School linking

Many Scottish schools have well-established links with a school in another country which have had a positive impact on teaching and learning in both schools. These links exist to enhance teaching in areas such as languages, global citizenship, arts and enterprise.

School linking, joint projects and pupil exchanges can be established in many ways, such as through town twinning arrangements, local authority co-operation agreements and professional relationships.

There are a number of programmes and services which exist to facilitate school links, activities and projects.

eTwinning

The eTwinning scheme is for schools across Europe looking to work together through ICT. It provides access to a range of tools and projects. It is funded by the European Union and the British Council promotes the scheme in the UK and provides support.

Global Gateway

The Global Gateway (funded by the Department for children, schools and families - DCSF) is a service for finding an international partner school and engaging in online activities which can be interdisciplinary in nature.

Global Schools Partnership

Funding from the Department for International Development supports a Global Schools Partnership programme for the UK. This provides advice and guidance, alongside funding opportunities for joint projects, and pupil and teacher exchange to Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean. The programme aims to raise young people’s awareness of global development issues and equip them with the skills and knowledge to become active global citizens.

Comenius

The European Union ‘Lifelong Learning Programme’ funds a range of opportunities for educational engagement for European schools and local authorities, such as Comenius projects and Regio partnerships. These opportunities include staff and pupil exchanges, joint curricular projects, foreign language assistants and more..