International moves

Detail of FunSongs Show promo flyer for Spain

Now that Andrew Tyree is settled in Madrid he is again working to promote FunSongs in the Spanish capital. One way of spreading interest is to stage a presentation show and invite people who could book it in the future. With this aim in mind, last Friday I got on the phone from Riga and called up Jonathan Pitt who teaches at Madrid's British Council School. The three of us first met in May 2007 when Andrew and I first went over to Madrid in May 2007. Jonathan Pitt remembered FunSongs well and expressed interest in the scheme; my hope is he will be able to organize an event at the school for Andrew. Watch this space for developments - and do contact Andrew if you are in Spain. His details are on the FunSongs Spain website.



The International School of Riga, Latvia

Samuel Goodger now almost 8 has attended this school since moving to Riga from Italy in January. He likes it and is learning. The ISR uses the IB Primary Years programme increasingly used throughout the world. This emphasizes life-long learning, education of the whole person and a global, 21st century approach.
Through contacts with the school I have organized a special FunSongs presentation show schedules for Parents' Say on 24th May. FunSongs has already purchased Emelie and Valentina's ticketsand they will be coming over to Riga to do the show - act out the puppets and showcase some action songs - probably Water is Everything and 65 Million Years Ago.
The aim, as well as offering the school an entertaining and educational free event, is of course, to kick-start FunSongs in Riga and Latvia. Vija Bluzma, artistic director of the National Latvian Puppet Theatre will attend and has agreed to lend us a puppet theatre for the show. It is my hope that other educational luminaries from Latvia's somewhat dysfunctional (so I've heard) state school system will come too!

FunSongs workshops for Riga teachers

Teacher training session with Charles Goodger

Since coming back to Riga from a trip to Bologna to meet with CAIL, there have been several developments in my plan to promote FunSongs in the Baltic.
First last Friday I agreed with Signe Neimane and Guntaris Helmanis of Riga Education Council to hold a series of teacher training session for Latvian primary school teachers of English . These sessions will conists of three 9-hour modules for 75 teachers and will take place at the teacher training centre in Kaniero iela in June. There I can familiarize teachers with the FunSongs Approach which they will be able to start using in class from the start of the new 2007-2008 school year.

Last week I had a meeting with some teachers at the International School of Riga (attended by my seven-year-old son Sammy). They have decided to start using FunSongs packages in their classes in the next few weeks starting with "The Ladybird Song" package.
On Tuesday I will finally meet Iveta Vītola the Longman agent to discuss the Latvian education system and possible areas of collaboration.
I'm also looking forward to meeting Silvija Andernovics current president of Late Latvia's professional association of English teachers. She has just retruned from an interational Tesol conference in New York.