I am not going to get political (even though it is very difficult to not get political today, Friday 13th December, the day after the General Election 2019) but now, more than ever before perhaps, is the time for schools in the UK to form partnerships and work collaboratively with schools around the world. Personally, I have always seen the importance of exchange visits and British Council programmes, such as Erasmus Plus (and in the past, Comenius), Connecting Classrooms and eTwinning and have spent many years spreading the word as a British Council and an eTwinning Ambassador.
However, for a variety of reasons which I am not going to discuss now, taking students on exchange visits has become less popular with British schools. The British Council have tried to address this situation by offering schools a grant to help support an exchange visit. The grant is available to subsidise exchange programmes between UK schools and schools across Europe and worldwide. These can be traditional language-based exchanges: French, German, Spanish exchanges. However, the learning focus does not have to be languages, it can be cultural. The emphasis is on enabling students to participate who would not normally get this opportunity. Schools can ask for a financial contribution from students but students in receipt of Pupil Premium or a bursary must travel for free.
I attended the British Council Schools Ambassadors' annual conference at the British Council offices at Spring Gardens in London in March 2019. I sat next to Rob Ford and we got talking. Rob was about to take up headship at the Heritage International School, Chisinau, Moldova. Heritage International School is an all-through school which is officially recognized by Cambridge Assessment International Education as a Cambridge School. This status gives Moldovan students, as well as international students, excellent opportunities to obtain internationally recognized Cambridge qualifications.
I approached Steve Apsey, Head of Sixth Form at Chichester Free School, to see if he would consider a cultural exchange with a school in Moldova. Chichester Free School, like the Heritage International School, is quite new and is all ages. Steve could see the benefits of an exchange as he has been involved in other international linking programmes and so he was happy to explore the idea. Steve set about putting together a bid for funding and applied to the British Council for a grant, which was successful.
Following a pre-visit for staff in August, an itinerary was put together. At the end of November, eleven Sixth Formers from Chichester Free School landed in Chisinau airport in temperatures of -4 degrees. For at least one student, this was their first ever flight. Students were accompanied by Steve and myself (I was invited along at the last minute due to unexpected staff absence). The nights of the first weekend were spent at the Hotel Klassik and the days were spent visiting museums in the city. On the Sunday evening, students went off with their host families. We were invited to tea at the British Embassy on the Monday afternoon, after a morning in school. We were warmly welcomed by by the Deputy Ambassador and staff. There was a very interesting discussion about the history and politics of, and life in, Moldova, with the Deputy Ambassador diplomatically answering questions like "What do you earn?"! In fact every day was interesting whether we were in school attending lessons, participating in assemblies or getting involved in after-school clubs or whether we were out in the countryside visiting the beautiful Old Orhei (see photo below).
I cannot praise the Chichester Free School students enough. Their open-mindedness and good humour made the trip such a success. Staff and students at Heritage International School were friendly and welcoming. The Chichester Free School students spent the journey home chatting excitedly about where to take their Moldovan guests on the return visit in April.
Cultural exchanges broaden horizons, open minds and open doors (see photo below!). Now more than ever, this is vital...
