Joint projects are the core of school partnerships.
They can be short or long-term, focus on a particular topic or set of skills, or encapsulate a wider range of global learning themes.
There are lots of resources available online but our resources and guidance have been designed to help you plan effective projects and get the most out of working together.
Planning your project
Start with our short introductory resource to help you get to know your partner and introduce your pupils to global themes.
For longer projects, our longer resource packs can support you to explore a specific theme or global issue in depth with your partner, by providing interesting project ideas that link to your curriculum.
Considerations for joint projects
- If you’re new to international collaboration, start small. Any size project can be impactful, as long as it fits the educational aims of your partnership
- Ensure your projects are realistic and achievable. While longer term can be transformational, they also have a greater potential to not get finished!
- Make your projects meaningful. Plan activities that support and complement your current curriculum and lesson plans (activities shouldn’t be ‘add-ons’)
- Ensure your joint activities include groupwork. Project activities are more effective and rewarding when done in groups
- Involve your pupils in activity planning. If they’re enthusiastic about the work, your projects are less likely to fall flat
- Ensure projects help pupils think about how global fit into their own lives.
Need inspiration?
Don’t forget about our collection of free resources and ready-made templates, designed to help you run creative, engaging joint projects on international themes.
They can be used flexibly across a range of subject areas. Pull out individual lesson plans or activities to fit around your timetable, or use one of the templates to run a project across a school term.