Stepney Primary School in Hull has been awarded the Intermediate level of the British Council’s prestigious International School Award in recognition of its work to bring the world into the classroom.
The International School Award celebrates the achievements of schools that do exceptional work in international education. Fostering an international dimension in the curriculum is at the heart of the British Council’s work with schools, so that young people gain the cultural understanding and skills they need for life work in today’s world.
Stepney Primary School’s international work includes global projects with partner schools in Freetown, Sierra Leone since 2010. Recently these have included teachers from Stepney helping to set up reading initiatives in Adeline School in Sierra Leone and pupils in both schools undertaking work on reducing single use plastic. Over the last nine years, pupils have been participating in the International Pupil Council that was co-founded by the head of Stepney Primary in Hull and the head of Conforti School in Freetown.
On hearing the news that Stepney Primary School had achieved the intermediate level of the award, head teacher Paul Browning said: “We are delighted to receive this reward, which recognises the passion of our pupils and staff towards global work. Stepney is a multicultural school in a multicultural world and we are all dedicated towards building bridges, breaking through barriers and widening our horizons.”
John Rolfe MBE, Schools Outreach Manager at the British Council, said: ‘Stepney Primary School’s international work has earned the school well-deserved recognition in the form of the British Council International School Award - Intermediate Certificate.
The British Council International School Award celebrates its 20th anniversary this year and we are very proud of the great international work it has supported and shared.
Many thanks to everyone at the school, for all their commitment to developing international work and sharing great classroom practice and resources. This is enriching education for its pupils; and their excellent collaborative projects with partner schools overseas are bringing the world into their classrooms. This is key support for the development of skills young people increasingly need to be the globally aware citizens of the future.
Embedding an international ethos across a school can lead to full International School Award accreditation and schools looking to join this supporting and engaging network should contact us at the British Council”.
The award is now available worldwide in countries such as India, Greece, Egypt, Lebanon, Nigeria, and Pakistan. Around 6,000 International School Awards have been presented to successful schools in the UK since the scheme began in 1999.
The International School Award encourages and supports schools to develop:
An international ethos embedded throughout the school
A whole school approach to international work
Collaborative curriculum-based work with a number of partner schools
Year-round international activity
Involvement of the wider community