Primary & Secondary Schools
School linking visits
http://www.britishcouncil.org/schoolpartnerships-study-visit-funding.htm
Email: world.links@britishcouncil.org or call 020 7389 4776
Funding is available for teachers and Headteachers to undertake short visits to a partner school in any country to set up a curriculum based partnership or develop an existing link. Travel, board and lodging costs can be funded. The maximum grant per person for a visit within Europe is £500. Higher travel costs for visits further afield can be considered.
Next deadline is 1st October 2008 (for autumn and spring term 2008/09 visits).
China - DCSF District and School Linking Grants
http://www.britishcouncil.org/schoolpartnerships-china.htm
Funding is available for teachers and Headteachers to undertake short visits to a partner school in China to set up a curriculum based partnership or develop an existing link. Groups of up to 10 individuals representing a district or cluster of schools may apply as a group. Next deadline 1 Oct 2008.
Ireland - seminars for partner finding
http://www.britishcouncil.org/schoolpartnerships-ireland.htm
The next partner-finding seminar will be in the Spring term of 2009. Further details will appear on the website.
China - Joint Curriculum projects
http://www.britishcouncil.org/schoolpartnerships-china.htm
Funding is available for schools to take part in collaborative projects with their Chinese partner school in a range of subjects, including sport, art and music. The grant can be used for travel, accommodation and related project costs as well as electronic links. Grant available is up to £5,000 per year. Next deadline 10 Oct 2008.
France - Joint Curriculum Projects
http://www.britishcouncil.org/schoolpartnerships-france.htm
Email: world.links@britishcouncil.org or call 020 7389 4665
Primary, secondary state schools and sixth form colleges in England which have an established partnership with a school in France can apply. Schools can apply jointly with a neighbouring school if the nature of the project lends itself to inter-school co-operation. Projects should work towards a concrete collaborative outcome and must include a visit to the partner country. Activities undertaken during the visit should be strictly linked to the project. Minimum stay is 3 nights for primary schools and 5 nights for secondary schools. Funding for projects is unlikely to be greater than £4000. The grant only covers the costs incurred by the English school and does not cover preparatory visits/ risk assessment visits. French schools must enquire at the office of their DARIC at the local académie for funding (max €5000).
The next deadline for receipt of applications is 10 October 2008 for visits to France taking place before 31 March 2009. The next deadline will be in February 2009.
Germany - Joint Curriculum Projects
http://www.britishcouncil.org/schoolpartnerships-germany.htm
Email: world.links@britishcouncil.org or call 020 7389 4916
Primary, secondary state schools and sixth form colleges in England which have an established partnership with a school in Germany can apply. Schools can apply jointly with a neighbouring school if the nature of the project lends itself to inter-school co-operation. Funding for projects is unlikely to be greater that £5000. Please note that the cost of teacher release, up to 25% of the overall project cost, will be considered if the teacher release time is not used just to accompany students but also in the preparation and follow-up stages of the project. Projects should allow for both language and curriculum activity. Projects must involve a stay in Germany for a minimum of 10 students. Projects should have a German language element but participation need not be limited to pupils currently studying German.
For schools interested in visiting Germany in the autumn term 2008, the next deadline for receipt of applications is 10 October 2008. Please note that all visits have to take place before 31 March 2009.
Ireland - Joint Curriculum Projects
http://www.britishcouncil.org/schoolpartnerships-ireland.htm
Telephone: 020 7389 4936
Funding for joint curriculum projects to include project-related field trips for pupils. The next deadline for applications is 10 October 2008.
Japan - joint Curriculum Projects
http://www.britishcouncil.org/schoolpartnerships-japan.htm
Email: world.links@britishcouncil.org or call 020 7389 4883
Grants are available for schools to undertake Joint Curriculum Projects with linked institutions in Japan . These projects can take different forms. For example, some may require the mobility of teaching staff, involve large numbers of students over an extended period, adopt a cross curricular approach or support the participation of a cluster of schools.
Portugal and Spain - Joint Curriculum Projects
http://www.britishcouncil.org/schoolpartnerships-portugal.htm
http://www.britishcouncil.org/schoolpartnerships-spain.htm
Email: world.links@britishcouncil.org or call 020 7389 4936/ 4665
Primary and secondary schools that already have a partner school in Portugal can apply. Joint curriculum projects enable schools to work collaboratively on a joint project of common interest. A maximum grant of up to £5,000 will be awarded to successful schools. The funding can be used to cover the following costs: pupil mobility (minimum 10 pupils with accompanying adults for 3+ days), materials (incl. software and small items of hardware not exceeding £200), communication, evaluation and dissemination costs, administration costs, staff time (not exceeding 25% of total project costs), specialist inputs for the project (not exceeding £500, e.g. specialist art input). Funding from this programme cannot support the purchase of capital equipment, e.g. computers, video cameras. Applications will be put before an independent selection panel. Funding is limited and so it may not be possible to support all applications in any given year. The next deadline for receipt of applications is 10 October 2008. All mobility related to a project submitted at that deadline should be carried out before mid-March 2009.
France - Joint Vocational Projects
http://www.britishcouncil.org/schoolpartnerships-france.htm
Email: andrew.vivian@britishcouncil.org or call 020 7389 4665
Joint vocational projects
English secondary schools which offer vocational options for study can apply with a partner lycée professionnel in France . Schools can apply for funding for a series of work placements in industry in collaboration with their partner school or a joint curriculum project, based around a specific project theme, linked to the curricula of both institutions, with a concrete outcome Funding for projects is unlikely to be greater than £4000. The grant only covers the costs incurred by the English school and does not cover preparatory visits/ risk assessment visits. French schools must enquire at the office of their DARIC at the local académie for funding (max €5000).
Deadline for receipt of applications is 10th October 2008 for visits to France that take place before the 31st March 2009.
Ireland - Preparatory Visits
http://www.britishcouncil.org/schoolpartnerships-ireland.htm
Grants for teachers to meet to plan and develop projects within an established partnership. The deadline is 6-8 weeks before the intended date of travel.
Comenius Partnerships
http://www.britishcouncil.org/comenius-school-partnerships.htm
Email: comenius@britishcouncil.org or call 0161 957 7755
Bilateral partnerships
Bilateral partnerships are open to all secondary and special schools, as well as sixth form and further education colleges. The partnerships last two years and include a reciprocal exchange, each lasting a minimum of ten days, between the UK institution and another European partner school. Students need to be over 12 years of age and at least 10 students from the UK need to participate in the exchange. Funding is awarded as a fixed lump sum amount based on the number of mobilities (staff and pupils travelling abroad). Partnerships will be defined as medium or large, according to the number of mobilities. Schools will need to find a partner school to work with (The British Council can help with this). Schools may then wish to set up a preparatory meeting with their partner school before making their application. The 2009 application deadline will be announced later this year.
Multilateral partnerships
Multilateral partnerships are cross-curricular projects that involve at least three schools or colleges from at least three European countries. They enable staff and students in the UK to work together with partners in other Comenius eligible countries for the duration of the two year partnership. Staff and students in nursery, primary, secondary, special schools and sixth form colleges are eligible. Pupils and students have the possibility of visiting their partner institutions through the funding available. The partnerships can provide a great opportunity for in-service training, through mobility activities such as teacher exchanges, head teacher study visits, teacher placements and project meetings. Funding is awarded as a fixed lump sum amount, based on the number of mobilities (staff and/or pupils travelling abroad). Partnerships will be defined as small or medium, according to the number of mobilities. Schools will need to find a partner school to work with (The British Council can help with this). Schools may then wish to set up a preparatory meeting with their partner school before making their application. The 2009 application deadline will be announced later this year. Whilst multilateral partnerships require institutions in at least 3 participating countries, The British Council recommends that UK schools consider operating a partnership involving 4 or 5 institutions in the event any partner schools are unable to participate when the project starts.
Comenius Assistants
http://www.britishcouncil.org/comenius-hosting-an-assistant.htm
Comenius assistants can be hosted by pre-primary schools, primary schools; secondary schools; special schools and sixth form colleges. Host institutions are required to help their Comenius assistant find accommodation. A UK school can also choose to share the hosting of a Comenius assistant with up to 2 other schools or colleges or institutions. In this case, schools are responsible for the Comenius assistant's travel expenses between schools.
Comenius assistants 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. Comenius Assistants work 12-16 hours per week, and must teach a minimum of 2 hours of their native language. Schools are expected to have a regular timetable in place, and to offer regular monitoring to support their Comenius Assistant's development. First time host teachers should also attend a regional briefing.
Comenius assistants are not primarily intended as a language resource. Secondary schools offering qualifications in foreign languages will not be entitled to host a Comenius assistant whose native language is one of those.
Priority is given to applications that involve languages that are not frequently taught in the UK.
The application form for 2009/10 will appear on the website later this year.
Connecting Classrooms
http://www.britishcouncil.org/learning-connecting-classrooms.htm
Connecting Classrooms provides cluster groups of 3 schools with the chance to partner with 3 schools from 2 different countries in sub-Saharan Africa and the UK . The purpose of the programme is to enable intercultural dialogue and to increase knowledge and understanding of each other's societies. Schools apply to the programme in clusters of three. If successful, they will be invited to a contact seminar where they will form partnerships with two other clusters from two other countries. Each seminar allows these new partnerships to become established and start planning their project together. Each partnership will consist of 3 UK schools, plus 3 schools from one African country and three schools from another African country. The programme involves Botswana, Cameroon, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Lesotho, Mauritius, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, Nigeria, South Africa, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, Zimbabwe and the 4 countries of the UK. Each partnership is entitled to £15,000 per year, for up to 3 years, to take part in study visits, to purchase materials, and meet certain other costs associated with the project. This might mean for example that each country cluster will use £5000 each year, but it will be up to the partnership to decide how best to manage the grant.
DfID Global School Partnerships
http://www.britishcouncil.org/globalschools-what-is-dfid-global-school-partnerships.htm
The DFID Global School Partnerships programme is undergoing a competitive tendering process and DFID will make an announcement once the tendering process is complete.
DFID Global School Partnerships promotes partnerships between schools in the UK and schools in Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean.
The programme provides advice and guidance, professional development opportunities and grants to schools that are using school partnerships as a means for developing a global dimension within their curriculum.