Celebrate your partnerships for International Education Day!

21 January 2020

International Education Day is on Friday 24th of January, so celebrate by nominating your school for an award or joining Connecting Classrooms

International Education Day is on Friday 24th of January, so celebrate by nominating your school for an award or joining Connecting Classrooms.

The United Nations General Assembly proclaimed 24 January as International Day of Education, in celebration of the role of education for peace and development. We are proud to say that 250 schools from across Scotland are SMP members and are committed to the idea of global citizenship and international partnerships.

To celebrate International Education Day, here are some ways you can develop your school partnership ideas.

Nominate your school partnership for a Scottish Education Award

The Scottish Education Awards are an annual event that celebrates the hard work and success which takes place in Scottish education.

If you have a school partnership program with Malawi, then nominate it for a Learning for Sustainability (LfS) Award or other awards! The LfS Award is aimed at anyone who promotes global citizenship, sustainable development education, equity and social justice.

There are over 15 different awards, including the Making A Difference Award, STEM Award, and Community Learning and Development Award.

To find out about the other awards and to nominate a program, see here. Nominations close 14th February 2020.

Join Connecting Classrooms

Connecting Classrooms through Global Learning is a completely free and flexible programme open to all local authority schools and early learning and childcare settings across the UK - and more than 26 other countries across the world. It supports teachers and learners to collaborate on and learn about the big issues that affect us all; such as climate change, sustainability, social justice and gender equality. It’s a great way to help you embed – and sustain – a whole-setting approach to Learning for Sustainability.

There are a host of learning opportunities and support on offer through the Connecting Classrooms program, such as funding and expertise. It’s completely adaptable to your needs no matter what your role, the subjects you teach, or your whole-school priorities.

Examples of support that your project can have from joining Connecting Classrooms include:

  • Fully-funded professional learning: delivered in a way that suits you and your setting
  • Free support from local experts across Scotland
  • Free classroom resources to support pupil projects themed around the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)
  • Generous funding to facilitate international visits by staff to their partner schools in other countries, events and training: – up to £3,000 for ‘one-to-one’ partnerships and £35,000 for ‘cluster’ partnerships.
  • Automatic recognition leading to accreditation through the British Council International School Award.

Check it out and sign up from Scotland here.

Become an SMP Member

If you are not already a member of the Scotland Malawi Partnership, and your school or youth group have active links with a school in Malawi or learn about Malawi as part of their curriculum, then become a member. It’s free for schools and young people!

Hundreds of Scottish and Malawian NGOs and community groups are working together in dignified partnership to help improve education in Malawi.

We support our member schools with:

  • Tailor-made workshops/presentations in school on themes like partnership and Malawi
  • Advice on brokering, developing, and maintaining an international school partnership between Scotland and Malawi
  • Signposting to useful resources, events, and organisations
  • Supporting schools to hold events or sessions in school celebrating their link to Malawi
  • Holding events and forums to bring experts and teachers together to discuss their experiences of school partnerships and using Malawi as a theme in the classroom. This includes our Schools Forum which is held online or at different locations around Scotland 2-4 times per year.

Find out more information about primary and secondary education membership and news here. Or sign up to become a member now.