Starting the Link
School partnerships are an ideal way to enhance the global curriculum, by offering pupils an interactive dimension to their study of global issues. By partnering with a Malawian school you will continue to build the historic, cultural, social and political ties between the two countries. The Schools Linking programme brings children together step-by-step, allowing children to understand the world in which they live through the eyes of others, and by understanding, to bring about change (the Starfish Story is about making a difference in the world). On this website you will find some great resources to assist you on this journey.
For further information please contact Chris Knott - chrisknott@starfishmalawi.com
In partnership with:
World Class
Starfish Malawi School Linking Scheme
Starfish Malawi will be working with you to ensure that your school link is a success. Here are some guidelines for your school about how you can make the link work.
The Start!
Starfish Malawi will work with your school to identify a partner. We will give you some more background information on your link school in the form of a profile.
It is important for your school to put together similar information if you have not already done so. Choose a class to begin with and write a class newsletter to the children in Malawi. We will ensure that it gets to children of a similar age group.
The headteacher or the link co-ordinating teacher should write a letter of greetings to accompany the class newsletter.
The Next Stage
The next stage will be to make contact with your partner school. This will be done through us initially by email, but we hope later you will initiate direct school to school communication by email or, preferably, by setting up a WhatsApp group, which is easy, cheap and effective in communicating between the schools.
Raising the Profile
We are more than willing to explain the scheme at a whole school assembly once a term and to talk about life in Malawi and answer any questions that children or teachers might have. Please contact Cathy Penfold - schoolslinking@starfishmalawi.com.
Starfish will take classes on the shared topic.
Use resources from the website.
Make a display in a prominent area of the school using the school profile as a focus.
Inform parents.
Arrange a press release to your local newspapers.
To summarise, there are many different approaches that can be taken when embarking upon a new school link, and you might be wondering where to start. Through utilising the many resources on the website, matched with the dedicated support of the Starfish Malawi team, this doesn't have to be an uphill struggle.
Please find below one teacher's journey within school linking, which has exceeded her expectations and blossomed into in something truly wonderful within both schools.
