Begin your school’s journey to a long-lasting, international school partnership with the official providers for the Government-backed Sister School Partnerships programme.
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Establishing International Links
What is a Sister School Partnership?
Sister School Partnerships are long-term agreements between two schools (sometimes known as twin schools), consisting of reciprocal student exchanges and leadership delegations, pedagogy exchanges, participation in virtual joint projects and curriculum enrichment.
International school partnerships provide a great opportunity to help students develop skills that allow them to succeed in education, work and society. Sister School Partnerships with TEP are usually initiated through a leadership delegation to visit the partner school to meet counterparts and attend an official signing ceremony.
Schools can partner with schools in the UK, China, USA, Spain, France, Tunisia and Morocco.
All schools on the programme will be set up on the Global School Alliance platform, with a dedicated group space with a School Account Manager to support the partnership and communications, along with an abundance of learning courses and resources.
Our Sister School Partnership programme consists of bilateral student exchanges and participation in joint projects as a basic requirement. This is an opportunity for students to host students at their school and embark on a life-changing school trip. These experiences have been shown to encourage personal development and teach valuable life skills such as leadership, maturity and independence. Even for students who do not directly participate, our partnership programmes have been shown to have far-reaching benefits on the school community long after their initiation.
Benefits of a Sister School Partnership:
- Establishes ongoing international school collaboration through student exchanges and joint projects
- Offers immersive education experiences that benefit the whole school community
- Raises cultural awareness, highlights diversity and develops cross-cultural collaboration skills
- Develops ‘cultural capital’ in your school (meets Ofsted requirements)
- Makes your school more competitive and attractive to parents
- Increases students’ confidence and social skills
- Creates an enthusiasm for foreign language learning and increases student uptake
- Broadens your school’s international networks and access to new approaches to teaching and learning
- Offers a unique professional development opportunity for staff.
”"This is one of the most exciting things I have been involved in since entering the teaching profession. This really is a once in a lifetime opportunity to help our students understand and prepare for the global opportunities that await them after they have finished their education.”
Mrs Cath GreenPrincipal at Ellesmere Port C of E College
The Sister School Partnership Process
Leadership Delegation
Visit Sister School
Once the MoU has been signed, the school can arrange a life-changing immersive student trip experience.
Host Sister School
The partner school can then host their Sister School, giving all the students an incredible culture-sharing experience.
Joint Projects
We encourage partnered schools to stay in touch on the Global School Alliance platform through regular joint projects, online meetings, messages and communications, and shared education practices.
Register Your Interest
Sister School FAQs
How does a Sister School Partnership benefit my pupils?
- Provides life changing, immersive experiences
- Offers trips that will inspire, equip and support them to succeed in life and learning.
- Gives students pride in their own culture by being ambassadors of the school and the UK
- Increases personal awareness and confidence
- Raises cultural awareness and highlighting diversity and similarities in lives around the world
- Increases understanding on how interdependent countries and peoples are, both globally and locally
- Gives exposure to varied opportunities that enable focus and clarity on their future potential
- Results in life-long friendships.
How does True Education support the process?
- We find a suitable sister school and initiate the contact with the school.
- We contact local government authorities on your behalf if necessary.
- We organise the trips to and from the host country with detailed itineraries – accommodation, sightseeing and transport.
- We connect you with a preferred flight provider and liaise with them directly to ensure your trip is smooth from start to finish.
- We have the Visa expertise and organise the whole process for you.
- We support you with continued and regular communications and translations.
- We work with you to compile Risk Assessments and help you comply with required local authority documentation.
- We support and encourage joint projects between the schools.
- We have templates, resources and presentations that you can use for promoting and explaining the programmes to all stakeholders.
What is the cost to join the programme?
To initiate the partnership there is a leadership delegation to visit your sister school. The cost of this trip, £1250 (not including flights), is fully reimbursable when you launch your pupil trips.
How long does it take to initiate a partnership?
This varies depending on the region you are partnering with, government involvement and when you can visit the partner school. The partnership can be established within 3 months, and a leadership delegation is usually scheduled between 6-12 months later.
Schools on the Programme
