Practical Guide to Professional Partnerships GRANT Applications

Practical guide to professional partnerships GRANT applications

Grant SummaryTeachers engaged in the programme will be able to apply for a £3,000 grant. The grant amount is designed to cover the costs of travel for one UK teacher and one UK school leader to visit their partner school for one week and help implement project work. Any remaining balance can be further used to cover the costs of implementing project activities conducted in each school, for example, costs associated with communication, that support the development and integration of core skills. Where the grant does not cover the full cost of travel schools will be expected to supplement the grant, either from their budget or through fundraising, with the positive effect that such activities generate awareness and ownership of the partnership across the school.Guidance to applicantsPlease ensure you read all parts of the guidance document carefully before completing and submitting your application. The guidance contains essential information to complete the application form correctly as well as a checklist to ensure your applications meets the eligibility criteria.Applications must be completed as a joint endeavor and we expect to see strong evidence of collaboration and joint working in the form.

Submitting your applicationApplications must be word processed and completed in English. Completed applications must be e-mailed to:.

Please include‘Professional Partnerships application – followed by the UK school name’in the subject header of the email.

Part 1: Partnership Information1.1 UK InstitutionPlease provide details of the UK school which will act as the coordinating body for the Professional Partnership. The UK school will be responsible for administering the grant funding and will enter into a contractual agreement with the British Council. If successful, the UK school will provide bank account details for a BACs transfer and will be responsible for financial records and reporting.

We accept grant applications from all four UK countries

1.1a UK Institution – Student Information
Please provide information on the number of students and the gender balance of pupils that attend the UK institution.

1.2 UK Teacher Information
Successful completion of in-depth Core Skills Professional Development training for teachers is a pre-requisite for a Professional Partnership grant application.
School leaders will ideally complete at least the Introduction to Core Skills for Leaders training (only available online in the UK)either online or face-to-face, however this is not a compulsory requirement.

A school leader in the UK is someone responsible for pedagogical leadership and/or accountable for education standards in a school. They will manage other teachers and, sometimes, other leaders. They will typically have responsibility for curriculum, pupil progress and evaluating teaching in a school or part of a school and/or accountable for standards across the school including teaching, learning, safeguarding etc.

The role will change in schools of different settings. Large schools will have more ‘school leaders’ than smaller schools. In a primary school with 70 pupils there may be only one. In a secondary school with 1,000 pupils, there will be many meeting these criteria. The important aspect is that school leaders lead other teachers in their teaching, but this can be applied to a broad range of scenarios.

Examples include: Head teacher, Principal, CEO, Executive head, Deputy/Depute head, Head of Year (in multiple form entry schools), Subject lead (in large departments), KS1 leader, Head of sixth form, Co-ordinator of Special Needs Education, etc.

The information entered on the application form in this section must make it clear how the named school leader fits the definition above, in the ’position’ field.

1.3 Partner Institution (outside of the UK)
Please provide details of the partner institution outside of the UK. We accept applications from schools in the following countries outside the UK: -

1.3a Partner Institution – Student Information
Please provide information on the number of students and the gender balance of pupils that attend the overseas partner institution.
1.4 Partner Institution – Teacher Information
Successful completion of in-depth Core Skills Professional Development training for teachers is a pre-requisite for a Professional Partnership grant application.

Part 2: Core Skills Development Training

2.1& 2.2 Core Skills Professional Development Training Completed (UK and overseas)
Please tick all Professional Development Training Courses completed in the UK and overseas by the lead teachers and school leaders indicated in sections 1.2 and 1.4 of the application.

Part 3: Visits

3.1 Preferred visit dates
Visit days will fall around preset dates which will vary depending on the country hosting the visit. Please refer to our website for available dates before completing section 3.1

3.2 Improvement
This questionis in two parts and is aimed at gauging how you will improve learning of your pupils as a result of your continued engagement with core skills, in particular how the funded visit itself will enable you to do this. How will you make the most of the opportunity?

Part 4: Collaborative Pupil Project

4.1 Collaborative project template

The Core Skills Collaborative project template project is a resource which is linked explicitly to core skills training packages in order to support teachers embed core skills learning within their classroom before sharing this learning nationally or internationally with partner schools.

There are six templates, each of which is linked to at least two core skills. Each one is themed around the Sustainable Development Goals.

The templates are accompanied by classroom resources and instructions on how best to use them with an international or national partner school. In addition the templates include guidance about how to contextualise the projects to take into account differences in curriculum, pedagogic approaches and the level of autonomy teachers have over their work.. These templates are reasonably flexible to allow teachers to integrate them into a range of subject areas including, for example, opportunities for after school clubs.

Schools making use of the core skills collaborative template projects are encouraged to use the forums and project spaces on Schools Online in implementing their projects. They will also be encouraged to use Schools Online forums to share experiences and guidance for other teachers.

This template also has an evaluation tool which will enable you as a user to capture the outcomes of your collaborative work with your partner and help you with the evaluation of your project. Furthermore, the evaluation tool will allow for a demonstrable example of core skills being put into action.

Do you, and your partner, have a shared vision for the project? How would the template project be mutually beneficial for the partnership?

Please choose with your partner one of the project templates to start your collaboration with your partner. Although the core skills training attended by teachers in the partnership may have focused on one particular core skill, Partnerships may choose to collaborate on the project associated with this core skill or may wish to choose another project if they feel it fits better with their development as a partnership.

4.2 Learning Outcomes
This section should include details of expected outcomes of collaborating with your partner in your chosen project. How will you measure and assess the impact to ensure you achieve them?

4.3 Partnership Outcomes
Tell us what you expect to achieve, at school, teacher and pupil levels, as a result of your partnership? What are your future plans to sustain the partnership? Is there a commitment to improving the quality of your working relationship?

Part 5: Financial Management

5.1 Budget
The grant amount is designed to cover the costs of travel for one UK teacher and one UK school leader. Any remaining balance can be used to cover the costs of implementing project activities conducted in each school that support the development and integration of core skills.
The UK school are wholly responsible for transferring any allocated funds to their overseas partner school to conduct any such activities.
Part 6: Child Protection
If candidates are not up-to-date with local Child Protection requirements and relevant security checks, your application will not be considered.

Part 7: Declaration
It is essential that the Head teacher from each school within the professional partnership has read and agreed to the application, visits and activities planned.Your application will not be considered without their support.