Managing the Link

We recommend that a group is formed in your school to take responsibility for ensuring that the school link works from your side. This would ideally include a mixture of teachers, governors, pupils and parents, to try to ensure wide community participation in the scheme. We require that schools in Malawi do the same. The minimum requirement is a link co-ordinator with Headteacher support.

DOWNLOAD: Linking Sharing leaflet

 
 

Photos of the school noticeboard in St Margaret's CE Junior School, Rainham, linked to Mtumbira Primary School, Malawi.

 

Developing a Plan

  • The next stage is for your ‘school linking group’ to agree a set of objectives for the scheme in general and the year ahead specifically. Again, Starfish will assist. Our suggestion for developing relationships is a termly class email newsletter, agreed between the two schools. Perhaps you could agree on different topics for email exchanges per school year (one per term). Children could then prepare an email on this subject and we could send these from our Starfish Malawi offices to the schools in Malawi. If this is the scheme that you wish to operate we strongly suggest a termly exchange.

  • The schools in Malawi will be asked to respond within a month maximum.

DOWNLOAD: Partnership Action Plan

 

WhatsApp Groups

We encourage all our schools to try contacting their link schools.

One of the best ways to do this is by setting up a WhatsApp group, which is easy, cheap and effective in communicating between schools.

We can assist by obtaining telephone numbers for you from your Malawi school.

Malawi are 1 hour ahead in British Summer Time (otherwise 2)

 

An excellent video highlighting the importance of schools linking and managing your link