GLASGOW LIFE
COMMONWEALTH GAMES FAMILY LEARNING PROJECT 2014
Background to the project
Glasgow Life works with families in venues across the city to design and deliver learning
programmes and activities that have a direct benefit on the families involved. This
learning can range from adult literacies support to “going to school” transition
workshops. Fostering close partnership working with primary schools and early years
establishments is key to the success of this work as early years staff are well-placed to
support and encourage families into learning and work closely with Glasgow Life staff to
link adult and family learning to nursery and school projects. These family learning
opportunities develop and enhance skills and confidence within the family, for both
adults and children, and promote lifelong learning.
Developing the project
With the Commonwealth Games coming to Glasgow, all educational establishments
worked with the children to get ready for the big event. In order to support and extend
this work, an opportunity was identified to develop a family learning Commonwealth
Games project. Working in the north west and north east areas of the city, Glasgow Life
Adult Learning Tutor, Marie Clark, worked with families and staff at Bonnybroom Nursery
and Family Learning Centre to shape and pilot the project between October and
December 2013 before rolling it out to 5 other early years establishments. The structure
of the project had to take into account both the age of the children involved and the
number of learning sessions available.
In order to engage the parents in the project, meetings were held with the Head
Teachers of the individual establishments who, in turn, signposted participants. At the
initial sessions, parents chose countries and sports to research. For some, the countries
were chosen from a prepared list but for others the country was determined by the
country allocated to the school or nursery by Glasgow City Council.
Lessons learned from the pilot
The pilot project at Bonnybroom Nursery began after a great amount of preparation. It
was important to have flags and maps so that the participants could make choices from
visible sources. Each flag had to be printed and laminated. In addition, lists and pictures
of the sports and games venues were produced. While the sourcing, printing and
laminating of the materials was very time consuming, it was important to make the
project attractive and interesting to look at and research. Worksheets were produced to
support the parents and children identify relevant information on the Commonwealth
countries and sports.
Delivering the project
Following the pilot, the project was rolled out and delivered between January and May
2014. Marie worked with families in weekly 2-hour sessions in Springburn Nursery
School, Royston Nursery School, Summerston Childcare Family Learning Centre, St.
Mary’s Primary School and Maryhill Park Nursery School over a 6 month period with
activities being streamlined to focus each nursery and school on one country. The
families selected a Commonwealth country and found out about the flags, capital city,
language, weather and food of: Malawi, Australia, Mauritius, Bangladesh, Tuvalu, The
Bahamas, Brunei Darussalam and home countries, including Scotland.
They also looked into some of the Commonwealth Games sports, including swimming,
cycling, gymnastics, badminton and diving. The families worked together to develop
writing, source photographs and produce art work, all of which was captured in a
colourful project booklet.
http://www.glasgowslearning.org.uk/learning_providers/family_literacies_learning/reports
_and_research
Celebrating Achievements
The families were keen to include a visit to one of the Commonwealth Games venues as
part of the project as most did not have tickets for the sporting events. It was agreed that
the project celebratory event should be held at the Emirates Arena, bringing together the
families and staff involved in the project with invited guests to celebrate and recognise
their achievements. Susan Deighan, Glasgow Life Chief Operating Officer, welcomed
the families to the venue and encouraged everyone to make the most of the Games
coming to Glasgow, including the range of free family activities.
While the event was to include one of the dads and his daughter sharing what they had
learned about their selected country and sport - Mauritius and swimming - in order to
capture learning outcomes across the project, a series of videos were shot featuring a
Commonwealth Games question and answer session between parents and their
children. In addition, the families were photographed with Commonwealth flags and
displays, many of which are featured in the booklet.
On the day of the event 80 parents, children, staff and invited guests heard all about the
project activities and how much the families had enjoyed learning together. The children
were over the moon meeting Clyde the Commonwealth Games mascot who posed for
photos with all the families when they received their copies of the booklet. To round off
the event, everyone was treated to Scottish songs from Summerston Day Care and the
Bonnybroom Nursery choir who performed a specially written Commonwealth Games
song. Everyone sang along.
Feedback from staff and families
The children and parents involved in the Commonwealth Games project developed in
confidence and ability. The family learning day was a real highlight for those involved.
Clair McLauchlan, Head Teacher, Bonnybroom Nursery
Comments from parents included…
This was a great way to learn with my wee boy.
We know more about Glasgow as well as the country we looked at.
My daughter and I developed really useful skills that will help when she goes to school,
like researching on the computer.
It helped my daughter see that learning was fun.
CASE STUDY
M is a 49 year old single father of a 4 year old daughter. He has had sole custody of the
child since she was born.
Since joining the Commonwealth Games family learning project he has found new ways
of supporting his daughter’s learning by using the skills of research and discussion to
talk about a lot of different subjects, not just Glasgow 2014.
He and his daughter found out facts about countries and sports through researching on
the internet and visiting varies venues and sports centres related to the Games.
He has grown in confidence and now feels he will be ready to further support his
daughter with her homework when she starts school next year.
M is also involved in our Legacy of the Games sessions which involve participants
writing about their own “take “on the events of the summer.
One of the broader impacts of the project has been the Bonnybroom Nursery choir
rehearsing for their performance at the Emirates Arena by performing their
Commonwealth Games song in local homes for the elderly. This allowed the children to
develop their confidence before the big event while entertaining old folk in their
community.
Reflections on the project - lessons learned and legacy
When looking back on the project from its pilot stage, it is clear that when learning is
relevant to the lives of the parents and children, the participants are much more
enthusiastic and in turn the skills they gain are more relevant and transferable to their
family life. In this case, that was finding about a major high-profile event happening in
their city.
In order to bring the Commonwealth Games project to a rounded conclusion, sessions
took place in 4 nurseries and primary schools from August to December 2014 focusing
on finding out what the parents and children gained from having the Games in the city.
Each parent/child group talked and wrote about their personal experience of Glasgow
2014. They shared information such as, who won medals, which countries flags they
recognised on TV, what sports they enjoyed watching and relayed their own personal
take on living in the city during the event.
These weekly 2-hour sessions encouraged further social interaction, discussion and
promoted writing, all of which are beneficial to both the parents’ and children’s learning.
Performance Information
Commonwealth Games Family Learning project (January – May 2014)
 Learning took place in 6 venues with a total of 58 participants.
Commonwealth Games Legacy work (August – December 2014)
 Learning took place in 4 venues with a total of 38 participants
Nursery / School
Address
Adults
Participants
CWG Family
Learning
Project
Child
Participants
CWG Family
Learning
Project
Adults
Participants
CWG
Legacy Work
Child
Participants
CWG
Legacy Work
Bonnybroom
Nursery and Family
Learning Centre
Springburn Nursery
School
Royston Nursery
School
Summerston
Childcare Family
Learning Centre
233 Petershill Drive,
G21 4QJ
3
3
3
3
48 Gourlay Street,
G21 1AE
40 Royston Road,
G21 2NF
Bellcraig
Community Centre,
10 Gorstan Street,
Maryhill, Glasgow,
G23 5QA
2 Kilmun Street,
Maryhill, Glasgow,
G20 0EL
81 Kilmun Street,
Maryhill Glasgow,
G20 0EL
4
4
4
4
7
7
7
7
8
8
3
3
4
4
5
5
29
29
19
19
St. Mary’s Primary
Maryhill Park
Nursery School
Next Steps
Glasgow Life will continue to support family learning in venues across the city to develop
skills, promote lifelong learning opportunities and foster positive attitudes towards
learning. Following the project, family learning in the north west and north east will
continue to be delivered in St Mary’s PS, Summerston Childcare, Springburn Nursery ,
Bonnybroom Nursery, Royston Nursery and Wyndford Nursery.
This project-based family learning approach will continue to be developed, reflecting the
interests of the learners and, when appropriate, link to nursery activities and themes.
January 2015