logo for our ETOR Project. After some debate a vote was taken and the logo designed by a Turkish student was a clear and deserved winner and was formally adopted as the ETOR symbol. Turkey agreed to forward the logo on a cd to all partners. Website Each partner needs to supply a short description of their school, a short description of their participation in the project to date, and a photo of their school all of which can be placed on the website. This information is to be provided on a cd with copies of any presentations to date. The cd should be sent top Sonia as soon as possible. Travellers Tales These need to be finished as soon as possible, however this will need to run on into next year. Reports Partners reports need to be sent to Sonia by the end of July.  These are then to be collated by Sonia who will prepare the joint report for our agencies and circulate it to all partners. The meeting was closed with an exchange of gifts.