Schools international links
Over the last ten years there have been several examples of schools co-operation between Wolverhampton and Kobanya in Budapest.
More recently Wolverhampton has received requests from schools in Poland, looking for email links, penpals and possibly exchange visits. If your school is interested in establishing International links with schools in these countries, or any others, the European officer can facilitate in partner searches, exchange visits and funding applications.
Hungarian summer camp
In July 2005, 40 Wolverhampton school children have been invited to a Hungarian summer holiday camp to join their Hungarian counterparts on the shores of Lake Balaton, a famous holiday destination in the centre of the country.
After running a competition for local schools, 40 lucky winners were selected aged between 13-14. The group which consists of children from Parkfields High School and Aldersley High and the Youth Council and local youth clubs, will spend a week making friends with young Hungarian children whilst participating in exciting holiday activities.
The lucky children have only to pay their airfare, with Kobanya Council covering all their other costs. It is hoped that this pilot project may become an annual competition for school children in Wolverhampton.
English teaching assistants
Wolverhampton City Council is delivering a vocational training course in conjuction with "Wolverhampton English for Adults" an adult education service that trains people to become qualified teachers of "English as a Second Language" (ESOL).
Our two European partner public authorities, Kobanya District Council and Walbrzych Municipality Council, with whom we share strong links, are keen to employ English language teaching assistants to complement their existing teachers delivering English classes to children aged 11-18 in state financed Secondary schools.
As both towns belong to new EU member states, they have noted a growing demand for learning English, particularly amongst the younger generation, who see mastering the English language as key to their employability and competitiveness in the job market. By delivering this project through individuals (teaching assistants and children) it is hoped to bring the European links to life through practical and human relationships, adding to the solidarity between the towns.
In recruiting and providing this resource Wolverhampton City Council is keen to ensure that the work opportunities benefit those who need them most, in terms of employment prospects and experience. "Wolverhampton English for Adults" (WEFA) service already delivers the ESOL training course each year but find that often the newly-qualified teachers are unable to find work. WEFA consider the project as a secure work placement opportunity with good working conditions through the Council, offering assistants a safe environment in which to take the step abroad.
By employing the newly-qualified ESOL assistants, the project aims to give the applicants a guaranteed paid work experience opportunity in one of the two countries, pending their successful completion of the course. For local unemployed people this represents a significant training and work experience opportunity.
Upon return to the region they would be adding a qualified and experienced teaching assistant to the pool for local school work, and hopefully moving into permanent employment. Wolverhampton has several jobseeking agencies that can assist in the recruitment of unemployed local residents, of which "Wolverhampton Job Change" would be a recognised partner.
Wolverhampton is an industrial city which has experienced severe manufacturing decline and redundancies in recent decades. As a result the local unemployment rate is more than double the UK national average, and those unemployed jobseekers have a relatively low level of formal qualifications and transferrable skills to compete in the regional job market for service sector employment.
Conversely there is a shortage of teachers and teaching assistants, because the field is seen as difficult to penetrate. This project aims to break down some of those barriers by targeting unemployed residents, offering the course on a part time basis, and guaranteeing and arranging work placements abroad.
Wolverhampton Council and WEFA will deliver the ESOL course in Wolverhampton from 1st March to 30th June 2005. The Leonardo project would commence on 1st June 2005 with basic Hungarian and Polish language classes for the assistants. Work placements at 16 secondary schools in Kobanya (Hungary) and Walbrzych (Poland)would commence on 1st September 2005 to 31st May 2006 (minimum 2 months, maximum 8 months stay depending upon applicants' availability). The project would then repeat in 2006 - 2007 with the ESOL training running for 20 weeks from March 2006, the assistants receiving Hungarian & Polish language classes in June, and contracts from September 2006 to May 2007.