International School Award success

The school has been awarded Intermediate level of the British Council’s prestigious International School Award in recognition of its work to bring the world to 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.

The Birkenhead Park School impressed assessors with the range of activities across the school. Staff have worked hard to embed a global dimension in the school, providing students with a knowledge and appreciation of other cultures, something which is considered essential in the 21^st century.

With another group of students and staff from BPS recently back from China where they visited their partner school in the twinned city of Taicang, the school is now preparing to welcome staff and students from Denmark next week who are coming back to visit Birkenhead.

Headteacher Helen Johnson said: “Our students are always very keen to celebrate and be part of our international links at the school and benefit greatly from the variety of activities we offer. We now have a well-developed relationship with our partner school in China and I believe both schools have learnt so much from each other. Opportunities like this linking into activities in our learning programme mean our students get a unique insight into the variety of cultures across the globe, as well as the opportunities open to them.”

In addition to teaching Spanish, German and French, The Birkenhead Park School has also offered Mandarin Chinese as an enrichment opportunity. Projects across the curriculum link to international activity including identity and belonging, equality and fairness, conflict and peace, and science and religion.

The school has celebrated all the main festivals of studied countries, and students and staff attended the Chinese New Year performance at the Liverpool Confucius institute.

Stephen Hull, Senior Project Manager at the British Council, said: “The Birkenhead Park School’s international work has earned the school well-deserved recognition in the form of the British Council International School Award - Intermediate Certificate.

“The school’s dedication to internationalism is enriching education for its pupils: the collaborative projects with partner schools abroad bring an essential global dimension to learning and encourage the development of skills children need to be global citizens of the future. Teachers at The Birkenhead Park School have been linking up with colleagues overseas to share successful classroom practice and resources to make this all happen.

“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, Sri Lanka, Egypt, Lebanon, Cyprus, and Pakistan. Around 5,500 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