international
Gordon’s School has always had an international flavour due to our many and varied overseas students. We also have a fascinating international history to draw on in the career and travels of General Gordon himself.
Therefore, it’s no surprise that Gordon’s has embraced the international spirit and embarked upon a partnership with the Commonwealth Education Trust to help reduce Learning Poverty across the Commonwealth.
Commonwealth education trust
Teachers at Gordon’s School are collaborating with teachers across the world in lower income countries to support them and improve learning outcomes for the children in their schools. According to the World Bank, learning poverty affects over 250 million children around the world, limiting their life chances. It is estimated that up to 80 per cent of children in low income countries remain unable to read and understand simple text by the age of ten. The most recent figures show the Commonwealth Education Trust, which covers the Commonwealth’s 54 member countries, has reached over 35,000 teachers from more than 40 countries, benefitting over three million students.
The partnership with the Commonwealth Education Trust, established in January 2022, links ten UK teachers with ten teachers from partner schools in Zambia, Cameroon, Nigeria, Pakistan, The Bahamas, Trinadad, Guyana and Liberia. Gordon's School has expanded the partnership to include Arete Schools this year. The partners meet virtually, creating bespoke professional development opportunities for each individual and school across a six-month programme from January to June.
Gordon’s Assistant Head (Staff Development) Kelly Hurley said: “We are really excited about developing learning opportunities with the CET and our partner schools to help in reducing learning poverty. We hope to create meaningful relationships between our schools and teachers as well as developing our own teaching practice within this partnership.”
The video below explains how the partnership benefits both Gordon's teachers and those in the partner schools:
To learn more about Teach2030 and Gordon's involvement with the Trust follow the link below:
https://commonwealtheducationtrust.org/teach2030/
Foreign Exchange Programme
The German exchange started in June 2014 and has been going from strength to strength. We run it with the Lise-Meitner-Gymnasium in Königsbach-Stein in Baden-Württemberg after a former student contacted Mr Depoix about starting the programme after they completed a year as a Language Assistant in 2012-13. It is primarily for KS4 students but Sixth Form students are also welcome to take advantage of the fantastic opportunities the exchange programme provides.
Click here to see more photos from our German Exchange.