How a traditional tale can be used to further language work and bring two schools together in an exciting joint project with modern technology.

"The people saw the rats coming over the hill!”
 
Along with their partners from Grundschule Wettbergen in Lower Saxony, pupils from Great Creaton Primary School, Northampton retold the gripping tale of the Pied Piper of Hamelin in a joint video project. Following a year of preparation in both schools, in which props were made, storyboards were created and narration was written, eleven pupils from Northampton set off to explore the medieval town of Hamelin and embrace the exciting, creative challenge of making an animated film in English and German.

This cross-curricular project incorporated elements of language learning, ICT, art and history, really capturing the enthusiasm and interest of the pupils. The budding film-makers from the UK were inspired by the fairytale architecture of Hamelin, the possibility of interacting with people in a different language, by showing the German pupils how to use the film-making equipment and above all, by the friendships which blossomed with their pen friends:

"In Hamelin, Mr Camp set us a task: we had to buy a stamp, a postcard, a present for someone in the class and a thing for the classroom." William

"We did some filming on the laptops and some narration. We showed the German children how to work with the digital blue cameras. It was really fun because we all got to make a film and show it to the other school." William

"I have learnt a lot of new things about Germany!" Sam

"It was really sad leaving our friends at the end. I’d love to go again!" Frances

Apart from a boost in their language skills, the children returned to the UK with a new readiness to try out unfamiliar vocabulary and a greatly increased enthusiasm for German, which is now rubbing off on their classmates. In addition, visual displays around Great Creaton Primary School explain about the Pied Piper project, raising the awareness of German amongst all the pupils at school.

The Pied Piper film was shown, to great acclaim from surrounding schools, at the Guilsborough Film Festival. Indeed, the project was such a huge success that a reciprocal visit from the German pupils is already being planned!
 
You can watch the video and find out more about the project on The UK-German Connection website.  

Get involved! Advice and Assistance with UK-German projects

UK-German Connection can offer you advice on setting up partnerships with German schools, project ideas and advice on funding for joint activities. UK-German Connection also provides direct funding for joint projects, for taster trips to Germany and for celebratory activities. For more information, please visit: www.ukgermanconnection.org/ or call Madeleine Cords, Hotline and Information officer on 020 7824 1570.

The Pied Piper project was supported through the British Council’s Anglo-German Curriculum Project programme.