‘Pride of Place’ Case Study for the ‘Glan-y-Moyeni’ schools partnership
‘Glan-y-Moyeni’ is a partnership that has been in place since 2008 between Ysgol Glan-y-Môr in Burry Port (Wales) and Moyeni High School in Quthing (Lesotho). This inclusive partnership is based upon equity and learning from each other, exploring the similarities and differences between respective cultures, environments and lifestyles whilst facing similar global developments. In February 2024, pupils from Glan-y-Môr school visited Moyeni High School. Angélique Perrault, Teacher at Glan-y-Môr, tells us more:
Our Taith project was part of a consortium project being run by Dolen Cymru Lesotho, called ‘Pride of Place’. Through our partnership pupils and staff from Ysgol Glan-y-Môr had the opportunity to visit Moyeni High School. The visit provided us with lots of new and unique experiences.
One of these was when the Basotho teachers and pupils taught us how to make traditional musical instruments and play them. Our pupils took part in a workshop to learn how these musical instruments were used by herd boys and shepherds, and how they were made using mostly natural resources such as branches and thick grass.
The expertise shown by the group of young Basotho and their teachers as they led the workshop was very impressive. It naturally generated enthusiasm and curiosity in our pupils and their Basotho peers, resulting in an eagerness to make and play these instruments together – the best we could, of course, as it is a hard skill to master in a short time!
The ultimate outcome for this activity was to combine dancing a Dawnsio gwerin, a Welsh folk dance, using the tune of the Mamokhorong (the crafted musical instruments) as a ‘soundtrack’. We knew that this ‘artistic’ combination was going to be a challenge: the aim was not perfection, having fun mixing our musical tradition was!
The impact of this experience for our partner school was also positive and Mme Labo Kometsi, a teacher at Moyeni High School said:
These instruments have instilled in our learners how diverse our cultures are regardless of our skin colour, and that has taught us to appreciate each other. The Glan-y-Moyeni partnership has inspired us to be very active and participate in projects like this. We have decided to keep our musical instruments in school for future reference.
In addition to the musical workshops, time was also spent experiencing Basotho education where we had opportunities to attend various lessons such as agriculture, development studies and accountancy, subjects new to us in Wales. Some of these lessons turned into reciprocal teaching. We were able to learn some Sesotho, the language of Lesotho, and share our Welsh language. We took the opportunity to share our favourite Welsh and Basotho words so we could incorporate these onto a collaborative mural which we planned to make when our Basotho peers visited us in Wales. This then led to us performing and learning our respective national anthems, “Hen Wlad Fy Nhadau” and “Lesotho Fatse La Bontata Rona”, respectively translating into “The Land of My Fathers” and “Lesotho, Land of Our Fathers”; another surprising similarity that brought the young learners even more together, connected.
The finale of the exchange visit to Lesotho was a Mokete, an Eisteddfod-type celebration event Basotho style, during which all the participating schools, showcased their dancing, singing, reciting and more. A true feeling of being part of something meaningful, something big was palpable.
Not only did our pupils learn about the Basotho culture and how proud they are of their culture during this visit, they also learnt so much about their own Welsh culture. They explored and investigated their culture and what it means to be Welsh before presenting it to the Basotho pupils. We found our pupils became prouder of being Welsh and it boosted everyone involved. Together we learnt how to sing with pride, and we were able to experience the togetherness naturally generated.
In July 2024 a group of Basotho learners came to visit our pupils in Wales. The reciprocal visit allowed for more of our pupils to meet with one another and to create friendships that will last for a lifetime. During their visit, pupils from both schools created their mural to symbolise Basotho and Welsh cultural and linguistic heritage. The drawings, representations and art-work were based on the posed questions of : ‘What does it mean to be Basotho / Welsh? How would you represent your belonging to your culture? What would you like others to know about your culture?’. The mural is a wealth of cultural symbols, and all the project participants had a real sense of belonging, part-taking in a tangible collaborative project outcome. We also now have another tangible resource to represent ‘Glan-y-Moyeni’ visible for the school community of Glan-y-Môr and its future visitors to appreciate and raise curiosity for our sustained and sustainable partnership.
A few Glan-y-Môr learners displayed an apprehensive attitude towards school in general, along with feeling overwhelmed at the thought of contributing to class discussion, group presentations as part of their GCSE courses. These pupils volunteered to be considered to be part of the ‘Glan-y-Moyeni’ exchange visits, acknowledging that this experience would be challenging for them. However. they felt that being actively involved in the partnership and its mobility, was a safe way to overcome their fears, to grab the chance to experience something new, something that may never be presented to them ever again. As educators, we worked closely with them, offering weekly emotional preparation sessions and coached them in becoming more confident. The project activities linked to the mobility were also designed to encourage them, and the other learners in the group, to take initiative, however small, in the form of being team leader for a day or being responsible to ensure all information needed for an activity was gathered.
Whilst in Lesotho, it was uplifting to watch them engage with their Basotho peers with far less apprehension. Two of them even took the initiative to lead a short Welsh lesson to a small group of Basotho students! They were able to reach out for reassurance when needed, without being prompted, confidently able to voice what was challenging, but most importantly, how happy and good they felt about themselves having been fully involved. One student said afterward having seen photos of that moment: “I didn’t know I could smile and look happy!’ A valuable feeling to have.
The local community also tremendously benefitted from the partnership and its mobilities. Hosting families welcomed Basotho pupils into their homelife which proved to be uplifting and allowed them to make friends for life. It will be part of the ‘family history’ as one Basotho parent said.
They simply open doors. Over the years, and especially the last three years with Taith, ‘Glan-y-Moyeni’ has given young people of Wales and Lesotho, their educators and communities the amazing feeling that there is a group of people and friends who have come together. It has been an opportunity to share similar interests and to appreciate what challenges there might be in our respective cultural environments.
They boost self-esteem, anyone’s self-esteem. Giving young people of Wales and Lesotho the opportunity to be actively part of an international experience, a collaborative partnership, makes many things doable when they may have seemed impossible at first. Regardless of their skills and abilities, of how apprehensive they may feel, they are safely faced with having to be an ambassador for their own country and their own culture at first. This slowly evolves into representing their own self in an unknown environment, developing personal coping strategies to stand strong: they, subconsciously, learn so much about themselves and their strengths.
International experiences expose learners, their educators and communities to new cultures, languages, new challenges and encourages respect for diversity in schools. They open their minds enabling them to appreciate and respect new cultures, therefore, their own ultimately. The Taith project and its activities allows us to support the Curriculum for Wales and its aim to develop learners to become ethical, informed citizens of Wales and the world whilst, in our latest Taith project of ‘Pride of Place’, working with the AoLEs of Expressive Arts and Languages, Literacy and Communication. It is also an opportunity to actively support the Welsh Government’s vision for an Anti-Racist Wales.
The unique setting of school international experiences enables real people to meet with real people, to work on a shared common goal that matters to all of those involved. Experiences like this cannot be found in any travel agency. Our engagement in international experience as ‘Glan-y-Moyeni’ has given some of our learners and educators the will, courage and curiosity to explore other parts of their own country, other countries and meet with people from different cultures.
Grab this opportunity!
Have a collaborative plan, so the Welsh schools, learners and their international counterparts have something to give, to share and gain in return.
Appreciate that taking part in a Taith project requires managing, leading and monitoring a project and its outcomes come in addition to a teacher’s day-to-day teaching. However, always remember what it will bring to your school. Your commitment to, and belief in, Taith international experiences will bring something unique that will last for a lifetime.
Our ‘Glan-y-Moyeni’ experience has ethically empowered all the participating learners, educators, their families, and local communities involved. It has undoubtedly opened their minds, made them feel valued and actively engaged in the world they live in. Every learner was a team member. What has brought them together was the wonderful idea that they could meet with real people from both sides of the world, make friends with each other, have fun, and spend quality time together face-to-face. They have come to the realisation that they come from different parts of the world and have pragmatically realised that they have many common interests and want the best for themselves and for each other: happiness, pride for their cultural background, positive experiences and simply being well.
