At Consett Academy, we aim to ensure that all our students are not only aware of the wider world around us, but also have first-hand experience of working alongside people from other countries and cultures.

We do this through:

Assembly programme – “International Dimension” is now a theme in our assembly programme. The assemblies are led by different staff across the Academy.

Inspire Days – International Inspire Days are held for all students. Staff across the Academy lead sessions which look at different countries and cultures, e.g. Samba music. In addition to this, we have visitors leading sessions such as Chinese Kite making, African Gum Boot dancing.   

We welcome visitors from across the globe: Chile, India, Russia, France, Australia, China, Netherlands and take part in projects with other countries.

Connecting Classrooms

India – In 2014 a link was made with RVS Academy in Jamshedpur, India since then we have received funding from the British Council through Connecting Classrooms which has enabled us to send staff to India three times and receive colleagues from our partner school. Through these projects, we have been able to share work from our students and experience the education system in India as well as share the teaching and learning ideas that happen at Consett Academy.

Brazil - We successfully applied for and received a Connecting Classrooms grant for work with a school Brazil. The Humanities Directorate were able to use the link to access case studies to support the curriculum and give further dimension to the curriculum. In August 2015, Mrs Yates visited our partner school in Brazil where she was able to see the teaching and learning styles used in Brazil and share the students work with their Brazilian peers. In November 2015, we welcomed our Brazilian colleague to Consett Academy.

Le Fèvre Grant

France – A partnership was established with Jules Ferry School in Conty. Mrs Potter and Mrs Somerville visited the school last January (2020) to begin planning work which could link the two schools and a project on the WW1 Centenary was agreed upon. This project enabled us to apply for funding to support student movement between the two countries and we were awarded a Le Fèvre Trust grant for £5000.

In July 2014, we hosted our first exchange visit where students attended Consett Academy and worked with their peers on a range of topics, following a normal timetable as well as taking part in organised visits. Our students returned to France in November where work on the joint history project around WW1 continued. We once again hosted our partner school in April 2015, this time with Year 7 students getting involved in activities and visits.

In July 2015, we once again successfully applied for a Le Fèvre Trust grant and are currently planning the next stage of our work with Conty.

Erasmus+

In September 2015, we were very fortunate to apply successfully for funding through ERASMUS + to be able to work on a project for three years with six other schools from across Europe. Over the course of the project, staff and students at Consett Academy have been able to visit Italy, Spain, Greece, Croatia and Lithuania. www.ac4sl.eu

Board Games Against Social Exclusion

In September 2018, we were fortunate to receive another grant from the British Council. The main aim of this project is, through the use of board games, to develop the so called soft skills which include people skills, social skills, communication skills, character traits, attitudes, social intelligence and emotional intelligence which enable people to navigate their environment, work well with others, perform well, and achieve their goals with complementing hard skills. Such skills as team work, cooperation, the ability to face defeat or dealing with negative emotions and stress but also with positive ones are currently a top priority. This project involves working with schools from Poland and Romania.  

International Schools Award

In September 2015, we were granted the Full International Schools Award by the British Council and were re-accredited in September 2018.