HOW TO DEVELOP SUCCESSFUL INTERNATIONAL CO-OPERATION WITH a UK SCHOOLS? – TEN TOP TIPS

Before making a link with the other school it may be a good idea to look at some useful tips and hints on how to develop a successful international school co-operation.

1.Secure some support / endorsement of senior school management before you start and during the project

2.Contact teachers who are going to be involved in the project to plan the activities well in advance (you may want to organise a preparatory visit for teachers to meet and discuss the project)

3.Inform parents, school, local community about the project – make them aware what the project is about and get support

4.Encourage your students to develop more personal relationship with students from the partner school  e.g. they may send a short description of “Who I am” with a photo

5.Exchange school calendars early-on – it helps to plan activities more smoothly

6.Define ways of communication (e-mail, fax, sms, etc) – not everybody may have an easy access to computers

7.Fix deadlines for activities, display them, make them visible for every member of the team

8.Designate roles and responsibilities (e.g. lead web master and other roles)

9.Provide your students and other team members with clear learning outcomes i.e. what are they expected to learn from the project

10. Decide on assessment and evaluation criteria (e.g. get your students to evaluate/ access the progress, results of the project)

THE KEY PRINCIPLES OF AN INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL PROJECT

• A high level of student autonomy in taking forward the project

• English used as the language of communication between pupils and teachers in both countries, and for the web-pages

• Direct communication and co-operation between students in both countries

• Exchange of students between the two countries

• The use of the project framework in a variety of teaching and learning contexts, including for example citizenship, ELT or ICT classes

• Research, comparison, negotiation and agreement on potential approaches to developing joint web projects

• Teacher facilitation of the students' project work

POSSIBLE OUTCOMES OF THE PROJECT

The final output of the project could be, for example, a joint web page in English produced together by the students in both countries

The learning outcomes for students may include improved knowledge of:

• ICT
• English communicative skills
• the culture of the other country and about Europe
• intercultural learning styles  

HOW TO FIT THE PROJECT WITH THE NATIONAL CURRICULUM?

According to the Curriculum, teachers in Poland should enable students to acquire the following skills:

“Students can find, select and use information from various sources. They can use information and communication technologies effectively”

And school’s tasks include:

“Students should be exposed to a maximum of contact with a foreign language, for instance taking part in an international school exchange or participating in international programmes”

“In language teaching more emphasis should be placed on the cultural aspects of the language, taking into account the context of the European Community and European integration”

For UK students it should fulfil the requirements of the National Curriculum:

“Students should be taught to use their imagination to consider other people’s experiences and be able to think about, express, explain, and critically evaluate the views that are not their own, negotiate, decide and take part responsibly in school and community-based activities, reflect on the process of participating.”

“Students should be taught: to consider how and why decisions about science and technology are made, including those that raise ethical issues, and about the social, economic and environmental effects of such decisions.”

“Students should be taught to use information sources and ICT tools effectively to share, exchange and present information in a variety of subjects and contexts”.

WHAT SKILLS CAN BE DEVELOPED AND PRACTISED?

Students can develop a range of skills and knowledge while working on the project:

• Information and Communications Technology (computer) skills
• Language and communication
• Decision-making
• Taking responsibility
• Self-reflection
• Evaluation and Analysis
• Prioritising
• Critical thinking
• Team work

HOW SHOULD ONE GO ABOUT THE PROJECT?

1. choose your partner school

Go to Global Gateway portal to find your partner school.

2. choose your groups

Agree on the number of students participating in the project with your partner school. There is no limitation as to the number of students taking part in the project. However, it is recommended that the ratio of Polish and UK students is well balanced and should be agreed by the teachers at the outset of the project. Please consider your funding before organizing an exchange visit. You may have to choose class representatives who will go on the exchange.

3. decide on which areas you want to work on with your exchange partner school

introduce the theme to your students

make sure both schools have a clear understanding of the theme of the project

decide on the content of the joint web page project

You may want to develop your project around the theme of Climate Change and Citizenship. Freedom in interpretation of the theme is encouraged.

Here is a selection of possible areas within Climate Change and Citizenship. Your pupils could jointly research and develop:

CLIMATE CHANGE

• Weather
• Natural climate change
• Natural disasters
• Me and the environment
• Global warming
• Climate in my country
• Modern technology and environment
• The world in 2050

You may wish to ask your students the following questions:

• What are the effects of climate change on the environment?
• How can we be more environmentally friendly?
• What will the planet be like if we don’t cut the pollution?
• Can pollution be justified?
• How to save the planet?
• What affects climate change?
• My voice – what can you do to influence the government to change the policy?

Here are examples of the content you may wish to develop for your joint web page:

• Letters
• Cartoons
• Case studies
• Picture
• Articles
• Poetry
• Interactive features
• Quiz
• Pupils' reflections on the project work
• Graphs
• Teachers' reflections on the project work
• Useful hints/reference sites
• Sound and Vision

4. decide on the communication and research tools.

You may want to use some of the following methods: e-mail, chat rooms, Internet, library, interviews, surveys, media

5. draw up and agree a timeline for research, production of the website and for the exchange visit

Here you will find Ten top Tips for International school exchanges:

Organizing an exchange visit may be a quite a challenging experience. We have prepared some useful tips and hints on what to do and remember while organizing an exchange visit.

1. Check what are the legal requirements for Polish and UK children going overseas

2. Ensure proper safety procedures - prepare checklist of guidelines concerning security issues

3. Check insurance and what it covers

4. Create a checklist of things to do before going on to exchange - it helps to plan well and remember things

5. Decide for priorities for exchange visit in advance

6. Prepare guidelines for your partner school concerning e.g. food, behaviour, dress code, etc. ( the guidelines may be prepared by students)

7. Provide your students with mobile numbers, addresses of host families

8. Provide your students with emergency numbers ( police, hospital, embassy, etc)

9. Collect your students’ passports and tickets and keep them in a safe place. You may also want to make photocopies of your students’ IDs and/or passports.

10. Allow time for flexibility and spontaneity

A PROJECT WITHOUT STUDENT EXCHANGES

You can also develop an international project without student exchanges, in which case you may wish to consider the following:

• Provide your students and staff working on the project with clear learning outcomes - what they will achieve by doing the project

• Encourage your students to develop more personal relations with their colleagues from a partner school (picture gallery, exchange of personal information to get to know each other better)

• Organise pairs of students (one form Poland and the other one from the UK) to work on a specific task or part of the website

• Ensure good communication tools

• Get support from an ICT teacher

• There may be more than one final product of this co-operation: website, CD, leaflets, picture gallery, articles in a school newspaper, etc.

• Instead of face-to-face meetings you may organise a video conference, etc.

• Organise teacher visits to prepare and discuss the project