Global Gateway – Linking Schools
(British Council)

The Gateway is funded by the DfES and managed by the British Council, who help to run many international programmes and can provide advice and support to schools as they establish creative, educational partnerships.

The Global Gateway has schools all over the world signed up and ready to work together. It offers an online partner-finding database as a free service to UK schools. Schools can have as many international partners as they like, and the site also gives the info they need to build the partnership and find funding for it from various grants available to support internationalism in schools.

All the links and guidance are here, whether you a school wishes to do an interlinked sports tournament with Poland, Germany and Spain; a cultural information exchange with Japan; an ICT and science project with India or study sustainable development with a country in Africa. There are hundreds of online resources for teachers to help them add an international dimension to a lesson, or to teach whole modules from the curriculum in an up-to-date, topical and globally aware way. Lots of the resources are great to show on a whiteboard, and some of the projects to plan and enjoy with partner schools use ICT in an imaginative way to really connect and communicate around the world from the classroom.

The Global Gateway shows how partnering can add enjoyment and richness to the curriculum and attract the interest and support of parents and the local community - including businesses, diaspora groups and religious centres. There are numerous case studies and the opportunity to share your own. Links for professional development show a particularly exciting aspect of internationalism for teachers and school leaders, who can study abroad, participate in teacher exchanges or foreign visits.

If you are interested in the recent Ofsted report on international work, you will find it on the school leaders' zone at www.globalgateway.org/schoolleaders.


School partnerships
Are you looking to establish an international school link ?

Start by going to www.globalgateway.org where you can consider European partnerships (eg Twinning or Comenius), a project based partnership (ideal for subject based work or ICT) or further afield in developing countries (ESD and citizenship) or to look at world languages and cultures.

The Global Gateway will send a newsletter to all registered schools with information such as the above. For these opportunities schools need to register at www.globalgateway.org/partnerfinding. If your school needs help with partnering you can ask them to email partnerfinding@globalgateway.org


Special requests and Networks

• The British Council Middle East programme is offering schools links to Yemen, Saudi Arabia, UAE, Kuwait and Qatar - an opportunity to build understanding and open dialogue in this region.
• Global Gateway has some great clusters of very basic schools in rural Africa, keen to work in educational partnerships with UK. Specifically: Zambia, Kenya, Ethiopia and Ghana - a mixture of primary and secondary/skills.
• Global Gateway can usually source partners to order in Vietnam, Indonesia, Thailand, China, Russian Federation and Pakistan.
• Global Gateway can also send you a list of all the schools in your area that have expressed an interest in international work.
• Poland and the Czech Republic offer exciting partnership opportunities in Europe from the standpoint of ICT, MFL or cultural and political debate.

For any of the above, email liz.hitchcock@britishcouncil.org


More about www.globalgateway.org


International School Award

The DfES International School Award is run from the Global Gateway website and offers a means to accredit international activity in schools. The DfES hopes that in time all schools will gain the award in recognition of the International Strategy whereby all children in England have the right to an international dimension to their education.

www.globalgateway.org/isa
 

or contact
British Council
London Office
020 7389 4419

In Croydon this Award has been received by

Edenham High School
St James the Great - Intermediate International Schools Award
Woodcote Sports College