Notat 1 - Notat - Reception juni 2019 Modtager: Børne- og Skoleudvalget cc: EU-projekt RECEPTION Albertslund har i perioden 2016 2019 deltaget i Erasmus+ projektet RECEPTION med henblik på at undersøge, gennemføre forløb, erfaringsudveksle og evaluere på overgangen mellem dagtilbuddet og skolesystemet. Dato: 6. juni 2019 Sags nr.: 17.01.00-A00-5-17 Sagsbehandler: kse Det overordnede tema for projektet har været Hvordan sikrer vi, at I gør vores børn mere robuste og anvender god kommunikation i overgangen mellem dagtilbud og skole? Hvert land har ud fra en beskrivelse af status quo i 2016 valgt at fokusere på et relevant lokalt område/udfordring, gennemført forløb og evalueret på dette. Fra Albertslund Kommune har nedenstående deltaget under hver deres overskrift. Herstedlund School To feel safe, language and wellbeing Herstedvester School Two Cases Language development and Movement and relationships Brøndagerskolen Musik i specialskolen Skoler & Uddannelse Kirsten Schneider/koordinator De øvrige deltagerlande har været: Kroatien, Island, Norge, Grækenland og Irland, som samtidig også har haft ansvarsopgaven i forhold til EU i Erasmus+. Der er blevet set på ligheder og forskelle i landenes forskellige systemer samtidig med, at hvert land har afprøvet og gennemført forløb, der kan gøre overgangen mere forståelig, meningsfuld, udviklende og anvendelig for børnene i hverdagen. Samtidig er der blevet set på lærere, pædagoger og øvrige medarbejdergruppers indflydelse og deltagelse. De gennemførte forløb har vist vejen til nye metoder og mulige tiltag, som er blevet præsenteret for skolelederkredsen i Albertslund og fremover vil blive genstand for drøftelser mellem de to afdelinger Dagtilbud og Skoler & Uddannelse. Projektet har sin egen hjemmeside: https://receptionproject.eu Her findes både en tekst State of the Art, som er hvert lands udgangspunkt samt en produktion/bog, der beskriver alle de deltagende landes projekter. Reception Handbook: https://receptionproject.eu/resourcesguest/handbook.html BØRN, SUNDHED & VELFÆRD Albertslund Kommune Nordmarks Allé 2 2620 Albertslund 1 www.albertslund.dk albertslund@albertslund.dk T 43 68 68 68
Notat: Error! No text of specified style in document. Herudover har hvert land også produceret en kort film, der kan findes på: Reception Video: https://receptionproject.eu/resources-guest/videos.html Endelig er der udarbejdet en opsamling til projektledelsen på engelsk: Opsamling/Summary: Vedlagt som bilag. I efteråret 2019 vil projektet få en endelig godkendelse og herefter er det så muligt at følge op på den etablerede viden og erfaring med for eksempel besøg hos relevante partnere. 2 Side 2 af 2
2 - Reception summarey May 2019 RECEPTION Project Denm Reception - Summary May 2019 The Danish Case study is an ongoing study, which means that we still see meaningful questions be answered and developed. We started in 2016 and we still work with the cases in 2019. From the beginning, we wanted to explore how we were able to give children the best transition from kindergarten to the school system making them resilient and being able to communicate well. At the time the project started there were talks between psychologists, teachers at universities educating pedagogues and teachers about how we could use tools to make the children resilient in the transition to the school system. The talks were held on television, radio, books were published and conferences at the Pedagogic University of Aarhus held. It was therefore an important subject at the time and we wanted to see if we were able to qualify our own transition in Albertslund also looking at resilience combined with good communication. We want to be able to give our children resilience and good communication that is our goal. The communication is important when children are building up relationships in schools and in their free time in general. Therefore, it was not difficult for us to choose our case focusing on resilience and good communication. Albertslund is a town (27.000 inhabitants) with four public schools, one special school and one private school. The two schools participating in this project are large schools with children from the age of six to sixteen. The two schools have 270 and 900 pupils- both a combined school with three departments. In Denmark almost 98% of children between the age of 2 5 attend nursery and kindergarten. Every school have a number of kindergarten that prevails children to the schools that means for example the school gets children from several kindergarten. Every kindergarten is divided up into a number of rooms that bring children to the next level in the public school. The Kindergarten participating in this project is called Sydstjernen (The southern Star) and this Kindergarten have worked closely with Herstedlund School in this project but also they work together outside the project. All children have been given a Children s Book in the Kindergarten. This has been going on for at least ten years. This book are supposed to keep their memories from the time spend in the Kindergarten and afterwards brought into the school system in the Kindergarten class. This book is still used and is the only connection we have had and still have for the majority of the children leaving the kindergarten and meeting the school in this different system. In the Reception Project, we were able to try new ways in the last six months in the kindergarten and then follow the children into the first year of Kindergarten class. The Herstedlund School wanted to explore how the extended transition could help children and parents to feel more safe, with a better language and therefore more resilient plus using good communication. The Herstedvester School wanted to look at activities helping the children from many different kindergartens to develop new relationships in the classroom at the school and in the afternoon together with pedagogues also making them resilient using good communication. Every time a group of children leaves the kindergarten and starts school new observations can be done, new things happen and teachers as well as pedagogues experience new problems, challenges and possibilities. We therefore develop new tools, take new initiatives and use different activities because 3
every child and relationships need to be looked at not as a typical child or group but as individuals and therefore with different approaches. The adults around the children have participated and gained knowledge regarding the transition period in this project. Facts goals and curriculum Denmark does not have a curriculum in the same way Ireland or Croatia have it. We have space to reach goals and possibilities to plan according to the children s needs. We explain it like this: freedom to choose method or approach. When we start solving a problem or changing a daily routine, we spend a lot of time doing different things because every class with their team of teachers are different and need perhaps different approaches. It is very rare that we have one practice that we all use. On top of that we have to make sure that our children experience wellbeing in their daily life and are introduced to several ways of looking of working with Dannelse ( explained in the Handbook) that could be themes for example like democracy, environment, literature, communication, arts and culture ect... To change a traditional transition the way we have practiced it for the last 20 years takes a lot of effort but with this project, we have had serious talks about how we can use the experiences as a new way/tool for all children in our kindergarten and schools. The head of the Department presented our project in March 2019 to all teachers, pedagogues and headmasters at our annual local conference. Nothing is yet finished or decided but the work has begun changing the way the transition - from the Kindergarten into the school system due to this project and our three cases. Facts about the Danish School System In Denmark we do not talk about preschool. We used the word several years ago but accepted that school is school and Kindergarten is not. The Danish Daycare and School System Age Name 1½ - 3 Nursery at the Kindergarten institution 3-4½ Kindergarten the young children 4½ - 5/6 Kindergarten the older group in the Kindergarten 5 6 years Kindergarten class or 0. class 7 9/10 The group of beginners starting the school starting section 10 12 The young teenagers the middle section 13-16 The oldest children preparing for further education the transition to the next level Afterschool activities In the first three schoolyears, every child can visit an institution attached to the school before and after school. From the fourth grade and as long as the children wants to they can visit the schools club. These two afterschool institutions are not free parents pay per child. Pedagogues working at the afterschool activities are also a part of the staff at the school on a daily basis and they work together with the teachers in the classrooms. 4
The project the two cases I will present the two cases as they have developed during the project and I hope that every necessary facts are included. Herstedlund School To feel safe, language and wellbeing Participants are the Kindergarten Sydstjernen and Herstedlund School. Every year there has been 26 children coming from the Kindergarten to the school and therefore in this project 52 children plus a number of children with special needs have taken part in this case. In the kindergarten, the leader is Simone Steensen and she has worked together with the pedagogue/ teacher in the kindergarten class and now educated as a teacher Bente Johannessen. The head of the school Søren Hald has been their partner and he has supported the project from the start as well as he has taken part in the further discussions regarding the future development of implementing the evidence from the project to future practice in Albertslund. The chosen theme regarding language activities as well as parents meetings preparing them for the daily work the challenge the children will experience in the transition and the future normal school days are equally important in the two years of their work. That is to make the parents as well as the children aware of what comes, what the children will experience and how they can be of help. Meetings were held between teachers, parents, pedagogues, parents, and every member of the staff in the Kindergarten. The school that are working with the group of the children were invited to meetings and got relevant information. Every member of the staff on every level were well informed about the case and the work. In addition to the traditional staff a team of psychologists were included in the work when it was relevant. The method The method that were used is based on Louise Klinges theory and practical advises on how to create relationships. Louise Klinge presented her knowledge, theory and practical advises on the course in Zagreb in the autumn 2018 as well as at the teacher and pedagogue s conference in Albertslund March 2019. Her theory and practical activities have been used on the education center for teachers and pedagogues in Denmark. This is a well-known background material/literature for students/teachers. To make sure that all members of the staff are well informed they have held planned meetings. The parents have also meet with especially Bente Johannessen who has been the key person throughout the whole process in the project. Material used in the classroom has been chosen to make sure that the children created a positive and useful language on what school is all about. To talk about what is happening in the school and being able to express views on the contents of the daily work is important. The children have used rhymes and chants, reading aloud as well as storytelling. Every day this has been an important part but also different themes about nature, seasons, traffic were planned. Play activities have been used in every theme as much as possible. Playing the theme as a child gives them the basic understanding not just to be told or taught. The challenges The task demands a new way of and a new kind of thinking regarding employment and function. A pedagogue has to do work that used to be a teachers work. The leader is not always a leader but someone 5
everyone can talk to instead of being talked to. To work at the school or in the kindergarten is not specified but planed because the team see the relevance in the plan to be flexible is important but not always easy. Finally, it is necessary to have experience from both Kindergarten as well as the School System to function well. We did not have any serious contact or arranged plan for visits before the transition. When the children started in school a new leaf was turned and new practice started. This has all changed at least this is what we now try to get away from and take in new practices. The project let the two institutions school and kindergarten talk, visit and work together in a period of time. The transition started in the Kindergarten and finished when the children were adapted in the new system the school system and daily routine Parents were expected to participate in the transition and they did that successfully. To know, understand and support the transition was a good idea. We focused on language, storytelling and creative participation as a starting point in every child not just a common curriculum. Every child experienced seen and heard. Different activities to support good communication and relationships were introduced. Play, cycling, massage and mindfulness are important approaches. The results from the case at the Herstedlund School The activities have given the children very good relationships and good understanding of what a day in the school will bring to the children. The children and the parents now know before they start at the school how a school day is planned and therefore they have a realistic view on what to expect. We see that children that function well are doing well they feel safe and create good relationships with children in the class and with the teachers and pedagogues. Always start with themes and activities that children can relate to. We include children with special needs children that have different challenges to deal with. In the classroom we see that the children acknowledge, respect and recognize these schoolmates in a very positive way and therefore we have created a room for positive education. Here the children feel seen and heard and they participate in a natural way. We have seen how important it is among the adults to talk and planned meetings and exchange knowledge as professionals. This gives a clear picture of the schools work and daily life for the parents. They have a good dialog with each other also a renewable dialog between the kindergarten and the school. Everyone use the same language/words. Finally results, statements and new experiences The parents now have a new and useful tool as well as knowledge that will help the children in the transition period being more resilient in the coming time in the Danish School System. The parents are positive and we meet them to not just a few or when the problems occur. Now they participate at parents meetings because it makes sense. The parents experience that they also now have a safe environment where to meet the school and a place for vulnerable dialogs. The cooperation is systemized and we now have knowledge much faster and are able to act on that when it is needed. 6
It is also much easier to follow up in general and that gives us a platform for cooperation among the adults. The experience are being used in the team as we say in Albertslund Close up using Action Learning and it gives all a manageable communication. Our communication to the other staff members happens mostly in our network not only at one school but in a network with all the other schools and kindergarten in our municipality. Future The experience and results will be looked at regarding further development and a new focus on the transition period. The head of the departments for kindergarten and school and education now have the responsibility to further development. Herstedvester School Two Cases Language development and Movement and relationships The participants are two different classes working one schoolyear each with Mira Hattens, who is the kindergarten teacher. In every class there has been 26 children. The other three classes on the same level have not participates in this project but talks about the activities and results have been presented. The other case and activities are carried out in the so-called SFO at the school. This is an afterschool activity for all the children in the first four years in the school. After four years, they can chose to visit a children s club. To be in this afterschool activity the parents pay a monthly fee. Every school year there has been up to 26 children participating the case study. Lasse Pedersen in one of several pedagogues working in the school as well as in the afterschool activities. The head of the department for both classes in the primary section as well as the afterschool activities is Kirsten Ingemann. She has been the one who have had talks with the teams and the two members of our team in this project. Herstedvester School is a school with children on every level from kindergarten classes to the 9 th grade. The school has a staff that consist of 80 teachers, 20 pedagogues, 46 classes and 3 SFO s and there are 900 children. Language development In this case there has been a focus on how different methods and approaches can develop the children s vocabulary. Every week a plan was made that related to the challenges, the children s needs and their development and to follow up on repeating what is necessary. The method is what we call an aesthetic learning process. This is a process based on first to create interest and curiosity used in different activities. It is always important to go back and make sure that everyone understand and master the activities. It is always important to let the children articulate the experiences and activities and at the end let them present how they master the activity. The activities consists of reading aloud, listening and having a lot of conversation in a safe environment to build up a larger vocabulary. The children work in small groups and the way they act together is with focus on respect, acknowledgement and communication in a good relationship. We always spend a lot of time to make sure that the children understand this and ca master it. It is always necessary to change method, when the children need a new perspective on the activity. 7
Success criterion It has been important for the adults in the project that the children know each other well. They need to know names and who they are, before letting them be active in a safe environment. The project wanted to create children to be good listeners, active with reflections, develop their language both by being curios but also to be able to ask questions. Challenges It is challenging but also important to be aware of the common dynamics and on when a common concentrations ends. The adults experience the limits the children have regarding the physical and mental way the act in a classroom. To develop resilience as a child in a classroom is important many years ahead. Results and new experiences The vocabulary always needs to be looked at and therefore pictures are used to help in that process. After weekend and holidays always repeat not just rely on test children change all the time. It is positive to share experiences in the team of teachers and pedagogues. Here you can communicate present thoughts and plans and make relevant reflections. The colleagues have now taken over this project and brought it into their plan. In the future plan we can not only work this way. All four classes will continue doing this. It has been positive to be in a team that express such a positive attitude towards new ways and activities. The parents have expressed positive reflections. They have found that meetings with the school are relevant and positive. The way we work gives the children a safe start and the way we recognize the challenges children gives them a good start in school life. The children say: This is our place. Communication regarding transition in general The knowledge we have experienced will be presented further on and it is now on the agenda in the network meetings in Albertslund. We use action learning and therefore we exchange experiences that benefits the children s development. Future We wish to continue our work and therefore repeat but also develop the project we learn something new every time. We now have a flexible plan that to be used in the future. Movements and relationships The afterschool activities for children in the kindergarten class with 26 children have been a case with different activities that all related to give the children better mobility and create relationships. Lasse Pedersen is a pedagogue and he works in a team of pedagogues that meet the children in the morning before school starts. They follow the children to the schools classroom and stay with the children in the school and after. 8
Activities Thorough motor skills in the afternoon the children have developed good relationships. They have used different activities to master this. Cycling on cycling paths and how to act in traffic, was the first challenge. Awareness on your surroundings including the other cyclists is important. After the focus on traffic and cycling, the children also have mastered silence and room for listening. To listen to music lying together with your classmates give the children focus on listening to something together. Mindfulness and massage were used as an activity in the second schoolyear. Communication in the team Every week the team has discussed the plans for activities and reflected on them. Also the colleagues have had casual talks in the breaks after an activity. All plans are presented to the parents on the local website only for parents. Method Movement were used to give the children good body awareness as well as positive relationships. The children were introduced to the activity and then the adult have stepped back and given the children space to act and create relationships. Along the activities, there has been a lot of talk and reflections so that every child know why they do mindfulness, massage and having silence times plus music listen time. The cycling activities give the children balance, psychical relationships to make room for everybody. Focus on the activities has been to understand and master it. They have to be familiar and feel safe doing the activities. Success Criteria Doing these activities the pedagogues hope that the children are really looking for companionship with every child in the group. Children with special need are included in a positive way. It has been a criteria always to have a focus on lonesome children and making them a part of the group. Challenges It is not easy to overview a whole group of children when they present themselves doing a lot of activity. The facial expression and body language has been important always to be aware of. We create a school day where the children have there one space and not always controlled by the adults we try to give the children as much space as possible. Results The children have a real interest in each other and like to recognize what everyone does. The adults have a good team to talk to when you need them and they respond in a positive and constructive way. The weekly plans/programs makes it easy to do things together. That creates community and good and useful communication and information. To repeat activities is obvious a good idea and therefore we do that. 9
Future Plans have been made for future activities and we experience that what we have learned in this project can be adopted around us and will be used. Conclusion We wanted to look into various ways of giving children resilience and good communication to be able to coop with the challenges they will meet in the School System. We have had focus on children, parents and the staff. What we have experienced is that we need to be aware always because every child have their own needs. We can make plans that everybody should follow but that will not be enough we need to look at every child acting in a kindergarten or a classroom together with other children and adults. Common curriculum do not function well in our system. We look at children in their daily life. We use very few tests because they only give us a view on what happened that day or during the test. We look at the children, talk with them and their parents plus we have a lot of professional talks among the teachers and pedagogues. The parents plays an important part in the development of resilience and good communication. To understand what goes on among the children when you are not there in important. To reach the parents we use talks and local information on every schools homepages. Finaly it is important to make different professional adults talk together and thereby support the development. We have started a development in our municipality and it will be interesting to follow up on that. Also When we started this project, the Danish team talk a lot about how play was important. We like to give the children space to experiment at learn through play. We see that this way has spread to the other countries although we properly do play in different ways that is acceptable as long as play is a part of the transition. Talks among different professionals is also something that we have experienced that are in focus not only in Denmark. Per Schultz Jørgensen wrote in his latest article: Many children struggle finding the inner peace that can give them a balance in their life. Many feel pressured by a strong measure and competition culture (test culture) where they constantly are being measured and compared to other children. Therefore many children need to be able to say no or at least be able to prevent the pressure for being to strong. To have the courage to stick with your own needs and development. 17 th April 2019. The cooperation and talks between kindergarten, school and parents to assist the transition have inspired the other countries. 10
Extra information A. Albertslund wishes to sustain the project in two parallel tracks as follows: Locally in Albertslund as a municipality: In Albertslund we will have an evaluation regarding the transition process between kindergarten and schools in the municipality in general. We expect the result by the end of 2019. The result is intended to be implemented in Albertslund s new strategy. At the school Herstedlund + school district including the kindergartens: Herstedlund school and Sydstjernen (the participating kindergarten) are continuing their cooperation. The three remaining kindergartens in the school district are invited to participate in the project. There have already been positive responses from two kindergartens. We expect that Herstedlund school will cooperate with four kindergartens in total for 2019/2020. That will include the leaders of the junior department, afterschool program, three preschool teachers and leaders and staff from the kindergartens. Our present project members will function as consultants for the newcomers. The head of the school had and will in the future have meetings with the heads of the departments for school and educations as well as for Kindergarten institutions plus the evaluation group in order to promote the project and spread out the findings and experiences to the entire municipality. We are happy to share ideas and progress with Iceland whom have been inspired from the Danish project. On behalf of the Danish delegation Søren Hald. A mail send to the kindergartens in the school district written by the head of Sydstjernen Simone Steensen: Vi er rigtig glade for at samarbejdet kan fortsætte. Projektet har haft tre ben, som har været : 1. Klæde forældrene bedre på, før skolestart 2. Sprog-forløb med børnene med fokus på, særligt lydlig opmærksomhed. 3. Konsulent sparring ift. eventuelle sager ift. skolestart/skoleudsættelser. Vores forældre har haft stor gavn af forældrecafeerne, som har haft forskellige temaer som Hvad skal mit barn lære i 0.klasse og hvad er det rigtig godt at kunne inden man starter. Dette tema har været en meget stor Aha-oplevelse for mange af vores forældre, og de har ligeledes også brugt Bente til at få talt om egne bekymringer og tanker ift. skolestart. Vi har også med succes, brugt Bente som konsulent i nogle sager ift. skoleudsættelser og forældresamarbejdet. Vores børn har været meget interesseret i forløbet med Bente, vi har generelt oplevet at flere af dem har fået styrket lydskelneevnen, samt den fælles opmærksomhed gennem den fantasirejse som Bente har taget dem med på. Jeg kan varmt anbefale projektet, og tænker at det sikkert kan udvikle sig i måske andre brugbare former med de nye 0.klasseslærere og jer. Vh. Simone 11
Translation: We are happy to carry on the cooperation with the school. The Project has had three leg strategi: 1. Inform the parents before the school start 2. Language activities with the children with a special focus/attention on sounds 3. Help and talks with a consulent with special knowledge regarding entering the school and also to prospone the school start. Our parents have been happy to participate in the special café-evenings with different s subject: What is my child going to learn in the first year/0. grade? and What is good to master before the child starts These themes where AHA- experiences for the parents. The parents have had the possibility to talk to Bente about their worries and thoughts regarding school start. We have also used Bente as a consultant in some cases regarding why wait at year longer before the start as well as how parents and school can work together. Our children have benefited from the work done by Bente regarding sounds and a common awareness: Bente has used an activity where the children has traveled on a fantasy journey. I can warmly recommend the project and I think that I probably will develop in various useful programs with a new group of kindergarten teachers and pedagogues. Greetings Simone. Number of children connected to the four institutions: 240. They are divided into smaller groups of 12 - mixed age groups.. From Herstedvester School: I overgangen fra børnehave til SFO/skole, har vi på Herstedvester skole erfaret, at et sundt klassefællesskab og motorisk sikkerhed er et godt fundament til en god skolestart Derfor er cykeltræning i form af cykellege, små ture ud af huset en fast del af ugeprogrammet når børnene starter i SFO Mvh Lasse Translation In the transition from Kindergarten to the school and afterschool activity, we have on the Herstedvester School experienced that a healthy community in the classroom/good relationships and good motor skills are fundamentally in a good start in the school. Therefore we will keep up the training on bicycles using play on bicycle and trips outside the school as a part of the schools program for the children when they start the afternoon program. Greetings Lasse The Department of School and Education The political committee in our municipality will be presented in August to the Handbook and other summaries regarding this project. I will collect relevant material before the 14 th of June 2019. They will have the website address and when the final evaluation/submission is ready they would like to be informed. 12
Reference/ Literature Louise Klinge Danish Ph.D. in Relationskompetence, Consultant and researcher for schools at the Copenhagen University. Relationskompetence 2016-2017, Book and other articles. Erling Lars Dale Norwegian professor in Didactics at the University of Oslo. Didactic rationality in three stages K1, 2 and 3 Book and article started in 1998. Per Schultz Jørgensen professor and former chairman for the organization The Danish Children s Council Cand. psych and Cand. Phil from the University of Copenhagen. Robust children 2017 Can you train for being robust as a child? Article in the Danish Newspaper Politiken April 2019. Helle Marie Skovbjerg Professor and former researcher at Aalborg University in Copenhagen. Today working at the School for Design in Kolding. Perspektiv on Play 2013 Play is human, Article in the Teacher union magazine Folkeskolen in 2017 Alexander von Oettingen Vice Chancellor at the University of South Jutland. Articles and books about the subject Dannelse Asterisk March 2016 Theme Resiliens Hvordan ruster man bedst børn til at klare de problemer og udfordringer, de møder i livet? Magasinet Asterisk sætter fokus på både ny og etableret viden om modstandskraft og robusthed. How to make children able to deal with problems and challenges, that they will meet in life? The Magazine focus on new and established knowledge on resilience and to be robust. Magazine Asterisk, 2018 on the subject Play makes you free The Danish Pedagogic University. Play makes you resilient Ditte Winther-Lindquist 2017, Article in Asterisk 2017. 13
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