Sister Schools Fund open

The fund is open to all New Zealand schools. Grants of approximately $2,000 - $3,000 per school will be awarded to successful schools to establish new sister school relationships, or to strengthen existing relationships, with a focus on sister cities/provinces.

The fund was announced during the Joint Working Group which took place during the visit of Chinese President Xi Jinping to New Zealand in November 2014.

This initiative will support schools to deliver on the Government’s Leadership Statement for International Education, which seeks to increase New Zealanders’ skills and knowledge to operate effectively across cultures. The fund also delivers an outcome from the School Sector International Education Roadmap, in which schools expressed a desire to grow institutional partnership channels with offshore schools.

A sister school partnership is a planned collaboration designed to offer the partners mutual benefit. Applicants need to explain how their planned activity will contribute to strong sister school relationships which foster learning opportunities, cross-cultural skills development and friendship between our two countries.

Activities may include (but need not be limited to);

• staff and/or student exchange

• curriculum-based collaborative projects

• enhanced language programmes.