I take all our Year 2 children once a week for a 40-minute lesson on European citizenship. I try to tell them about the differences and similarities of European countries. This culminates in a five-day visit to Europe which about a third of the pupils go on.
The subjects we cover include European stories such as Pinocchio and those by the Brothers Grimm. We go to Sainsbury’s and taste European food - tomatoes from Spain, cheese from Germany, ciabatta from Italy, fromage frais from France - so they understand some of the links we have with these countries. They also go shopping and tasting when we go to France.
The children make calendars in French and German. At Christmas and New Year I talk about how other countries celebrate those festivals.
I bring in cards from France and Germany and we look at them, discussing, for example, the use of the word No l. They make a German Adventkrantz, a wreath with large candles lit in the weeks before Christmas.
Sylvia Elmes, headteacher, Barnes Infants School, High Barnes, Sunderland.
