Putting your application together

Two teachers sat down working on a collaborative project — Collaborative projects are a great way to share experiences and learn new practices from colleagues in other countries.

No matter whether you are working in a cluster group or a one to one partnership, it's really important that applications for funding are a joint endeavour between UK and overseas schools.

Working closely with your partner school(s) to design your planned activities and pinpoint the intended outcomes is crucial. We'll be looking for strong consideration and evidence of this throughout your application.

We'll want to know how your partnership will:

better equip pupils to think about and tackle global issues
make an impact on skills and pedagogy for staff
impact all the schools and any communities involved.

Make sure you talk through the above before you make a start on your application. You’ll need to discuss it with your headteacher too. All schools involved in the partnership will need to provide evidence that they have support and permission from their headteacher in order to apply for funding.

What will I be asked in the application?

Prior to making an application, all UK schools will need to complete our self-assessment activity to identify any global learning training that they need. A team of local advisors are on hand to help if you need support completing the evaluation.

The online application form itself is split into different sections. The first section asks for basic school details. For example, school addresses, staff and student details, any SEN provision etc. These questions will vary depending on the type of partnership you are in.

All partnerships are then required to complete the following sections:

Collaborative project

This is an opportunity to tell us about the global learning project you have chosen to work on together and who will be involved. Specifically, we'll be looking for careful consideration of how the project links to any strategic needs and objectives for the pupils and schools involved.

We also want to know the intended outcomes of the project. Think about these holistically as well as just for those pupils working directly on the project. For example, what impact might it have on the whole school?

Teacher development

How will your partnership enhance the quality of teaching and leadership across the schools involved?

We want you to tell us about any professional development needs for the schools involved in relation to global learning. For UK schools, you should have already identified these needs as part of the self assessment process. For overseas partner schools, you will need to discuss and consider any relevant training needs with them.

The most important thing to include in your answer here is how you plan to meet those needs. For example, how might the training support teachers to improve outcomes in the classroom?

Your action plan

You will be asked to fill in a clear timeline of your intended joint activities and the expected outcomes for each of those activities. This is where proper collaboration and planning with your partner school/s becomes really evident.

We suggest you include detail about what your pupils will learn from your activities and what action they might take as a result, as well as teaching staff. Be sure to include any intended whole school development where relevant as well as any planned celebration events.

Funding

You will be asked to list the activities that you require funding for. Take a look at what the funding can be used for as this will vary depending on the type of partnership.

If you are applying for funding to support a reciprocal school visit, you will be asked to break down your expenditure and highlight what it will pay for.

Communications plan

Here we want you to briefly summarise how communication takes place between you and your partner school/s. For cluster groups, this should also include communication between UK based schools within the group. For example, perhaps you use WhatsApp? Skype? etc.

Take a look at our guide to the best online platforms to use for collaboration.

Security plan

This section allows us to understand your plans for managing any potential risk involved with partnership working. Here we would like you to a) identify who in your partnership is responsible for overseeing and mitigating against any potential risks and b) tell us what your security policy is.

What will the assessors be looking for?

Your application will be reviewed by a panel of external assessors. They will be looking for strong evidence that you have discussed and planned your objectives and activities with your partner school/s in advance.

Emphasis will be placed on careful consideration for the intended outcomes of your joint activities. Particularly, how these tie into any strategic objectives for the schools involved. In other words, they’ll be looking for maximum impact from the partnership.

Assessment takes place immediately after each application deadline. Applications first go through an external assessment stage. They are then passed on to the Connecting Classrooms team for a final review before applicants are advised of the outcome.

Feedback is available upon request. If unsuccessful, you will be offered the opportunity to work with a local advisor on how to improve your application in order to submit it at a later round.

Remind yourself of the application process and timeline.

Who should submit the application?

For schools working in a cluster group, the application must be submitted by the UK cluster coordinator.

For schools working in a one to one partnership, the application must be submitted by the UK partnership coordinator.

While an application is submitted by a UK coordinator, the form allows other schools in the partnership to contribute. Therefore, there should be evidence that the application forms are written collaboratively and not just from a UK perspective. We encourage coordinators to share a final copy of the application form to all those involved in the partnership before it is submitted.

Coordinators will be asked to detail their skills and experience of working in global learning education on the application form. They should also note any relevant training received in this area. This will be ssessed as part of the application process alongside their overall ability to manage the grant.

What does the application look like?

You can access the online application form here (link to be added).

The online form allows you to save and return to your application at any time. However, we strongly advise that you download an offline version of the application form below first. This will give you a useful template to start preparing your answers and planning in advance with your overseas partner/s.

What support is available?

No matter what the question, our local advisors are on hand with free, expert advice to guide and support you with the application process.

Our advisors all have first-hand experience of leading global learning in schools and can support you to assess your current situation and plan how to move forward with any application. If this is the first time you have applied for funding, we strongly recommend getting in touch to talk through your ideas.