International Education

The International Office is eager to help all schools in County Durham to develop an international dimension both within and beyond their curriculum. This should equip both learners and teachers with the skills and enthusiasm necessary to fully participate in a global society. Whether your school is working towards the final stage of the full International School Award or just looking to establish a first international partnership, you can contact us for assistance at International Office. The international dimension can be brought into the classroom in many different ways, from hosting overseas visitors to teaching foreign languages, from forming partnerships in southern countries to taking children on foreign visits or from studying global trade to participating in events such as Europe Day and the European Day of Languages.

To support schools seeking to deliver the international dimension, we are happy to advise on potential educational projects and to help with funding applications (for a selection of projects, see the British Council’s school programmes page here. We can also seek partner links for schools in a number of countries and frequently organise international events involving children and young people. If you would like to be put in touch with another school who has already participated in a project you are considering, please contact us.

96 County Durham’s schools have now gained the full International School Award, whilst many others hold the foundation and intermediate awards. Our schools have links in countries all over the world and are involved in a wide variety of projects including Comenius (school partnerships and hosting assistants.), Connecting Classrooms, Japan Links,
TIPD and UK-India School partnerships.

Two of our schools were recently successful in the National Link2Learn Award supported by the HSBC Global Education Trust. Crook Primary School and Durham Trinity School were voted best British primary and special school respectively for their successful international school partnerships with countries from all over the world.

The DfES Publication ‘Putting the World into World Class Education’ is available as pdf document here and more information and useful links are available from our Atlas page, including regionally produced resources on embedding the international curricultum. International opportunities and activities are also regularly posted on the schools’ Extranet.

The January 2008 International Newsletter is now available as an Adobe Acrobat document. January 08.pdf (4 pages, 501kb) This document contains information about the Chinese New Year, the Newcastle Festival of International Culture, the recent signing of the education agreement with the Somme and the County Durham schools which won the Link2Learn Award.

You will need Adobe Acrobat Reader to view this information.

Atlas - Support for International Curriculum in the North East
School Visits to France and Germany
International Professional Development Opportunities
Resources

International Youth

Please contact International Relations for further information about our work or for a paper copy of the latest newsletter.