Thank you to everyone who joined this webinar on 15 November 2023. The recording is available above.
Partnering with a school in a different country has many benefits for your students but, if you’ve not been involved in one before, it can seem daunting to get started.
Watch our Education Exchange panel discussion on to hear from teachers who have experience of setting up and managing an international partnership. Get tips from them about how to find a good partner, how to get started and how to expand the partnership into a long term relationship.
We’ll look at questions such as:
- What do I need to think about before I get started?
- How can I make sure the partnership benefits my students?
- How do I persuade my senior leadership team to support this?
- How can I embed internationalism into the existing curriculum so it’s not just seen as an extra task for already busy colleagues?
There will be a Q&A session when you will be able to put your own questions or share your own experiences.
Get your school partnership started with the help of the British Council
If you’re looking to start a partnership, the British Council can help you in lots of ways. Our ‘Find a partner’ database gives you access to verified, like-minded schools looking to work with their counterparts in the UK. Our library of classroom resources gives you ideas for projects to get you started. And, on top of that, we’ve got lots of tips and guidance if you’ve never set up a partnership before.
About the panel
Dipa Biswas
Head of Quality Assurance Unit & Academic Counsellor at Oxford International School, Bangladesh. Has achieved two Masters degrees – MA in English and MA in ELT and Applied Linguistics. Awarded with Vice Chancellor’s Gold Medal for my outstanding results in MA in ELT & Applied Linguistics. Currently, I am doing PhD in Curriculum Designing.
Jane Watkins
Primary teacher - North Wales. Passionate about language learning through fun, engaging and purposeful experiences. Dedicated to enabling our young children to make positive connections with the world around them. Previous careers in banking and pharmaceutical industries enable her to communicate clearly and effectively and set high standards in everything she does. Highly effective at managing projects, Jane is creative, organised, self-driven and wired to persist when things get tough.
Stewart Cook
Assistant Head Teacher of a small rural school in Lincolnshire and has developed global learning across the school and supported schools and partnerships throughout Lincolnshire and the Middle East.
Alison Hooper
Alison Hooper’s career spans 34 years, starting in Moss Side Manchester where her interest for development education began. She is a Founding Fellow of the Chartered College of Teaching and her commitment to shared leadership and desire for excellence has resulted in her school being formally recognised by the British Council as a school of excellence for global learning. Her school has been awarded 5 consecutive International Schools Awards in 2009, 2013, 2016, 2019 and 2023. In July 2023, it was awarded RRSA Gold Award by UNICEF. Alison has jointly led a successful international school partnership with a primary school in Kenya for the past 18 years. She has an MA in Development Education and is a British Council Ambassador.