Erasmus + Educational Visit

Sweden

October 2015

A number of teachers and leaders visited Sweden and Finland respectively to learn about pre-school education and the Leadership & Management of schools. Both Educational Visits were

funded by Erasmus +.Erasmus + supports the implementation of the European policy agenda for growth, jobs, equity and

social inclusion.Europe needs more cohesive and inclusive societies, which allow citizens to play an active role in

democratic life. Erasmus+ is an important instrument to promote the inclusion of people withdisadvantaged backgrounds.

Well-performing education and training systems help to tackle challenges by providing people withthe skills required by the labour market and the economy, while allowing them to play an active

role in society and achieve personal fulfilment. Reforms in education strengthen progress towardsthese goals, on the basis of a shared vision between policy makers and stakeholders, sound

evidence and cooperation across different fields and levels.

Kent Craven

Learning from trip to Sweden

During the trip we observed a range of differences between Sweden and England. One key difference between the children was the level of independence. During lunch time, children, as young as two, were independently serving their own food and eating, something I have never seen in any school in England. As a result the children had learned how to use a knife and fork quickly, learning key life skills. This level of independence could be seen throughout all activities though. Children are encouraged to explore, both physically and mentally, all the way through school. This meant that physically children had become aware of dangers and how to act appropriately. I witnessed a teacher allow a child to make a mistake, which may have ended with the child hurting themselves (only a minor injury), to demonstrate a point. They then discussed it and now the child is very unlikely to make the same simple error that led to him having a small fall. Children were also acting very responsibly in the woods, in England I could forsee a similar scenario where children would end up sword fighting with big sticks and hurting each other. In Sweden I saw no behaviour of this type. They played but they put their own boundaries in place and stuck to them. I never saw one child get “told off.” In reading the children in Sweden aren’t pushed to read at an early age. They listen to stories and they sing songs, developing their vocabulary. However, at year 1 level in England, the average child in Sweden appears to be behind. They can’t read or decode as many words as I expected. However, comparing children in maths at year 7 in England, if the children in Sweden were behind early on, they had definitely caught up and were around the same expected level. It appears that the more relaxed approach to learning early on had no long term detrimental effect on the children’s education, in fact, they had extra skills on top of their knowledge of the national curriculum. In the position where a child really wanted to learn a particular skill, the children were taken to one side, as an individual or as a small group, and taught in the areas that they wanted to learn. This level of support in England would be hard to replicate as the ratio of teachers to children is far superior in Sweden. I also got the impression that their preschool care was better than England’s. Maybe because the level of training required to teach preschool in Sweden is higher, and equally, the level of pay.

Julie Dury

Report on trip to Sweden. October 2015

Being able to visit schools in Sweden was an interesting experience, and one which provided lots of

things to think about. Talking to Christina and Ingela about the education system gave a useful

overview of how the system differs from the education system in the UK and it was a very useful

starting point for the trip.

I was based in Ingela’s school for the majority of the week, and I found this beneficial, as it meant

that I felt very ‘at home’ in the school and had some idea of where to go in the building - it was huge

and a real maze! All of the staff at both this school and all the others were very welcoming, and they

all found time to talk to us, even though they were busy working at the time. The teacher session

with Daniel provided answers to all of the questions that we had sent, and he gave us a good insight

into what it was like for a teacher working in a Swedish school. He was very enthusiastic about his

job, and had planned an ipad activity for us to do while we were with him. We were able to look at a

sample maths paper, and discovered that it wasn’t actually that different from one that we might

use.

The outdoor learning element of schooling in Sweden was amazing. The really young children

sleeping outside was a real surprise, but the staff explained the very low levels of sickness amongst

staff and pupils, and it made me wonder if the amount of fresh air the children get, played a part in

this. Cooking pancakes in the woods was brilliant, even if the weather was a bit chilly, and the

children’s level of independence was amazing to see. They were taking risks, climbing trees and

rocks, and running around exploring their environment very safely, with very little support from the

adults that were there with them. The staff also had no risk assessments to fill in prior to taking the

children out of school - very different from the UK!!

Something that surprised me about lunchtimes in the schools was the fact there were no afters or

pudding, and that all of the children served themselves, regardless of their age. The children were

encouraged to only take the food that they were going to eat, and the amount of food that was left

at the end of each day was weighed and recorded. If the amount of waste was reduced below a

certain level then the children would get a reward (ice cream for dessert) so every child was very

keen to throw a small amount of food away.

The Ipad session run by Anders was really useful and lots of fun! He had plenty of new apps that I

hadn’t used before, and I will definitely use them with my class.

Overall I thoroughly enjoyed my time in Sweden. The children in my class have really enjoyed

hearing about how different the schools were, and have asked lots of questions about the trip. We

are hoping to set up a link with a school we visited, and the children are really looking forward to

using letters and face time to find out more about another culture.

Tracey Greenhill

Sweden Trip Erasmus 2015 Hearts Academy The experience of travelling and observing early years in Sweden was priceless. This allowed me to gain a deeper understanding for not only the early year’s curriculum in another country but to see, first hand, how this impacted on children’s further development into adulthood. Meeting fellow Teachers and educators from other English schools also enabled me to gain other views and ideas that they noticed within the Swedish education system, that I may not have seen or felt useful. Sharing ideas, suggestions and participating in activities with others was good character building for myself and the group. The Swedish education system is unlike ours and it was enlightening to discover up close the differences between our schools. Some of the differences such as ; young children sleeping outside during the day, children spending more time outside playing and exploring the world around them and less formal teaching with no targets or Ofsted , seemed unusual and quite unbelievable. Trying to see how this would fit into our current rigid, target driven, English curriculum was hard. In some ways I feel that we need a balance of our accountably and progressive curriculum but with less of the formal outcomes required by Ofsted. Swedish children are trusted much more, at a younger age, than here in England, and are given more responsibility too. The Swedish have tried to reduce obesity within children and have withdrawn the desert selection from lunchtimes and all children receive a school dinner free. There are no packed lunches either which I see is a good way of ensuring that all children receive a healthy, balanced meal each day. The structure of the day in Swedish schools is, in my opinion, better, as they begin earlier and finish earlier than here. Then for two hours per day teachers stay within school planning, assessing and working alongside other teachers, instead of taking work home and working excessive hours. In Sweden parents play a bigger role in their children’s education and seem to be more informed of what their child is doing during the day. The local government seem to seek parents’ opinions of the school and use this as a measure of how well the school is providing an education for their children, rather than Ofsted. Parents are helped and encouraged to work and the government provides very good quality and cheap (subsidised) childcare within the schools to help parents with this, whereas here in England, childcare is out of some parents’ reach, as it is too expensive. The way in which childcare is part of the school day seems to encourage parents to become more involved with the schools too. Swedish children do not have to attend school until they are 7 years old but 98% of parents see and value education prior to this and do send them to childcare before this age. I am very grateful to have taken part in this experience and will try to implement and promote what I have observed within my current school and daily practice.

Clare Raker

I feel extremely grateful to have had the opportunity to visit Sweden and learn about their education system. Whilst there I visited 2 primary schools, 1 special needs school and 1 main stream school which catered for all age groups. Throughout the trip we were also paired with 2 professionals Christina and Ingla who oversaw our entire trip and were extremely helpful, knowledgeable and flexible in ensuring the trip catered to all our needs and interests. There are many areas of the Swedish education system I am keen to incorporate into my own teaching. One key area which I felt was a strong focus across all the schools we visited was the emphasis placed on independence. The children were made to serve out their own food at lunch time, which when started from an early age, meant they were able to give themselves the correct portion size. This is a key issue in the UK at the moment where the rate of obesity is steadily increasing and is something I am keen to talk about in my future DT cooking lessons. The children were also encouraged to get out their own resources. All the draws were labelled, ‘help yourself, do you really need this? ‘and ‘ask an adult’, to aid the children in their selection. Again this was something which the children really responded to and it encouraged restraint in the amount of resources they were getting out and using. On returning to my own school I have spoken to my key stage lead about implementing this in my own Reception class using a traffic light system instead of words which I hope to have in place by the start of the New Year. Another focus which I felt the Swedish schools placed a particular focus on was the use of the outdoors. Having recently taken over as LOtC leader in my school this was something I was extremely keen to observe and see in practice during my trip. I gained lots of ideas on how to incorporate the outdoors into each subject such as in Maths. where for balancing and weight, they used a stick as a seesaw. A key difference for me was the amount of time the children were given to explore and play in the outside area. One school had only a small amount of man-made apparatus outside which meant the children were made to utilise and adapt the natural environment. One little girl wanted a house to play in so she created a shelter by leaning sticks and logs against the fence. Although I have taken many positive ideas from this trip there were some areas which I felt were lacking in contrast to our own. One thing which is pivotal to my school and others in in the UK is the focus on child and adult safety. On visiting each school there was no reception desk to sign us in and escort us around the school. Additionally some schools did not have fencing which meant young children were crossing outside the school boundary and playing on an open, public pathway. In addition to this I felt the lack of assessment, although refreshing, did not allow the teachers to pin point where their children’s strengths and weaknesses were and therein left little space for interventions and targeted lesson.

Jane Robinson

Sweden October 2015

The following is an amalgamation of observations within schools and information gathered from school and education department staff in Jarfalla in Stockholm,Sweden.

Swedish children are legally bound to start school in the September of the year in which they are 7. Before that children spend a year in pre-school. Approximately 85% of Swedish children attend pre-school. Most children spend several years in the equivalent to our nurseries before then because the majority of Swedish mothers return to work about a year after the birth of a child and both parents often work full-time. During this nursery type schooling and pre-school, children are encouraged to be independent. At one school we saw a swing that could only be accessed by the children if they learnt to climb the fence. The adults didn’t pick the children up, the children had to learn to climb onto the swing and then swing themselves.

They were encouraged to take risks. We explored a local forest with one school. The children built a wigwam with large logs from fallen trees. They worked in groups and problem solved. They also climbed on rocks and helped each other. The teachers explained that the children were responsible for making sure that they could always see an adult when they were exploring the forest. A person went by with her dog and the children waved; she was not CRB checked! The children’s needs are given a high priority; quality, nutritious food is provided, children nap or rest daily and their emotional needs are met. The dining area was furnished like a family home and the teachers ate with the children. There was a calm atmosphere and a lot of social interaction between the children and adults. The food was popular with the children and there was no junk food.

Jane Robinson

The children spend at least 3 hours a day outside. They sleep on verandahs in a sleeping bag with army surplus blankets. One teacher told me they go out even if it is -20 degrees, she said they watch the children’s cheeks for frost bite! The children were very healthy and didn’t seem to have coughs and colds. When they go outside they put on their own jackets, trousers and boots. I didn’t see any children moaning or crying about going out. They all dressed appropriately and were enjoying their outside learning.

As part of our visit we went to a unit within a school for children with special needs. One of the teachers explained that they were able to do a lot more with the children than they had been able to do when the unit was first opened. Whilst we were there the children had a sharing assembly. They sang songs and played musical instruments. We then saw the children with their 1 to 1 teachers, they painted, played a mat piano and played with cars and lorries. One teacher said she had been there 14 years and thoroughly enjoyed it. The teachers seemed a lot less stressed than in England. They were told to have an hour’s lunch break where they were told to do no work. There were blankets in the staff room for teaches to have a nap and we saw teachers sitting under the blankets knitting.

Charlotte Turner

Sweden trip – November 2015

I’m so glad to have had the opportunity to experience the provision and environment in the Swedish schooling system. I was able to get a clear overview of how the educational system works in Sweden through speaking and listening with Christina, Ingela and fellow colleagues. Having this conversation at the beginning of our journey, gave me a broader insight of what I could expect when visiting the schools throughout the training experience. Over the period of five days I visited two pre-schools, a special needs school and a mainstream school that catered for all year groups. During my visit at the pre-school I took part in an outdoor lesson with 2-4 year old children, where we walked out of the school into an open forest where we discussed our learning objective. The children were all dressed appropriately; all had the correct clothing to keep them warm, dry and safe. When returning back to the school building I was amazed that the children had nap time outside. Swedish schools have a high focus on health and wellbeing; this is promoted by learning outside the classroom. I have learnt many useful things to take back home with me and noticed how the children all have good social and communication skills and are very independent. During lunchtimes the children as young as 2 had their own seating plan where they sat at a dining table with an adult. They then went and collected their own plate and served their own food. I thought this was a very good example of the children showing their independence and developing life skills. In Swedish schools the parents are informed on a day to day basis, through a website, in which every parent can see what their child has been learning that day and how the teacher has commented on their work, this then gives the parent an opportunity to comment themselves on anything they want to know or are happy with, with their child’s learning. This is how teachers show marking and progress for each child. The teachers use their own initiative and knowledge to extend pupils’ learning rather than regular testing and termly assessments. The Ipad training was very useful; I have extended my knowledge in this area. On reflection after visiting all four schools, I was able to see that safety isn’t a major priority like it is in the UK. My reasons for this are every school I visited said when going on trips or outside the school grounds they do not write risk assessments, this is a non-negotiable in our school. Also, the school fences to keep children safe, were very small and in some cases the schools didn’t have fences at all. What I found concerning was a safe guarding issue, anyone was able to walk into some school entrances and get into the main part of the school without any assistance from staff. This would be a major issue in the UK, which made me feel uneasy. Safeguarding in the UK is a high priority. Overall I have gained a valuable insight into another culture and thoroughly enjoyed this experience and feel very lucky to have been given this opportunity.

Kayleigh Young

During the trip to Sweden we had a great amount of access to the Swedish education system

through meetings and school visits. During my visit I went to a school which had provision

for children age 1 – 11 Years. We were able to see the setup of the school and spoke to

teachers about daily routines and compared our own and theirs, talking about what we

thought were pros and cons to both. We were able to see how the design of the school was

more like houses than classrooms. Each class had a kitchen and a range of rooms which

children free played through. There was a fantastic amount of rich dialogue between the

Swedish teachers and us. We were taken on an outdoor learning experience and were

amazed at the behaviour of 4 year olds and the management of the trip. It was clear that the

school had a fundamental understanding of the importance of outdoor learning to support

and enhance learning. Parents were from the start guided on suitable clothing that each

child needed and all classes had a dryer, which made outdoor learning in all weather more

accessible to all children

Through discussions with a number of teachers it was clear that they do not assess children

throughout their early years and the first time they had standardised tests was in year 3.

Children were not tracked for progress or reported prior to this. SEN was high profile in the

school and the school was very pro all children being in mainstream schooling. The

classrooms were all adapted to assist all children with SEN. The schools were specialised in

supporting up to 4 autistic children per year group.

Lunchtime at the school was a very positive and was a very sociable event. All children were

sat with adults and so manners were modelled clearly and children were all given a sociable

(family) style meal every school day. (This is an aspect that I believe could be enforced in the

UK)

The continuous dialogue that we were able to have from a range of schools across the UK

was fantastic and very thought provoking. It was a great way to network and share

pedagogy.

This has been a fantastic opportunity to have had and I have taken a lot to use within my own school.

Sweden Visit 2015

Jarfalla Municipality, Stockholm

Our introduction

• Christina &Ingla oversaw our entire trip and were extremely helpful, knowledgeable and flexible in ensuring the trip catered for all our needs and interests.

• We had a meal at Christina’s flat on the first night and met the other people we were to spend the week with: Thom & Claire from Manchester and Fay & ‘Miss’ Judy from Peckham in South London.

Swedish Education

• Swedish children are legally bound to start school in the September of the year in which they are 7. Before that children spend a year in pre-school. Approximately 85% of Swedish children attend pre-school.

• We visited a number of different pre-schools in the Jarfalla Municipality just outside Stockholm.

Independence

• Swedish children are trusted much more, at a younger age, than here in England and are given more responsibility too.

• All the draws were labelled, ‘help yourself, do you really need this? and ask an adult, to aid the children in their selection of resources.

Healthy Eating

• The children were made to serve out their own food at lunch time, which when started from an early age, meant they were able to give themselves the correct portion size.

• As a result the children had learned how to use a knife and fork quickly.

• We were able to see how the design of the school was more like a house than a classroom.

Healthy Eating

• The Swedish have tried to reduce obesity and have withdrawn the desert selection from lunchtimes and all children receive a school dinner free. There are no packed lunches either.

Outdoors

• The children spend at least 3 hours a day outside. They sleep on an outdoor platform in a sleeping bag with army surplus blankets. They go out even if it is -20 degrees, they watch the children’s cheeks for frost bite!

• The children were very healthy and didn’t seem to have coughs and colds. When they go outside they put on their own jackets, trousers and boots.

Outdoors

• At one school we saw a swing that could only be accessed by the children if they learnt to climb the fence. The adults didn’t pick the children up, the children had to learn to climb onto the swing and then swing themselves.

Learning Outdoors

• “I gained lots of ideas on how to incorporate the outdoors into each subject such as in Maths where for balancing and weight they used a stick as a seesaw. A key difference for me was the amount of time the children were given to explore and play in the outside area. One school had only small amount of man-made apparatus outside which meant the children were made to utilise and adapt the natural environment. 1 little girl wanted a house to play in so she created a shelter by leading sticks and logs against the fence.”

Risk Taking

They were encouraged to take risks. We explored a local forest with one school. The children built a wigwam with large logs from fallen trees. They worked in groups and problem solved. They also climbed on rocks and helped each other. The teachers explained that the children were responsible for making sure that they could always see an adult when they were exploring the forest. A person went by with her dog and the children waved; she was not CRB checked!

Parents

• Parents are helped and encouraged to work and the government provide very good quality and cheap (subsidised childcare within the schools to help parents with this) whereas here in England childcare is out of some parents’ reach, as it is too expensive.

• Parents were from the start guided on suitable clothing that each child needed and all classes had a dryer, which made outdoor learning in all weather more accessible to all children.

Parents

• In Swedish schools the parents are informed on a day to day basis, through a website, where every parent can see what their child has been learning that day and how the teacher has commented on their work.

• The parent has an opportunity to comment themselves on anything they want to know or are happy about with their child’s learning. This is how teachers show marking and progress for each child.

Assessment

• Through discussions with a number of teachers it was clear that they do not assess children throughout their early years and the first time they had standardised test was in Year 3.

Safeguarding

• On reflection after visiting all four schools, we were able to see that safety isn’t a major priority like it is in the UK.Every school we visited said when going on trips or outside the school grounds they do not write risk assessments, this is non-negotiable in our schools. Also, the school fences to keep children safe were very small and in some cases the schools didn’t have fences at all.

Stress

• “The structure of the day in Swedish schools, is in my opinion better, as they begin earlier and finish earlier than here. Then for two hours per day Teachers stay within school planning, assessing and working alongside other Teachers, instead of taking work home and working excessive hours”.

• The teachers seemed a lot less stressed than in England. They were told to have an hour’s lunch break where they were told to do no work. There were blankets in the staff room for teaches to have a nap and we saw teachers sitting under the blankets knitting.

Our Leisure Time

• We went on a clues hunt in Stockholm Old Town and were rewarded with Mulled Grog.

• We went to the Abba Museum