Comenius Regio Partnerships

‘A powerful collaborative force through which to tackle

a diverse range of issues with social as well as

educational implications’Local Government Association

Yvette Foxyvette.fox@eastriding.gov.uk

Funded by:

WHAT IS COMENIUS?“We are all citizens of one world, we are all of one

blood”Jan Amos Comenius (1592-1670)

Comenius provides funding for:• Multilateral and bilateral school or college partnerships• In-service training• Language learning• Job shadowing• Hosting an intending teacher as an assistant• Comenius Regio (for LAs)•Preparatory Visits

Funded by:

Comenius Regio Partnerships

• Overview

• Why we got involved

• First round application statistics – 2009

• Our project 2009-11

Funded by:

Comenius Regio PartnershipsWhy get involved?

• To benefit from practices in another country

• School improvement

• Closer ties, relationships with another area of Europe/strengthens the European dimension in schools and community (police, youth centres, library or museum)

• Provides learning experiences to teachers, pupils and other involved in school education

• Wider impact than a school to school link. Reaches every school and every child in the area.

Funded by:

Participating Countries

EU

BelgiumDenmarkGermanyGreeceSpainFrance IrelandItalyLuxembourg

LiechtensteinNorwayIceland

UKCzech RepublicEstoniaHungaryLatviaLithuaniaPolandSlovakiaRomania

NetherlandsAustriaPortugalFinlandSweden SloveniaCyprusMalta Bulgaria

EFTA

AssociatedTurkey, Croatia, Switzerland and possibly others for 2012

Funded by:

Comenius Regio Partnerships

What was in it for us?

• We were doing a great deal of European linking work already

• We could combine existing activities in Town Twinning or other European educational programmes but formalise them as part of the wider 2 year Regio partnership

• It helped us reach some of the regional or national priorities/targets regarding internationalism or in terms of raising standards

• It is a long term initiative not a short term fix. Helped us plan ahead.

Funded by:

Comenius Regio Partnerships My role as Project

ManagerYvette Fox

• Experienced Primary teacher• Teaching and Learning Consultant

(Multicultural Education and Global Citizenship)

School Improvement Service

East Riding of Yorkshire Council

Funded by:

Comenius Regio Partnerships

Municipality or Local Authority

Schools (minimum 1)

Partner organisation

My first steps in the UK• identify key themes to

address• develop a local

Comenius Regio partnership

• Know what it was I wanted to achieve and how

Funded by:

Beverley Lemgo Town

Twinning Association

East Riding of Yorkshire Council

School Improvement

ServiceKeldmarsh Primary School

Molescroft Primary School

University of HullWISE

(Wilberforce Institute for the Study of Slavery

and Emancipation)

Key theme;

Community Cohesion

Comenius Regio Partnerships

Sharing Resources for Innovation and Cohesion

ShRINC

Funded by:

Second step: find a European partner, establish aims and

objectives, develop a structured work programme, assess impact and outcomes

Town Twinning

AssociationEast Riding of

Yorkshire Council

Keldmarsh

Molescroft

University of Hull

Town Twinning

AssociationKreiss Lippe Municipality

Sudschule Lemgo

Lemgo Museums

Funded by:

Third step: dissemination of results and

sustainability

Dissemination

of results

Municipality or Local Authority

Schools (minimum 1)

Partner organisation

Funded by:

Comenius Regio PartnershipsEligible Partners and Regional Partnerships

Each partner region must include:

The local or regional authority (lead)At least one school – to pilot work (it is not feasible to include all the schools

in the region)At least one ‘other’ partner (which will be able to make a significant

contribution to the project)

UK – the types of eligible institutions to lead a Comenius Regio partnership have been identified as the following:

• County Councils and Unitary Authorities (England), Local Authority (Scotland), Local Education Authority (Wales), Education and Library Boards (Northern Ireland)

• Ministry of Justice (or equivalent across UK)• Service Children’s Agency (for British Forces’ Schools in LLP countries)

Funded by:

Comenius Regio PartnershipsTypes of ‘other’ partner could be:

• National public organisations, e.g: curriculum authorities, teacher development agencies, learning and skills councils, youth justice agencies

• Local public organisations, e.g: city councils, local authority departments of youth, employments, health etc, police service, fire and rescue service, teacher training institutions, youth/sports clubs, libraries, museums

• Independent national/local organisations, e.g: Equality/human rights commissions, trade unions, ombudsmen services, professional association/advisory boards, universities, think tanks, charities, parents’/pupils’ associations, community groups

• Commercial organisations, e.g: chambers of commerce, consultancy/training organisations, business support organisations, other companies

Funded by:

Comenius Regio Partnerships

The work programme and the types of eligibleActivities:

• Project meetings between institutions involved in the partnership• Job shadowing/Exchanges of staff involved in school education• Action research, small studies• Exchanges of experience and good practice with partner regions• Conferences, seminars and workshops• Awareness raising campaigns• Co-operation with other projects in related subject areas• Creation of training materials/tools• Dissemination of project experiences and outcomes.

Funded by:

Comenius Regio Partnerships

Funding: 2 components – per partner region (2009 figures)

• A lump sum for mobility (i.e. number of trips you will make), from a minimum of 4 (€4k), 8 (€8k), 12 (€10k) or a maximum of 24 (€20k)

• Real costs for additional project costs (maximum €25k)

• Grants cover costs related to mobility (travel), the implementation of project activities and the dissemination of results.

• Maximum overall funding €45k per region.

Every participating country has its own different budget for this programme.

Funded by:

Applications Received

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

East Anglia

East Midlands

London

North West

North East

South

South West

West Midlands

Yorkshire & Humberside

Scotland

Wales

Northern Ireland

Applications Received

Regio Partnerships – 2009 Applications Received UK All RegionsTotal Received 53

Funded by:

Comenius Regio Partnerships

Most active partner countries linked to UK:

Spain – 11 projectsPoland – 8 projectsGermany – 6 projectsFrance – 4 projectsSweden – 4 projects

Greece, Turkey, Norway, Denmark, Belgium, Finland,Ireland, Lithuania, Italy, Romania, Austria, Netherlands (max 2) No activity with Portugal, Iceland, Estonia, Latvia, Luxembourg,Liechtenstein, Czech Republic, Slovak Republic, Bulgaria, Hungary,Slovenia – more interest was in 2010.

Funded by:

EnglandScotland

WalesNorthern Ireland

0

200000

400000

600000

800000

1000000

1200000

1400000

1600000

Requested funding

Regio Partnerships – 2009 Funding Requested by UK RegionsTotal Requested €1,962,403

Funded by:

Foreign language teaching and learning 15

European citizenship and European Dimension 6

New technologies/ICT 5

Social integration/exclusion 5

Artistic education 4

Basic skills 4

Environment/sustainable development 4

Inclusive approaches 3

Quality and evaluation of education 3

Violence at school - peace education 3

Comparing education systems 2

Educational institution management 2

Learning opportunities for people at the risk of social marginalisation 2

Cultural heritage, Career guidance & counselling, Intercultural education, Physical education,Methods to increase pupil motivation, History and social science, Mathematics, Natural sciences, Development of common training contents and concepts 1

Comenius Regio Partnerships 2009 deadline themes

Funded by:

Comenius Regio Partnerships

UK Project products;

• Pupil census• Lemerley passport• ‘My Life in a Box’• ‘My Town in a Box’• Lesson resources• Migration report• Virtual World

‘Lemerley’

Funded by:

Comenius Regio Partnerships

Exit strategy:

• Continued school contacts (Beverley and across the Humber..)

• Use existing European contacts

• Town Twinning links

• New partners www.globalgateway.org.uk

• Potentially a schools ‘Comenius’ project -see Ray Kirtley handout

• Seek additional funding and partnerships opportunities – see RK handout

Funded by:

Project website (under construction)

• http://lemerley.weebly.com/index.html

Project Virtual World (under construction)

• http://www.virtuallylearning.co.uk/index.htm