At our Senior Ambassador training last week, we asked our participants for their ideas on activities that meet the Ambassador Schools criteria. They came up with some fantastic ideas, so we want to share them with you!
Democracy
- Campaigning/awareness-raising run by students
- Black History Month events run by students
- Charity events run by students
- Project (presentation, video, etc.) on differences between Ancient Greek democracy and modern EU democracy
- Model United Nations
- Student council/presidents – elections by the student body
- Foodie Thursdays (you vote)
- Student-led events for: Black History Month, LGBTQ+, Women’s Day, Men’s Day
- Equality Week
- School Council Activities
- Mock elections
- Visits from politicians
- Visits to the Scottish Parliament
- Visits to the UK Parliament
- Visits to Europe House
- Debating & public speaking societies & competitions
Leadership
- Students organise activities about any special day: environment/International Women’s Day/Europe Day
- 6th Form students delivering a workshop on LGBTQ+ rights in the EU and the UK
- Junior Ambassadors run an Active Citizenship project on an issue linked to Europe
- Pupils supporting with organisation of Christmas/Summer Fair -> add a European dimension
- Create an Ambassador Schools-specific Twitter page to link to my subject/enrichment. Allow students to manage it.
- Politics/MFL/Citizenship students to enrol as Junior Ambassadors leading cross-currciular events for Europe Day and European Day of Languages.
Info Point
- News board, updated weekly
- Online news board
- School newsletter runs a fortnightly section to update news on Ambassador Schools projects and activities
- Questions and an online poll every week
- Weekly election notice board -> begin with fun topics i.e. ‘Halloween is Better than Christmas’
- Information on how to vote
- 2nd/3rd language video presentations on a rolling screen in school and/or on the school website
- How to find out about more European Parliament information
- Newsletter written by students sent to parents about events
- EU languages
Cultural
- World cultures week/day: focus on Europe & the World. Cultures day includes food, cake sales, music, and a fashion show.
- Bookis in translation event -> literary focus
- ‘Funny’ idioms – guess the country
- Multilingual dictation
- European Day of Languages: video in 8 languages
- Introductory lessons in European languages
- Creation of a memory game about European facts
- Traditional dances
- Folklore music
- Festivals
- National Mother Languages days
- Food festival
- Students create a song/poem on a European topic or sing a song in a European language
- 9th February – World Day of Greek Language: activities and teaching at our school about the history of books (etc.) and reading. Having people from Greece coming specifically for this.
Europe Day
- Infographics about European Institutions
- Performing monologues/duologues from Shakespeare in different languages
- Introducing a poem, or play from ancient Greek literature
- A stall for each country with food, images, languages, flags, etc.
- Involve music where choirs, groups, bands, learn and perform traditional music from across Europe
- Quizzes on landmarks: where in Europe is this?
- Students record a short message in a different language. Others have to work out which language it is.
- Guess the flag competition
Teamwork
- Centre sports day around Europe where each team represents a different country
- Learning and teaching European cultural dancing
- Mock EU-style debate (European Parliament, European Council)
- Organising tutor time quizzes competitions (classes working as teams, or teams within the class competing)
Communication
- Online meetings with other schools
- Translation services
- Students make a video newsletter (on Tik-Tok) with weekly important things about Europe
- Promotional activities for events that the Junior Ambassadors are running
- Social media
- Newsletters
- Posters
- Graphics