Comenius eNews December 2011

December 2011

Latest deadlines

Applications open for Comenius 2012

Apply now to participate in Comenius in 2012. Already involved in a Comenius project? You can still apply for other Comenius opportunities to support your current work.

Comenius School Partnerships

As a school or college you can carry out a collaborative project with partners across Europe. Apply for up to €25,000 to fund exchange visits to your partner schools or colleges.

Deadline: 21 February 2012

Comenius In-Service Training

As a member of school, college or local authority education staff, you can receive a grant of up to €3,000 to job shadow a colleague or attend a course or conference in another European country. In-service training can be used to support your Comenius Partnerships.

Deadlines: January, April and September 2012

Comenius Regio Partnerships

As a local authority, you can carry out a collaborative partnership with a local authority in another European country. Apply for up to €45,000 to fund a range of partnership activities.

Deadline: 21 February 2012

Comenius Assistants

As a school or college you can host a fully funded classroom assistant from another European country, who can work across the curriculum and open your pupils' eyes to a different culture and language. Comenius Assistants can be used to support your Comenius School Partnerships.

Deadline: 31 January 2012

Apply now through the Comenius website

Help with your Comenius application

Attend a Comenius Application Surgery or Webinar and strengthen the quality of your application. Application Surgeries provide online and face-to-face support to help you complete your School or Regio Partnership and Comenius Assistant Host School application.

See upcoming Application Surgeries

Etwinning

eTwinning is the online community for schools in Europe. You can use it to find partners for your European projects. It is also a great way to support your Comenius School Partnerships, offering a secure online collaboration space to communicate with partners and carry out joint projects.

The eTwinning Winter Draw
Register on eTwinning during December 2011 and January 2012, and you'll be entered into the Winter Draw to win some great educational prizes for your school. There are four top prizes of education software and 20 webcams for the runners up.

Existing eTwinners

Simply get another teacher in your school to register on eTwinning and start up an 'eTwinning school team'. All new registrants during December 2011 and January 2012 will be entered into the draw.

New to eTwinning?

You can register on eTwinning at any time and it takes only a few minutes. Register during December 2011 and January 2012 to be entered into the draw.

Visit the eTwinning Winter Draw web page

Register on eTwinning

opportunities and announcements

Focus on sports

With the London 2012 Olympics and Paralympics just around the corner, there has never been a better time to introduce sport as a theme in your classroom projects.

Start up a sports partnership
Your Comenius School or Regio Partnership can use the theme of sport to explore a number of topics, such as leadership, active citizenship, healthy lifestyles and community participation and cohesion.

Sport is also one of the national priorities for 2012 Comenius School Partnerships. An extra three points are awarded for each of the five National Award Criteria you address in your School Partnership application.

Get involved in London 2012

See what the British Council is doing as part of the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games and find out how you can get involved:

www.britishcouncil.org/london2012

How sport can make a difference

Our case study below shows how the Paralympic experiences of a Comenius Assistant are helping to change perceptions at her host school.

Erasmus: give your pupils a head start

Introducing your pupils to the opportunities available to them when they finish school can influence the decisions they make for the future. The Erasmus programme gives higher education students the opportunity to study or work in another European country as part of their degree. Give your pupils an introduction to the programme by inviting an Erasmus Ambassador to your school. An Erasmus Ambassador can give first-hand experiences of Erasmus and explain the benefits of participating in this life-changing programme.

Contact the Erasmus team

Find out more about Erasmus

Win a fantastic educational trip to Dubai

Calling UK secondary schools. Are you ready to take on The Big Science Challenge? Bring Science and Technology to life through entering this exciting competition on our most important global resource - water. A teacher and five pupils could win educational trips to London and Dubai.

Find out more about The Big Science Challenge

partnership resources

British Council Schools Online

British Council Schools Online is a web community for teachers around the world to find partner schools, accredit their international work, find teaching resources and enhance their Professional Development.

Eurypedia

Developed by the European Commission's Eurydice Network, Eurypedia is an encyclopaedia of national education systems in Europe. It gives you access to more than 5,000 wiki articles and involves education experts and national ministries from across Europe.

Visit Eurypedia

case study: how sport makes a difference

Swedish Comenius Assistant Lalita Loureiro swam in four events in the 2008 Paralympics in Beijing and is currently training to be part of the 2012 Paralympics in London.

By bringing her life experiences to the classroom, she is aiming to change perceptions of pupils at her host school, The Education Village, in Darlington.

Read about how Lalita supports learning across the curriculum

footnotes

This is the fourteenth edition of Comenius eNews. We value your comments and ideas. If you would like to highlight a positive experience or suggest changes to the service you have received please email comenius.feedback@britishcouncil.org

Comenius is one of a suite of international education programmes the British Council offers to UK schools, colleges, education professionals and learners. Find out about other funding opportunities at British Council Schools Online

The United Kingdom's international organisation for cultural relations and educational opportunities.
A registered charity: 209131 (England and Wales) SC037733 (Scotland)
Our privacy and copyright statements.
Our Freedom of Information Publications Scheme.

You have received this e-mail because you registered on our website or have previously indicated an interest in British Council events. If you wish to opt out of this British Council e-mail list unsubscribe here.