We are currently recruiting groups of UK secondary schools and their local authorities (or other co-ordinating bodies) to link with districts in Bahrain, Iraq, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates and Yemen.

Why the Middle East?

The Middle East offers UK schools many opportunities for fruitful and valuable school partnerships. The region has a fascinating Islamic culture and historical and current links with the UK. An increasing move towards the teaching of core subjects in English, and the significant investment in ICT in many countries, also mean that communication is becoming easier.

What does Connecting Classrooms offer?

			The opportunity to work with partner schools on collaborative curriculum projects which enable learners to interact across geographical boundaries, to enhance their understanding of each other’s societies, languages and cultures.
			Professional development for teachers, school leaders and Partnership Co-ordinators in local authorities or other co-ordinating bodies. This builds capacity to support international partnerships and to work in an international environment.
			Eligibility for International School Award accreditation which recognises schools’ commitment to forming international partnerships and developing global citizens.

Read more about the programme and how schools, local authorities and other co-ordinating bodies are involved.

How does Connecting Classrooms work for partnerships with the Middle East?

In most cases, partnerships will involve at least four schools from the partner country. You and your partners will have the opportunity to decide how many UK schools will be involved in the partnerships (minimum of two) and whether you will link on a one-to-one or cluster basis. Your cluster must be supported by your local authority and co-ordinated by either the local authority or another co-ordinating body (see below). We are recruiting for a total of thirteen partnerships across the region, made up of:

You will be able to express your country preference, and reasons for that preference, on the application form.

Funding

Funding is provided for representatives of each UK cluster to attend an initial Contact Seminar in the Middle East, to meet partners and plan partnership activity. Grants of up to £1,500 per school will also be available to enable visits during the course of the programme.

In addition, an annual grant of up to £1000 per year for three years is offered to the local authority (or other co-ordinating body) to cover the costs of co-ordinating the project.

Timeline and activities

28 August: Application deadline

			15 September: Successful applicants confirmed
			October: One-day briefing mee
			ting in the UK for UK participants. We cover travel costs.
			November: Contact Seminar, Middle East Representatives from each participating country/ UK district will come together in the Middle East for a three-day event to meet and plan their partnership activity. These participants will include the Partnership Co-ordinator / representative from the local authority and representatives of two schools (see below for more details) in the cluster. Partners will decide the number of UK schools to be involved, the themes of the joint curriculum projects that schools will work on and other areas in which the districts might collaborate, such as supporting schools in getting the International School Award. We make all arrangements and cover travel, accommodation and subsistence costs for participants in the Contact Seminar.
			December: Each partnership will complete a grant application form that includes details of their proposed plans.
			2010/2011: Middle East representatives will be invited to visit their partner schools in the UK. This visit will be co-ordinated by the schools involved with support from us and the local authority (or other co-ordinating body).

How do we get involved?

If you are from a local authority or co-ordinating body and are interested in applying, please read the Guidelines for Application and complete the Application Form. You will need to give details of at least two schools that will be involved in the partnership activities. Representatives from these two schools should attend the contact seminar with the Partnership Co-ordinator / local authority representative.

If you are a teacher or school leader and would like your school to get involved, contact your local authority international co-ordinator to see whether they have plans to apply. If you do not know who your local authority international co-ordinator is, visit the DCSF Global Gateway for contact details, or get in touch with the Global Gateway team for more information. The team can also suggest alternative local organisations that could co-ordinate your partnership.  

If your local authority is unable to co-ordinate the application, your Partnership Co-ordinator can be a representative of a family or federation of schools, your local Youth Sport Trust, the Specialist Schools and Academies Trust, or a representative from another suitable local organisation. The Global Gateway team can suggest alternative local co-ordinators for you. However, your Partnership Co-ordinator will still need to get support and approval from your local authority in order to complete the application.

IMPORTANT: Each school in the cluster must have registered for the Foundation stage of the International School Award, as a minimum, to be eligible to participate in Connecting Classrooms. Registration for the Foundation ISA is simple – download the ISA Statement of Intent document, then follow the instructions on the DCSF Global Gateway ISA pages.

Contact us for more information: cc_me@britishcouncil.org or 020 7389 4665.