Twinning
Tredomen House
Tredomen Park
Ystrad Mynach
Hengoed CF82 7WF
01443 864321
The project on waste and sustainability is part of the school language exchange programme between students of Heolddu Comprehensive school, Bargoed and the Friedrich Schiller Grammar school from its twin city of Ludwigsburg. The theme not only relates directly to the curriculum, it also aims to enhance key skills such as language learning and the use of modern communication technology. The project will give students the opportunity to research topics surrounding waste and recycling, for example how different countries recycle their waste and explore how further reduction can be achieved.
The communication takes place via the eTwinning platform on which the students will be able to share and comment their work. In July this year the result of the project work will be presented in class during the visit by the Heolddu students to Ludwigsburg. Following this, the project will be posted on the Caerphilly County Borough Council homepage.
The project is planned to be a continuing activity, eventually involving other primary and secondary schools and colleges throughout the borough as well as other schools from our partner towns Ludwigsburg (D) and Pisek (CZ).
Heolddu Comprehensive School, Bargoed
Heolddu Comprehensive School opened its doors in 1973 as the successor to the former Bargoed Grammar Technical School. Originally the school was situated on two sites to house its 1,500 pupils.
Pupils at Heolddu Comprehensive School, Bargoed
Today it is housed on a site at the northern edge of the town of Bargoed. It serves the town of Bargoed and some of its nearby villages, notably Deri and Brithdir and today has almost 800 pupils. The school has a proud history of both academic and sporting achievement. Former pupils are to be found worldwide, some in important positions in the world of business and education.
Heolddu students have also gone on to study at Oxford and Cambridge Unviversities. The most recent from the class of 2008 is studying law at Homerton College, Cambridge.
The school boasts excellent facilities, particularly on the sporting front. It has exclusive use of the local sports centre and indoor swimming pool during the school day.
The school has a strong German language department and enjoys good links with Caerphilly County Boroughs’ twin town Ludwigsburg near the city of Stuttgart in Southern Germany. A group of Heolddu students will be going out there for a visit in July 2009 as part of the project and looks forward to hosting a visit by students from the Friedrich Schiller School in 2010.
The head teacher Mr Jones says “I am delighted that Heolddu is at the forefront of this initiative. We have a strong German department in the school and the European dimension is as important to us as is our Welsh ethos. We have improved our academic performance in recent years and, in an area beset with economic difficulties, we are delighted with the young people that we produce, many of whom like the pupils going to Germany are role models for our younger pupils.”
Friedrich Schiller Grammar School
Pupils at Friedrich Schiller Grammar School,
Ludwigsburg
The Friedrich-Schiller-Gymnasium was founded by Duke Eberhard Ludwig in 1720 as Latin grammar school. It is one of the oldest and most important schools in the state of Baden-Württemberg. The schools’ most famous student, the poet, dramatist and philosopher Friedrich Schiller studied here from 1767 – 1773 and also gave lessons for a short while later. Today the school has approximately 880 students and has generated many leading scientists and politicians. It is situated in the town centre of Ludwigsburg in vicinity to Ludwigsburg’s baroque palace and the towns’ municipality offices.
Since 1987 the school is part of a French industry sponsored working group of the IJET “Institute Jeune Europe Technologie”. Sixth form students from the Friedrich Schiller grammar school together with the neighbouring Mörike Grammar school and schools from the towns of Montbélieard and Belfort are working jointly on projects such as “automobile and environment” and “New materials in automotive manufacturing” which are aimed to promote modern technology with specific focus on practical aspects. In contrast to the traditional student exchanges with a more cultural focus, the technology workshops aim at developing skills in working with people in different countries, which today with an increasing number of internationally operating companies becomes more and more important.
The school has been running a successful exchange programme with schools of its American twin city of St. Charles in the state of Missouri. In total 60 students have taken part in this programme so far.
In the past (2004) the school has had exchange links with Newbridge and Risca comprehensive schools in the Caerphilly County Borough County and has currently embarked on a school exchange project on waste and sustainability together with Heolddu Comprehensive school. The Welsh students are going out to Ludwigsburg in July 2009 and the German students are planning to visit Caerphilly in 2010.
The head teacher Mr. Arnold says “I am pleased that we have resumed our school twinning exchanges which enable our students to experience the school and social life of our Welsh partners and hopefully lead to long-lasting relationships and inspire others to take part in future activities between our partner towns. In particular, we look forward to the personal encounters between the students from Wales and Ludwigsburg and their joint adventures during the visit to Ludwigsburg in July this year.”