British Council International School Award            

Abbey Court School is a proud holder of the British Council International School Award!

 This means that we are committed to developing international learning activities, and demonstrate outstanding practice in international work and enabling our pupils to become effective global citizens.

What is the International School Award?

The British Council International School Award (ISA) is a benchmarking scheme that accredits schools as having an outstanding level of support for:

• nurturing global citizenship in young people;
• enriching teaching and learning.

Why do we do this?

As a school, we recognise that global issues are an important part of the lives of our pupils living in a world where economies are increasingly interdependent and global communication is a daily reality.  Our pupils are entitled to benefit from opportunities to interact with and learn from other cultures, in line with pupils from mainstream schools.  Our pupils have access to the internet and increased opportunities to travel, watch news stories from around the world, as they develop and follow, for example, international sporting events as they happen with their families.

We believe that the global dimension should be reflected in the attitudes and values of our pupils, the ethos of the school, the curriculum and Key Skills. 

We have a commitment to equality and diversity.

What are the key benefits of the International School Award?

• It has a positive impact on not just the pupils, but also the teachers and the whole school, and the wider community. 
• The International School Award encourages team building, innovation, and project management.

What are the aims of international learning?

To enable our pupils to know more about global issues and to:

• Celebrate the rich and diverse heritage represented in our school, and local and national communities;
• Understand that our school is part of a global community;
• Respect and value different cultures, religions and beliefs;
• Enjoy contact with pupils and adults living in, or from, different countries.

What are our school objectives for our International School Award work?

• To maintain the school’s International School Award;
• To develop our pupils’ knowledge of the eight key concepts of the global dimension, which we recognise as:
• diversity
• conflict resolution
• human rights
• interdependence
• social justice
• sustainable development
• values
• perceptions;
• To focus on the global themes of conflict and peace, sustainable living, rights and responsibilities, fairness and equality, identity and belonging;
• To review regularly our curriculum and international action plan, so that we are continually developing and improving our pupils’ learning experiences;
• To develop and fully exploit a variety of global learning partnerships. This will include activities such as:
• Email and internet projects including the use of video;
• Termly projects with link schools;
• Interacting with visitors from other countries (pupils and adults);
• Pupil/staff visits to places of cultural interest in the UK;
• To actively encourage the study of foreign languages for all our pupils by offering a range of appropriate language options and opportunities;
• To organise regular celebrations of our rich and diverse heritage.

To access the Abbey Court School International Schools Policy, please click on the link below:

International Schools Policy

International School Award and the Unicef Rights Respecting Schools Award

There are close links between being a Rights Respecting School and International School.  Abbey Court is a Gold Award Rights Respecting School and puts the 54 articles of the Unicef Children’s Charter at the heart of all school policy. This policy reflects that we believe that as a school we must do everything possible to ensure that, through their learning, our pupils grow as healthy as possible, learn at school, receive protection, have their views listened to, and be treated fairly.   Our pupils should also learn about their rights, and learn that these are the same as the rights of all children across the World.

Additionally, our international work aims to support pupils to learn about the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal, and the Global Goals, as part of enabling Abbey Court pupils to become global citizens.

To find out more about Abbey Court School’s work on the Unicef Rights Respecting Schools Award, and the United Nations Global Goals, please click on the link below:

Unicef RRSA

Get involved!  We can help…

If you work in a school and are interested in our international dimension work, or would like to begin the journey for the International School Award, we would be happy to assist you!  We can provide information and practical advice regarding the International School Award application and process, support other schools’ International Coordinators, and share examples of international activities to use with your pupils.  We are always looking for opportunities for joint working with other schools, including exciting collaborative projects, inclusion activities and sharing of good practice.  Please contact the school office to discuss your needs further with us.  We look forward to hearing from you!

To find out more about the British Council International School Award, visit their website:

https://www.britishcouncil.org/school-resources/accreditation/international-school-award/about