Adopt a Class is a scheme that links classes of pupils in secondary schools in the West Midlands with university students whilst they are on their year abroad. The aim of Adopt a Class is to highlight the opportunities to study and work abroad and through this aims to encourage young people to continue with their language studies.
The scheme takes place over two school years, starting in the summer term 2015 and ending in the autumn term 2016.
Student ambassadors and school classes are matched by Routes into Languages West Midlands in the summer term 2015 and each ambassador will visit their school class for an introductory presentation.
The ambassadors then depart on their year abroad and stay in close contact with the teacher, corresponding at least once a month. The year abroad project can take a number of different forms, including
- A year abroad blog with online and hand-written communication;
- A virtual school exchange for ambassadors working as teaching assistants in a target-language school;
- The development of authentic teaching resources to be used in the classroom;
- A combination of the above.
In the autumn term 2016 ambassadors return to the UK and meet their school classes at the Adopt a Class conference to present their projects.
Please note that this scheme works well for Year 8 and 9 pupils, but can also be adapted for older pupils in KS4 or KS5.
To register your interest, please contact routes@aston.ac.uk by Friday 15th May 2015 with the name and address of your school, your contact details, the language(s) you are teaching, the year group you would like to run it with and the type of correspondence you would be interested in (a,b,c,d). We will announce the matching of student ambassadors and schools in early June.
