FIND A PARTNER SCHOOL

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There are numerous resources and a lot of support available to help you find a partner school, plus advice on how to make the best of partnerships

Select the following links for advice on:

How to make links/partnerships with schools

What to do when you have identified a partner school

The Global Gateway

More advice on partner finding

How to make links/partnerships with schools

Online linking
You can search for partners online by registering on the Global Gateway which has details of more than 12,000 schools on it. This way, potential partner schools can also look at your details and approach you. You can refine your search by country, age range, curriculum subjects and other criteria. Find out more.

Other partner Finding web sites include:

eTwinning - is a simple and straightforward way of finding partner schools in Europe and working on a range of exciting curriculum projects.
Japan 21 - for links with schools in Japan
Link Community Development link UK schools with schools in Uganda, South Africa and Ghana.

www.afritwin.net - selects schools of a similar type and size in UK and South Africa and 'twins' them with a third South African school in a rural or township area.

Using local contacts

• Use personal contacts; parents, governors, friends of the school, local twinning associations, local churches and businesses. Some or all of these may have useful contacts to help you find a partner school
• Ask other schools in your area for help. They may have established links and could ask for assistance on your behalf, or they could give you advice on how to get started
• Ask your Local Authority for help - find out about our Regional Network for International Learning in England and Wales, who offer support to schools looking to develop an international outlook. Find a contact in your region.

Other ways to find a partner school

• Go on a contact seminar. Programmes like Comenius and some of the bilateral world partnerships programmes offer funding opportunities for teachers to go on partner-finding seminars around Europe. Find out more about places on upcoming seminars.
• Go on a study visit or a course in another country - a great way to meet heads and teachers from schools around Europe and beyond.

What to do when you have identified a partner school

You can get funding to go and visit them or arrange a group meeting if you have multiple partners you want to work with. For Comenius, these are called preparatory visits, and for other links you would like to explore, you may be able to get a school linking grant.

If you are still having difficulty finding a suitable partner school

Contact British Council on 0161 957 7755 or at general.enquiries@britishcouncil.org

The Global Gateway

On the DCSF Global Gateway, there are more than 10,000 schools from all over the world. There's lots of advice about how to use the Gateway to get the best results, but the best way is to try it!

You must register your school to access the database, although you can look before you leap - registration is only required if you need to see full contact details for a school.
When you find a likely looking partner, keep a note of the name or print out the profile. You can find it again using the keyword search box
Start by emailing a number of schools (maybe five or ten), look at the replies. Think about the types of link you could have. Maybe one school would be ideal for your school partner, but another would be great to team up class to class for a particular project or subject.

For more information please visit THE GLOBAL GATEWAY.

Website link
Follow these link for tips and advice on partner-finding.