INTERNATIONAL PARTNERSHIPS

HISTORY: COMMUNITY & INTERNATIONAL SPECIALISMS

Cranford Community College was designated as a Specialist Language College status on 1 January 1997. 

Cranford's almost unique genesis as a school relates to the 1944 Education Reform Act (ERA 1944) and the subsequent development of Comprehensive Schools and educational thinking through the 1950s., the 1960s and most notably and crucially the prevailing educational thinking of the 1970s.

As a result, the 'new' school opened with a innovative and visionary status and identity, an identity which has been safeguarded and fostered by a stream of innovative Head Teachers spanning the first 50 years, none of who really ever saw that there could be a 'box' for one to think out of (Professor Anne Jones, Sir William Atkinson and Marian Brooks all went on apply that same talent for 'doing things differently' in their subsequent careers). 

As part of the post-ERA 1944 re-organisation of education, Hounslow Heath Senior School ceased to exist with the younger children (Infants and Juniors) starting at the site in Martindale Road, Hounslow and which continue today.

The older senior school aged children were moved in 1954 to the newly established Woodfield Secondary Modern School in Great South Road, Hounslow (Not far from the location of the current Cranford Primary School).

In 1954, therefore, Woodfield became the temporary incubator for the birth of 'Cranford Community College' whilst a new vast site and buildings were being developed at TW5 9PD, where Cranford Community College thrives today.

Although Woodfield was, in practice, the original Cranford in many regards such as the direct transfer of sall the students and many staff from the closed Woodfield, the new school, Cranford Community College, opened in 1975, with a new status as a comprehensive school but more importantly a, the very first in fact, DESIGNATED COMMUNITY SCHOOL. 

The vision for and meaning of the world community has evolved with the community. Initially the meaning of community was uniquely locally oriented (and that unique approach is true to this very day) 

The true roots of language college, which belie why the Headteacher at the time, Marian Brooks, sought this particular specialism, hark to the visionary education planners at the London Borough of Hounslow who were tasked with establishing a new Comprehensive School to replace the Secondary Modern, Woodfield School (originally located in Hounslow Heath and then where Cranford Primary is located today.

who introduced innovation even prior to Cranford Community College's inception and formal opening in 1975.

Mr Prunty had been appointed to start working at Cranford Community College on this very day and was given responsibility for overseeing the development of the Language College with its (now well established and embedded) foci on:

• Learning from the best performing schools and education systems in the world (Curriculum, Learning & pedagogy)
• World Languages (English, Spanish, Mandarin, Hindi and Arabic), mother tongue and community languages being given at least parity with the post second world war traditional leaning towards with European languages (dominated by French and German) 
• International Work experience, internships, research, competitions, projects, technology-based exchanges, teaching experience, charity work, training, and study
• the opportunities of Globalisation and a Global Perspective
• the benefits of Internationalism, cultural, and social understanding 

 

The Language College Community Legacy

 

 

 

·         The systematic development of international links between every department with a relevant place overseas (using the international links template developed for China), including:

o   Deep and real curriculum links, both ‘face to face’, and virtual.

o   Sharing of educational best practice and pedagogy (linked to performance).

o   Income generation through the sharing of education expertise and educational consultancy. (Significant consultancy contracts may be through the academy's trading company).

o   Cultural exchanges and opportunities – short and extended designed to broaden experience, understanding, aspirations and empathy of pupils and staff (including spiritual, moral, cultural and social development).

 

•  

This continues our commitment to the ‘Internationals Schools Award’ which we are already very proud to have achieved and no other school in the country has won the award more times than us.

 

The globe (former caretaker's house has been renovated and extended to provide basic accommodation which will make a reality the development of affordable deep links and exchanges between departments and their overseas partners.

 

 

The application built on the schools' inception in 1975 as a purpose built 'original' Community School 

 

Cranford community school in Hounslow, one of the first schools that aimed to bring in the whole community by sharing its facilities. Adults could study alongside the children in day or evening classes or play sport after school hours. The school had a bar and social events, a pensioners’ lunchtime club and a health clinic.

 

At that time, as part of the submission for Language College, Cranford committed to a curriculum offer to its students with an international dimension. The international aspects of the academy have been recognised in Cranford’s achievement of the International School Award on 5 occasions. Cranford Community College is an inclusive, comprehensive multi-cultural academy, located to the west of London, close to Heathrow Airport. The student population (January 2015) currently stands at 1452 & speaks over 35 different languages, representing a similar number of ethnic groups. The academy's ethos is very much outward looking with the community, local, regional, national and international at its heart.

The collaborative work you have conducted with your partner schools and plan to conduct in the future is impressive and your relationship with them is very well-established, as shown by your achievements, which speak for themselves.

Feedback from Cranford's reaccreditation submission (March 2015)

International Partners:

 CHINA

 

1. TIANJIN

 

 

 

 

 

Our partnership with TCC arose out of the Language College DEsignation of the school under the Headteacher's Additional Community Leadership REsponsibilities of the previous headteacher, Marian Brooks.

Tommy Masters was the Community Deputy at the time and the Global Education Team

through which contact was made with the then Tianjin Institute of Foreign Economic Relations and Trade in 2001, now renamed the Tianjin College of Commerce. Since this time, we have visited Tianjin on an annual/bi-ennial basis and welcomed their delegation to Cranford on an annual basis. We have also hosted an Intern on an annual basis from Tianjin to stay with us for a further two and a half months to explore more fully the English school system and educational paedogogy and to further improve their fluency in English.

 

https://edu.liuhua.org.my/en/university/china/tianjin-college-of-commerce

 

Trips to Tianjin (TCC) / China :

October 2016

October 2015

April 2014

September 2013

September 2012

April 2012

September 2011

 

Established in 1960, Tianjin College of Commerce has trained nearly 100,000 outstanding graduates for the national foreign trade industry.

The college has 417 faculty members and nearly 8,000 students. There are 37 majors such as the School of Applied Foreign Languages, the School of Economics and Trade, and the School of Economics and Management.

Fifty-percent of the college’s full-time teachers have master's and doctoral degrees. The college has established exchanges and cooperation with institutions in Australia, the United Kingdom, the United States, Denmark, South Korea and other countries, and regularly conducts mutual visits, research and studies and exchanges.

Located in Haihe Education Park, Jinnan District, Tianjin, the college covers an area of 700 mu and has nearly 150,000 square meters of buildings.

Founded in 1955, it has trained more than 140,000 students for the country.

It has three campuses, Haihe Education Park Campus, Hedong Campus and Hexi Campus, with a total area of 500,000 square meters. There are 8,318 students and 402 faculty members, among whom 243 have master's degree or above, and 112 of whom are double-professionally-titled.

The college has continuously improved its talent training mode. There are currently 37 majors in seven categories, forming a professional system with distinctive modern service industry characteristics. It has built a number of domestic leading multiple-profession and multiple-position training bases at which students can find employment or start up businesses.

The college has established friendly and cooperative relations with institutions from more than ten countries including Australia, the United Kingdom, the United States, Denmark, South Korea, Ukraine and Canada, and regularly carries out activities such as research and studies, exchanges, educational cooperation, and overseas internship and training.

The college is a training base for service outsourcing talents in Tianjin, an overseas safety guarantee base for the "Belt and Road" in Tianjin, a training base for scarce skills in Binhai New Area, and a business service base for college student innovation and entrepreneurship in Haihe Education Park.

 

Brief Introduction of TCC

Tianjin College of Commerce (TCC) is a full-time vocational college of higher education approved by Tianjin Municipal Government and registered with the Ministry of Education, the People’s Republic of China. TCC was established in 1955, has followed its motto –In pursuit of Professional Competence and Business Integrity, having accumulated rich experience in vocational education with its own characteristics. TCC is on the first list of Model Vocational Colleges in Tianjin, cultivating  high quality talents for modern service industry.

With the total area of 500,000 square meters and the building area of 220,000 square meters, TCC boasts 3 campuses in Haihe Education Park, Hedong District and Hexi District.

 There are 8 secondary schools and 4 Teaching Department in TCC. Offering 40 majors which fall into 7 discipline categories, TCC has formed a professional system with distinctive characteristics of modern service industry.

There is a comparative good foundation of language teaching, a first-class teaching team of Chinese to Speakers of Other Languages, a large number of teachers who can bilingual teaching professional knowledge in Chinese and English.

TCC attaches great importance to foreign students’ education, responds positively to the policy of the Tianjin Municipal Education Commission on carrying out the foreign students’ education in China, and expands the enrollment channels of foreign students in China. The results of international exchanges are remarkable. TCC has established friendly and cooperative relationship with colleges and universities in the United States, the United Kingdom, Denmark, France, South Korea, Japan, Thailand, Malaysia, Mongolia, Nigeria, Belgium and other countries, and has carried out Sino-foreign cooperative majors, foreign students’ education, research and exchange, language training, credit recognition and other activities. At present, there are foreign students from more than ten countries studying Chinese, Chinese culture and professional knowledge in TCC. The international education level and international influence of the TCC are increasing year by year. 

 

Tianjin College of Commerce, Tianjin, China

Click here to learn more about our work with Tianjin College of Commerce (TCC) 

Visit to Tiajin, China / October 2016 

Visit to Tianjin, China / October 2015 

South Dong Chang Middle School, Shanghai, China

 

  PAKISTAN

Fauji Foundation Model School, Tulsa Road Campus, Rawalpindi, Pakistan

 

Visitors From Overseas:

 SOUTH KOREA

Korean Educationalists visit Cranford Community College

 

  Cranford Students World Class Status Award 

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(*) The international dimension of the curriculum remains despite the change of Language College status following the abolition of the specialist schools programme by the coalition government in May 2010, and as part of our successful academy status submission, the school committed to maintaining its “Language College Legacy”. The new internationalism policy, ratified by the Academy Trust Board in November 2014, identifies the many strands of the current development of internationalism at Cranford Community College.