“Our pupils learnt so much! They learnt about the visiting students’ culture, how much is similar and different from their own. Work ethic. Talent. You name it! I also feel friendships were formed in just a week too.” – Head Teacher
School Immersion and Exchange Programmes - What Are They?
Our school immersion and exchange programmes help young people to discover new cultures, learn languages and develop the way they look at the world. Visiting groups get a taste of school life in the UK and a fantastic opportunity to improve on and practise their language skills, whilst British students gain new insight into another country and culture from their new friends.
UK schools then have the option of continuing the partnership with the school abroad, sending some of their students to experience school life in another nation, as well as attending educational conferences in different countries, and collaborating on curriculum with teachers from across the world.
Why get involved?
Every student from the host and visiting school group can benefit from encountering new perspectives and cultures in their classrooms. Each visiting student is assigned a British ‘buddy’ and attends their classes alongside them throughout the programme. As students and teachers engage with each other, this spurs innovation in work and develops an awareness and openness to diversity.
Partnerships between schools, teachers and students across international borders have a lasting impact for young people. Working with Opportunity Education’s network of schools offers academic, cultural and social benefits for individual students and their families, as well as for your school as a whole:
Benefits to students:
By interacting with students from other cultures, children have a chance to begin at an early age to prepare to work in a global economy: by building connections across the world; by learning to communicate to a wider audience; and by being tolerant and understanding of new cultures. Hosting an immersion programme not only stimulates students’ interest in different cultures and countries, but also helps to develop an understanding of key British values in an international context.
Curriculum enrichment:
Our immersion programmes address the need and agenda for global learning in today’s curriculums, with global education being a competitive forum today. Encouraging cohesion between curriculums for young people has the aim of improving academic attainment and therefore: global competitiveness. Our programmes promote global citizenship, encourage language learning and cultural awareness and help to build an international career focus, helping schools to meet the Gatsby benchmarks for good career guidance.
Building competitive advantage as educators:
Long term partnerships that are built with well-regarded and selected schools from across the globe will open up a route for future collaboration and exchange programmes. Partnerships at any level help to inject excitement into the classroom and provide opportunities to share best practice from across the world. Schools participating in our programmes gain credits to use on a variety of services such as: exchange visits to other countries; professional development for your staff; financial reimbursement; and extra-curricular language and culture courses taught by international teachers within the UK.
“Gained an interest in learning about other cultures and countries”
“Developed a wider perspective of the world”
“Are likely to be more tolerant of people from other countries”