Contacts with other cultures, whilst at school, can help to shape the positive, open and tolerant attitudes that are needed for living and working in a global society, attitudes which are too important to be left to chance. Schools now have a better opportunity than ever before to demonstrate a positive international ethos, by working closely with colleagues and friends from other countries, cultures and linguistic backgrounds.

The most popular activities within a school partnership are pupil and teacher exchanges. There is a range of activities that can be developed within a partnership and need not necessarily involve the mobility of pupils and teachers:

• Pupils working together on joint curriculum projects

• Using ICT for electronic links to include email projects

• Correspondence exchanges between classes

• Exchange and joint development of teaching materials

An international school partnership offers great potential and is best based on a curriculum-related project in order to avoid ‘additional work’ and not increase the workload of teachers. The benefits gained from such a partnership include broadening horizons, creating new friendships, understanding differences and reducing prejudice.