Darllenwch y dudalen hon yn Gymraeg
Ysgol Pen-y-Bryn is the largest special school in Swansea, for pupils aged 3 to 19. Pupils have a wide range of severe, complex and specific additional learning needs, including Autism and communication difficulties.
In March 2024, seven pupils and accompanying staff took part in a Taith learning exchange to Florida. The pupils participated in lessons at two American schools and also had the opportunity to undertake work experience with pupils from Orange County. The trip has resulted in pupils feeling more confident, learning important life skills and making connections with American students. Another group of pupils will be travelling to Florida in March 2025.
Vanessa Palmer, Assistant Headteacher at Ysgol Pen-y-Bryn, applied for Taith funding to give pupils the opportunity to explore a different environment and to develop their independence and life skills. “It’s important for our pupils to get the opportunity to develop their confidence and to be able to take part in activities that they would never have had the opportunity to. Some pupils had never been on a plane before, some pupils had never been able to experience different foods, different cultures.
“The Taith funding allowed us to have the high staff ratio to be able to go and take the pupils, because they do rely on staff support and Taith recognised that. Taith are one of the best organisations to enable exchanges for our learners, and those with additional learning needs as well, and sometimes our pupils are forgotten. They have become a lot more confident since the trip, they don’t stop talking about the Taith project.”
The majority of the strategies Pen-y-Bryn uses to support their ALN learners originally come from America. Through the Taith project, staff also had the opportunity to observe these strategies first hand and to bring back good practice which is now being trialled and adapted to Pen-y-Bryn’s school setting. Mrs Palmer said “Everything that staff have learnt will have a major impact on our pupils. We want to develop our staff to be the best they can be in order for our learners to get the best curriculum and the best education that they deserve.”
Headteacher Gethin Sutton said “A learning exchange is important because it does exactly that, it enables our pupils to experience things that are out of their general experience, to see what the world of education looks like in different parts of the world, to work with learners that perhaps look similar to them but live in a place that’s very different to where they live and that’s just a joyous thing.”
Watch the video to hear the pupils and staff talk all about their life changing trip, and the impact it had on them.
Taith is Wales’ international learning exchange programme, creating life-changing opportunities to learn, study and volunteer all over the world. So far, 3528 learners and staff have taken part in learning exchanges all over the world since the launch of the programme in 2022.
Taith’s mission is to make international exchange more inclusive and accessible and it encourages participation from people from underrepresented groups – including those from disadvantaged backgrounds, ethnic minority backgrounds, Disabled people and people with additional learning needs. Taith offers additional support for organisations working with individuals from disadvantaged backgrounds, Disabled people, and people with additional learning needs.
To learn more about Taith and the funding available visit www.Taith.wales.
The next call for funding applications from international collaborative projects led by educational and training organisations in Wales will open October 2024.
Pathway 1 (mobility for participants) will open January 2025.
More info here: https://www.taith.wales/sector_schools/funding-opportunities/
