New international school partnerships that give students in UAE and the UK the opportunity to learn directly from each other about their respective cultures were formed this week under the British Council’s global Connecting Classrooms programme.
Teachers from four schools based in Stockton-on-Tees in the UK visited UAE (23-36 October) to meet for the first time teachers from their potential new partner schools in UAE.
The six new UAE schools participating in the Programme are:
Al Seddique School for Boys
Bu Koreyya Primary School for Boys
Al Ghazali Primary Model School for Boys
Al Emirate Primary School for Girls
Al Asayel Primary School for Girls
Al Dana Primary School for Girls
During the four day Contact Seminar that was held at Abu Dhabi, the teachers finalised their new partnerships and planned joint curriculum projects for their students to take forward. The new schools joining the programme will form a ‘cluster’ partnership that consists of the above mentioned six schools from the UAE and four schools from the UK. This will give the schools more scope to work on projects they are particularly interested in and help to ensure the long-term sustainability of the partnership.
The discussion sessions organised during the Contact Seminar gave the teachers the opportunity to build a shared understanding of the cultural differences between them and their different education systems. The teachers visited Omer bin Al Khattab Model School, Dubai on the 25th of October and attended classes and met with the students and teachers. The interactive discussion session at Omer bin Al Khattab Model School was also attended by teachers and students from Umm Suqeim School, Al Khansa School, and Al Mahad Aldini School (all these schools are Connecting Classrooms schools). The teachers also visited Dubai Autism Center to learn more about the facilities offered to the students and to meet with the teachers at the Center. The group sampled some of the sights and culture of the Middle East with a tour of Dubai’s Bastakiya area and Abu Dhabi’s Saadiyat Island.
Valerie Brooks, Deputy Director of Stockton Borough Council, Cluster Coordinator and team leader for the UK delegation said, “During the Contact Seminar, we were delighted to meet and work with the teachers and colleagues from our partner schools as well as experiencing the local culture. This has enabled us to develop our relationships and establish the basis for long term links between our young people.”
There are now more than 200 schools in the Middle East and the UK operating in partnerships since Connecting Classrooms was introduced into the Middle East in 2006, with plans to increase that number by a further 180 over the next two years, 21 of the current participating schools are based in UAE.
Connecting Classrooms aims to improve trust and understanding between students living in different societies, by linking schools around the world with schools in the UK. By working on joint curriculum projects students have an engaging and motivating way to learn about the world in which they live and to help prepare them for their future role as active global citizens, while teachers have the opportunity to share and learn new professional skills.
Tr Nahla Metwally, Connecting Classrooms’ Cluster 3 coordinator and teacher at Al Khansa School for Girls, Dubai presented a case study during the Contact Seminar. She described how her students’ joint curriculum project on global issues had a positive impact and enabled her students to have a better perception of their partner country and its people.
She said; “The British Council partnered Al Khansa School with 6 schools from UAE and 3 schools from Derbyshire in the UK. We are the cluster 3 Connecting Classrooms schools. For the last one year, we have been working together on projects, with our partner schools in the UK and UAE, which support our curriculum and which assist us with teaching our lessons in a more creative way. So far, we have successfully completed seven joint curriculum project activities within our cluster. They are, “You and Me”, “Introducing Me, “My Place” , “A View from my Window” , What is the Weather like ” , “My Family ” and “Who is a Global Citizen”. A special mention should be made of the activity that was done on the theme of Global Citizenship at our school. My students researched current global issues such as desertification, global warming and pollution. They organised various international activities in our school such as Planting Day, Environment Day and Global Day. I personally liked the Global Day the most because it reflected the impact of the project on my students’ awareness of being a global citizen. They shared the resources with their peers in the UK. They were surprised to know that their friends in the UK have the same outlook about life and society and that no matter where we are placed geographically we have the same expectations and feel strongly about protecting the world we live in.
“My team and I are very much looking forward to visiting the UK later this month. We are participating in a five day study visit to the UK that has been organised by the British Council. We will be spending time at our partner schools and doing our best to share best practises and to come back with new ideas that we can use in our classrooms. I thank the British Council for providing my colleagues and my students with this wonderful opportunity to form an international school link.”
Amy Cottage, Regional Programme Manager Schools for the Middle East said:
“Contact seminars are an exciting time for teachers as they mark the real start to an international schools partnership. This is the first time teachers from the participating schools have the opportunity to meet and to begin to share their knowledge, culture and skills. For many of the UK teachers this week’s visit will be the first time they will have visited the Middle East and experienced its hospitality.”
“The British Council’s successful and expanding Connecting Classrooms Programme is now the largest international schools programme in the Middle East and works in partnership to support a country’s national education strategy. I look forward to seeing these new partnerships flourish and wish them all every success.”
Connecting Classrooms builds lasting partnerships between schools in the UK and others around the world. Through these partnerships, the programme develops understanding and trust between young people in different societies, creating a safer and more connected world for the future. For more information, please visit: www.britishcouncil.org/connectingclassrooms
Connecting Classrooms aims to directly engage over 30,000 schools and two million young people worldwide by 2013, making it the largest and most far-reaching international school programme in the world. Through virtual links and sharing resources it will indirectly reach a further 38,000 schools and five and a half million young people.
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The British Council is the UK’s international organisation for educational opportunities and cultural relations. We work in over 100 countries worldwide to build engagement and trust for the UK through the exchange of knowledge and ideas between people. We work in the arts, education, English, science, sport and governance and last year we engaged face to face with 18.4 million people and reached 652 million. We are a non-political organisation which operates at arm’s length from government. Our total turnover in 2009/10 was £705 million, of which our grant-in-aid from the British government was £211 million. For every £1 of government grant we receive, we earn £2.50 from other sources. For more information, please visit: www.britishcouncil.org/me
For further information, contact:
Priya Nandagopal
Project Manager
British Council
Ph: 02 6910606
Mob: 050 8116287
Priya.nandagopal@ae.britishcouncil.org
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