Thinking about linking

Thinking about linking… … just click your way through this ten-minute tour of the options - and it will select for you the partnerships, projects or programmes you need to pursue! How do we decide where or how to link? Before linking We’d really like some links but there are too many options Start thinking We’ve already got a link school but haven't really made a start Start linking

Before linking… We'd like to know more about the different approaches to linking and international work How do we choose? Can we look at options for project-based partnerships (set activities, with lots of support) Project-based partnerships What are the basic choices about where and how you link your school? Options for links What are the options for support and guidance? Support and guidance

Support and guidance We are from a non-UK country and would like guidance… International guidance We are a UK school and would like guidance… Guidance for UK We’d like to know more about types of partnerships… How do we choose? We’re interested in several countries and a range of projects for each year group Your international network

Start linking We’ve found a partner school – what now? Why not choose one of the British Council template projects to do together We’d like to find a way to communicate effectively… The best thing to do is request a project space for your partnership. How do we start planning our partnership? There is plenty of advice on this website. See Planning a project for some first steps. The link below will take you away from Thinking about linking Can we get funding for our partnership? You can get funding through Comenius or Global School Partnerships. Please see the Funding section as this will give you more information.

Project-based partnerships If you want to join one of our British Council online projects, we are always looking for schools to join our template projects , and these are always starting up. You will need to log in and post in our forums to get started. How to post in our forums We’d rather think about a project activity than a structured programme… Planning projects What about joining in with a project that’s already going… Hosted projects We’re ready to start thinking about a curriculum approach and joint curriculum projects… Ideas / Themes / Subjects

Whole school partnerships We’re interested in developing countries – is there more guidance? Further guidance - North-South We’re interested in Europe – is there more guidance? Further guidance - Europe We're interested in a school where we can look at school development issues together (including CPD) Structured programmes We’re interested in several countries and a range of projects for each year group Your international network

North-South partnerships What are the options for North-South links? Choosing global partnerships We’d like to make a North-South link as part of a group of schools working together in the UK? Community links The link below will take you away from Thinking about linking The Global School Partnerships programme offers guidance on North-South partnerships and provides funding opportunities for eligible countries. www.dfid.gov.uk/globalschools

Structured programmes The links below will all take you away from Thinking about linking Structured programmes with funding will depend upon an agreed and formal link or links, and involve curriculum planning with your partner school(s). Some require you to find a link school; some will help you to do this. You will find information about structured British Council school linking programmes in the Funding section. How do we find out more? If you are registered , you will be informed of opportunities within the structured programmes (recruitments etc). Do you have to be a UK school for these opportunities? If you are from outside the UK you can read through the Funding – international section for more details << Guidance for schools in UK

Options for links We’d like to know more about types of partnerships How do we choose? We're interested in European links for MFL, just to get started, for ease of visiting, for Comenius Further guidance – Europe We're interested in North-South links for Global Dimension, for contrasting locality, for diversity and culture Further guidance - North-South We're just starting, we need the easiest ways to make links and some ideas First links

Community linking… The links below will take you away from Thinking about linking We'd like to see what towns/ cities we are twinned with and start there. There is a great list of twin towns and sister cities on Wikipedia . Once you have found a link, Google the two place names together to find further information, such as who to contact about the link. Is there funding available for community-based or area-area links, involving groups of schools, or schools and community groups? Yes there is, please contact the teams on Comenius (for UK links with Europe) or Global School Partnerships (UK-global links) << Back to Options for links

Guidance – international What does the British Council offer for our country? This is listed in Funding – international Is there someone we can speak to in our country? Please post on the forums with this question (you will need to be registered ) We’d like to read through some advice and tips before we start Please go to the Getting started section of this website (it is best if you are registered and logged in) We don’t really know enough about how this would work and what we’d do Ideas for projects

Guidance for UK Can we look at options for project-based partnerships (set activities, with lots of support)… Project-based partnerships What are the options for support and guidance? Support and guidance If you have specific questions you can go to the UK support forum or contact us directly. How to use the forums What are the basic choices for where and how you link your school? Options for links

Planning a project We’re ready to start thinking about a curriculum approach and joint curriculum projects… Ideas / Themes / Subjects If you want to join one of our British Council online projects, we are always looking for schools to join our template projects , and these are always starting up. You will need to log in and post in our forums to get started. How to post in our forums

How do we choose? Start with project ideas to suit your curriculum aims… Project-based partnerships Look for a partner school you can work with, and go from there… Whole school partnerships Look at the easiest ways to make links to try it out… First links Can I meet a teacher and just discuss what we could do before we decide anything? Find out how to post in the forums

First links British Council staff are often asked, what would be the best place to start a link, but it is impossible to generalise. Finding the right link teacher is more important than the choice of country, as you will work together. We like the idea of linking in Europe to start with… Easy linking in Europe We’d like easy ways to link for basic projects like postcard exchanges... Global greetings Can I meet a teacher and just discuss what we could do before we decide anything? Find out how to post in the forums

Southern links There are schools from South Asia (India, Pakistan and Bangladesh), from Indonesia and from Latin America (Brazil) seeking partnerships in the forums. How to use the forums We're interested in North-South links for Global Dimension Further guidance - North-South The links below will take you away from Thinking about linking There are lots of Southern schools on the School search database seeking simple friendship and learning links. Nepal has very friendly, communicative schools, same goes for Indonesia - don't forget less obvious countries like these. Further guidance on linking UK-Africa

Hosted projects If you want to join one of our British Council online projects, we are always looking for schools to join our template projects , and these are always starting up. You will need to log in and post in our forums to get started. How to post in our forums The links below will take you away from Thinking about linking Look through our Guide to technologies if you would like an overview of some of the other organisations that host international projects. If you want to do a flagship project, look through the Global learning activities section. You will need to be logged in to access this content. We usually recommend that you do one of our Introductory activities as a first step.

Global greetings Are you seeking a link which would just involve a postcard exchange, or swapping photos and greetings with a school in another country? Teachers on our forums are friendly and open to ideas. How to use our forums What are the basic choices about where and how you link your school? Options for links The link below will take you away from Thinking about linking Our page Join a global activity lists some easy ways to join global web projects for schools that are up and running, so you can just go along with what everyone else is doing!

Ideas for projects A simple exchange, such as Your School, My School using images, text A visiting travel buddy to send back experiences through photos and diary Comparing localities, building a portrait through geography, industry, community Natural landscape features or heritage sites Healthy eating - through recipes, local produce, nutritional content, traditional dishes Healthy living - transport, sports, local facilities, who gets involved? Families - traditions, changes, interviews, reflection Festivals, how they have developed, how they are celebrated Comparing plays or books studied for the themes, characters, style Comparing artists, architecture, historical and modern Tourism - marketing, sustainable development, valuing traditions and monuments Exchanging podcasts with native speakers of a target MFL and responding to them History traced via migration that incorporates stories from your own and your partnerschool's country Geography through students' eyes such as guides for international 'virtual' visitors Surveys to compare distances to school, modes of transport, weather Attitudinal questionnaires designed and analysed by students Recipe exchanges, traditional food products and dishes, nutritional analysis Swapping PE activities, writing and drawing instructions, historical background to games Fashion and fabrics - designing an eco-friendly school uniform and trying to source it Working alongside a partner school on the Eco-Schools framework Co-learning on ICT curriculum with an East Asian partner school via shared webspace International sales and distribution - fair trade, human rights Textiles and clothing manufacturing - traditional and workshop based Pollution, carbon footprint, fossil fuels, planet's resources Biodiversity, endangered species, poaching, reducing habitats Tribes or indigenous peoples, human rights, history and present-day reconciliations Songs, dances, traditional or popular A period of history in each of the countries, and the inter-relationship of histories Identities of countries, how these are seen and understood in the respective countries Find out how to post in the forums Find out how to request a project space << Back to Planning a project

Themes for projects What will your project be about? How will you base it in the curriculum? You might want your project to be cross-curricular and focus on themes… a tip: the project should entail learning from , as well as about. Think about exploring some of the aspects of the culture, such as how festivals are celebrated, popular leisure activities, expectations of the young and attitudes towards the elderly etc Consider an important global issue, such as climate change, drugs and health, HIV/AIDS, homelessness, or conflict and explore how it affects each differently or similarly and what views people hold about it Consider Global Citizenship Education concepts (Social justice and Equity, Diversity, Globalisation and interdependence, Social Enterprise, Peace and Conflict) and see what ideas may come up from them Find out how to post in the forums Find out how to request a project space << Back to Planning a project

Using subject areas History: histories of your local areas, , independence struggles, compare perspectives of key historical events (e.g. The Slave Trade) Science: protecting the environment, climate change, conservation, global footprints, the digital divide, food and health (eg compile recipe books of healthy dishes) Geography: local geographies, interdependence, trade, water, transport, farming, land use, migration, sustainable development, food miles, perceptions of different parts of the world, weather and climate Citizenship : intercultural understanding; development awareness, forms of government, human rights, conflict Drama : joint creation of a play, short film or other dramatic event - including set design, publicity material, plot lines and genre << Back to Planning a project Arts and crafts : cultural traditions and new media, textiles, how art is used to communicate eg adverts, photography, use the web as an ‘exhibition’ space Literacy : story-telling; literary traditions; creation of a story; creative writing or poetry around a theme Language : mapping languages, number of languages spoken, recording and sharing learning with ‘experts’, comparison of proverb Music : traditions and new trends; instruments, composition, performance and recordings, the role of music in different societies, songs with messages Mathematics : number systems, statistical comparisons, number games, cost of commodities PE: exchange traditional games and sports, run sports festivals for younger children

email-based links We suggest ePals for emailing links – the student accounts are suitable for all ages; they are teacher-moderated, easily set up and managed, secure and free of charge. You could consider: A link with Australia, Canada or USA for literacy or book-club, emailing practice A link with Latin America (including Spanish speaking USA schools) for Spanish language and culture An SEN link where communication difficulties are addressed through emailing etc A link to support EAL with a school in Korea, Taiwan etc. << Back to Planning a project The link below will take you away from Thinking about linking See our Guide to technologies for more about class-based emailing as a way to develop a link.

Your international network We’re looking for a partner school to get to know, build over time and maybe visit Whole school partnerships We'd like a project-based approach planned around curriculum development Project-based partnerships We want a portfolio of activities, some CPD, some learner-focused Structured programmes The link below will take you away from Thinking about linking To find out more about planning your international progress as part of your school development, go to the Getting started section, where you will need to be logged in to access the full content for schools.

Our forums We operate forums on this site where you can meet teachers from other schools worldwide and set up projects. You can access our forums from the My desktop feature when you are logged in. << Back to Planning a project The links below will take you away from Thinking about linking … To use our forums you will need to Register your school and log in as soon as you come to the site. You can use our forums to set up links, but they are strictly for teachers only and all participants on the forums must be over 18. See security and safety . If you want to use forums with your students, you can look at our Guide to technologies for ideas of what would suit your school best.

Request a project space We offer project spaces to schools ready to work in partnership. You can find these schools on our forums , or using existing links that you have. If you have a project idea ready you can find a link school in the forums and request a project space. If you need project ideas you can use our template projects , which you can download and use or adapt. << Back to Planning a project The link below will take you away from Thinking about linking Request a project space >>

Template projects Our template projects cover all ages, mixed age groups, and a variety of themes and topics, designed to suit teachers’ needs. The templates are a single page format and can be easily adapted. Some templates have further guidance, but the idea is that these template projects can be used in order to agree a shared learning activity with a partner school, while meeting the requirements of your own curriculum. << Back to Planning a project The link below will take you away from Thinking about linking Template projects list >>

Further Guidance - Europe How do we start with getting linked in Europe - we're just seeking a straightforward, friendly link? Easy linking Europe We want a link so we can practise our French Linking with France << Guidance for schools in UK The links below will take you away from Thinking about linking We'd like to work with Europe using ICT – is there an informal programme to help us to link and collaborate? eTwinning We'd like to work with Europe – is there a structured funded programme? Comenius programme

French links It can be difficult to find a school in France to link with as they are highly in demand. There is a special page of guidance for UK schools wishing to link with a school in France. << Guidance for schools in UK The link below will take you away from Thinking about linking Linking with France >>

Easy linking in Europe The countries in Eastern Europe are keen to start projects and communication. They can be extremely proactive and creative. Italian schools are usually extremely friendly and flexible and have lots of ideas. German schools make ideal partner schools; they are often seeking visits and exchanges, but are also interested in projects. Turkey is a candidate country for EU membership and many Turkish schools are keen to link with UK schools (and other European schools). Therefore you will find Turkish schools are very receptive to partnership approaches, and bear in mind that Turkey is easy and relatively convenient to visit while offering something culturally unique – a bridge between Europe and Asia, between Western and Islamic cultures. NB: It is a good idea to explain if you want to spend time building up the link first, as many schools are looking for partners specifically to apply for funding straight away. << Back to Further guidance - Europe

Thinking about linking

More Related Content

Similar to Thinking about linking (20)

More from British Council (20)

Recently uploaded (20)

Thinking about linking