What is a British Council sponsored Immersion Course?

An Immersion Course to Germany or Spain gives pupils in England a chance to use their language skills in an authentic environment outside their own classroom, gain an insight into a different culture, and increase their confidence and self awareness.  

The Immersion Course will be organised by you, together with teachers at your partner school, and the core activity will take place at your partner school.  The ten day course itself should consist of 3-4 hours of language lessons in the mornings, followed by 2-3 hours of a range of structured activities in the afternoons -in conjunction, as far as possible with pupils at the partner school.  Language classes should be delivered by teachers trained in teaching the target language as a foreign language.  It is recommended that Asset Languages be used to demonstrate that pupils’ linguistic competence has improved as a result of the immersion course.

Funding and Administration

Funding is available for up to 15 pupils and 2 teachers from each school – up to a maximum of £7,500 Please see guidelines below for a detailed breakdown for this amount

The British Council expects all participating pupils and teachers to make a contribution of £150 towards the course costs as these are calculated to be circa £500 per head. Up to 3 bursaries per school will be available for disadvantaged pupils and details relating to such requests will be required prior to departure.  NB The school must cover travel insurance for the trip.  

During the ten-day course pupils will be expected to undertake language classes for 3-4 hours in the mornings and structured sporting / cultural / creative activities for 2-3 hours in the afternoons.  With the help of your partner, you will be responsible for finding a suitable venue to host the pupils, for negotiating a suitable timetable of activity with your partner school and for organising appropriate language training. Please see the accompanying sample course plan for guidance. The British Council will provide an advisory/support role to the group leader / co-ordinating authority.

Eligibility

Secondary and special schools, sixth-form and further education colleges in England which have an existing partner school in Spain or Germany are eligible to apply. Participating pupils must be in year 9 (or 8) of their studies.  The British Council is particularly keen to target pupils who would really benefit from the course and for whom it could offer the encouragement to opt for language(s) at GCSE. The British Council particularly encourages the participation of:

disadvantaged young people, for example those in receipt of free school meals, looked after children etc for whom bursaries are available

young people with an interest in the host country and motivation to develop their skills and who would benefit from an experience which builds their self-confidence and self-awareness

At least one of the two accompanying teachers should ideally be a speaker of the relevant language but not necessarily a languages teacher.

Interested?

If your school is interested in applying to take part, please complete an application form as well as reading the guidelines. Completed forms should be returned to: Immersion Courses, World Links, Contracts and Projects, British Council, 10 Spring Gardens, London SW1A 2BN.  

The closing date is 23 May 2008

Guidelines word doc (54.5kb)

Application form word doc (54.5 kb)

For further information on Immersion Courses please contact a member of the World Links Team on 020 7389 4916 or alternatively please email world.links@britishcouncil.org.