A Global Perspective
The holiday snaps of a well-travelled beanie bear, French horses granted a civic welcome in an English town hall and a tuck shop stocked with Fairtrade products are some of the ways in which UK schools are adding an international dimension to their learning and wider activities.
Around 900 have successfully applied for the International School Award. Funded by the Department for Education and managed by the British Council, it is essentially a kitemark of excellence given for developing an international ethos in a school. It aims to encourage schools to forge links with ones overseas, involve their local communities and bring an international flavour to subjects across the curriculum.
There are three levels: Foundation - introducing internationalism; Intermediate - developing internationalism; and the full International School Award. Once awarded, accreditation lasts three years.
The award is one of several schemes promoted under Putting the World back into World Class Education, the Government’s international strategy for schools. Launched in 2004, the strategy aims to add a global perspective to children’s education by fostering collaboration between UK and overseas schools.
As well as the ISA, other initiatives it encompasses include the European Union’s Comenius programme, the Department for International Development’s Global Schools Partnerships and the new Connecting Classrooms programme to encourage links between UK and African schools.
It’s not just pupils who benefit from the ISA; teachers, governors or other school staff have opportunities for professional development including making preparatory visits or study visits while supporting the whole school as the international approach is established.
Schools can use existing international partnerships between towns, local authorities and other community-based organisations as a valuable source of advice and support in establishing partnerships with schools in other countries.
In Wisbech, Cambridgeshire, children and staff at the Meadowgate special school have corresponded, swapped recipes and discussed entertainment and sporting issues with schools in Romania, the US, New Zealand and Europe.
Last year, two white Camargue horses were ridden from the south of France and eventually stabled close to the school for the future use of pupils who tracked their route and progress before attending a church blessing for the horses and a civic welcome at the Town Hall.
Charity and community work also play a large part in the ISA activities and pupils pitched in to help with the Tsunami appeal and other causes. “We consider that, of all the various awards and marks available for schools to pursue, the ISA is one that is entirely relevant for each individual pupil and necessitates full student involvement and commitment,” said headteacher Neil Sears.
The ISA offers particular benefits for special schools, Sears believes. “In my opinion, special schools have a greater degree of flexibility than mainstream colleagues in that, although we naturally have large commitments to accredited course work and all aspects of the National Curriculum, we are at times more able to concentrate fully on aspects of work that are exciting and meaningful to our students. This is combined with the need for us to continually find ways and strategies of teaching children beyond the written page - work of an international nature often lends itself to ‘hands on’ practical work and experiences, such as tasting food, touching materials and wearing costumes.”
Bredon Hill Middle, a co-educational community school in Worcestershire for pupils aged 10-13, has partner schools in Hungary, Germany, Holland and Gambia. The school also hosts visits from American students and pupils send penfriend letters to seven countries.
On each visit abroad, the children and adults are accompanied by Bredon, the specially-made beanie bear whose holiday pictures and encounters are later used in the classroom to inform pupils about life in different countries.
On a more domestic level, Upton Hall school, Wirral, which is partnered with schools in Ireland, Belgium, Australia and the US, uses the theme of fair trade as a way to raise awareness of the wider world. Fairtrade chocolate and biscuits are sold at the school tuck shop and its coffee and refreshments are sold at parents’ and open evenings.
A revised action plan for the international strategy has recently been drawn up. To find out more about the strategy and the International School Award, go to www.globalgateway.org