School partnerships put reading in charge
New school partnerships have connected 50 UK schools with 50 Ukrainian schools. Around 3,000 pupils will share books, ideas and the discovery that classrooms everywhere contain one chair that squeaks.
The British Council programme also involves 100 teachers. It aims to build cultural understanding, resilience and emotional wellbeing through a shared love of reading.
More than 750 schools applied for 100 places. This suggests children remain intensely interested in the wider world, despite every adult committee that has tried to replace it with a laminated vision statement.
“A good book makes a remarkably reliable bridge,” said Beatrice Bookmark, Coordinator of International Chapter Breaks. “It also fits in a school bag and does not require planning permission.”
Schools from all four UK nations joined the project, from Orkney to Devon and County Antrim to Essex. Their Ukrainian partners bring their own stories, experiences and questions.
At the Office of Educational Exchange, officials proposed twelve measurable outputs for friendship. Pupils ignored them and began comparing favourite characters before the spreadsheet had finished loading.
The programme celebrates a wider partnership between both countries. Its simplest achievement may prove the strongest: young people reading together, then asking adults why international cooperation always needs such a long name.
Read the real story: the British Council report on the school partnerships.
