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Hosting a Comenius assistant

Assistants

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Host a Comenius Assistant

Welcome the European Dimension into your school

UK schools and colleges can apply to host a Comenius Assistant, a future teacher of any subject, from any of the other Comenius Countries, for a period of 13-45 weeks.

Who can host a Comenius assistant?
Comenius Assistants can be hosted by:

pre-primary schools
primary schools
secondary schools
special schools
sixth form colleges
Further Education colleges.

What are the benefits?
Hosting a Comenius Assistant is a free, flexible and simple way to bring the European Dimension to life for both staff and pupils in your school. While the assistantship offers the Comenius Assistant the opportunity to gain teaching experience in another European country, the school benefits from a new perspective to teaching in school:

teachers can learn about and compare with another European school system
pupils enjoy fun new activities and benefit from extra support where needed
the extra-curricular life of the school is enriched where the assistant shares their skills and interests
pupils, staff and the wider community can develop a deeper understanding of another European language and culture, and the assistant is a positive role model for learning languages and living and working in a different country
using an assistant’s personal contacts in their home country is a great way to establish European school links to develop or implement projects such as eTwinning, Comenius School Partnerships or Comenius Regio Partnerships.

What does it involve?
Comenius Assistants can be future teachers of any subject specialism and will also act as a ‘cultural ambassador’ of their country. As such they should experience working across a variety of curriculum areas, supporting international work and language learning as well as their areas of interest to ensure maximum benefit from the experience for both the school and the individual.

Comenius Assistants work 12-16 hours per week, and must teach a minimum of 2 hours per week of their native language. Schools are expected to designate a mentor teacher, have a regular timetable in place and to offer regular monitoring to support their Comenius Assistant's development.

Host institutions are required to help their Comenius Assistant find accommodation and first time mentor teachers should also attend a regional briefing.

Comenius Assistantship placements are flexible and last for a minimum of 13 weeks and a maximum of 45 weeks. The exact dates and duration of the placement are agreed directly between the host school and the assistant.

Cluster applications
You can also choose to share the hosting of a Comenius Assistant with up to two other schools or colleges. In such a case, the schools are responsible for the Comenius Assistant's travel expenses between schools.

How are Comenius assistants paid?
Comenius aAssistants receive a monthly grant and travel allowance from their home National Agency. They are a valuable teaching resource and come at no cost to the host institution.

How do I apply to host a Comenius assistant?
The deadline for applications to host an assistant during the 2012/13 is the 31 Januaury 2012. The application form and guidance notes for 2012/13 are available on the Application Forms and Guidance page.

National Priorities
National Priotrities and National Administrative Rules have been set for 2012 for schools applying to host a Comenius Assistant. Additional weighting will be given to applications from schools satisfying the National Priority criteria.

Important
Comenius Assistants are not intended to be used only as a language resource.

If you require a language assistant to help with delivery of language courses, you can apply to host a British Council Foreign Language Assistant.