Why develop an area link?

China is becoming more and more important for schools across the country. For example, over 500 secondary schools in England offer Chinese as a foreign language option for students, in some cases along side European languages and in others as an after school option. There has also been a continuing increase in interest in school partnership work with China over the last few years. Many of these school partnerships are now expanding into district links where the impact is felt far beyond education.

The benefits of enabling students to broaden their horizons and to develop inter-cultural awareness are apparent. Very often though, the durability of school-based partnerships has depended on the goodwill and motivation of individual teachers who can find it difficult to maintain the energy to drive the partnership forwards.

In the experience of the British Council here in the UK and in China, links at education authority level can improve sustainability and productivity of educational partnerships. Strategic linking of a group of schools in a local region with a similar group of schools overseas facilitates the initiation and development of long-term links at both macro and micro level. UK Local Authority and Chinese Education Bureau colleagues and teachers also benefit from a ready made support network in the local area to share experiences and ideas. Area linking has the potential to draw on existing civic links and scalability is another impetus for this initiative.

If you are a local authority, region or cluster of schools looking for a partner region to make a strategic link, we can help you find one.

Please email world.links@britishcouncil.org or call 020 7389 4595/4247 for more information.

Existing Area Links

If you are looking to develop an existing area link with China, there are two excellent opportunities on offer:

DCSF Area Linking Visit grants

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 ten individuals representing a district or cluster of schools may apply as a group. Find out more

HSBC Area Links Funding

Supported by HSBC Global Education Trust and managed by the British Council, this programme aims to develop partnerships between areas of England and Wales and their Chinese counterparts – providing a strategic framework for school partnership within the authority. This will give schools a local network within which to share and exchange ideas as well as ensuring that partnerships are embedded in the schools and the wider community. Find out more