About this project

Brightlemon successfully launched an interactive messaging web site for Plan international - Plan Schools Link.

This social networking based site features private messaging among students in the UK and Africa. Additionally it contains customisable school profiles, messages with embedded Flash video, images, WYSIWYG editing and multiple access levels and related roles.

It also features forums (for Teachers only) and workflow and swearword filtering.

From the Plan Schools Link web site

Over 70 UK primary & secondary schools in the UK are now linking with their peers in Kenya,Sierra Leone and Malawi. The programme develops your children’s cultural awareness, contributes to curriculum development and helps you achieve the International School Award.

Plan ed can take the hard work out of the link for you because we have already found a school for you to link with. We put you in touch with an African school and support you to reach a partnership agreement to help you clarify mutual aims and objectives with your linked school.

You will receive a resource pack, with lesson activities, photos, DVD, take home activity, artefacts and access to downloadable and search friendly web resources (which are updated regularly).

Every term you will send and receive a correspondence with your partner school, carry out a set of activities for your children to learn about your linked country and work on a collaborative project of your choice.

You will receive ongoing support via a telephone helpline service and your linked school will receive support from dedicated plan staff.

Ten key benefits to Plan ed School Linking

• A facilitated link with a school overseas
• Your school will have an ongoing, actual link with a school in Malawi, Kenya or Sierra Leone
• Your children will have regular communications with children from your linked school (6 letters a year and email possibility). We suggest a class writes letters, but the whole school is involved through assemblies and curriculum days
• You will receive a resource booklet (with a fact sheet on link country, curriculum activity ideas, set of lesson plans,10 photos about day to day life of children in linked country; DVD on school life in your linked country; artefacts from linked country; take-home activity).
• Your children will have access to Linkzone a secure resource centre with online resources include videos, photographs and sound files
• Your teachers will receive expertise from School Linking Co-ordinators, who are teachers in the respective countries providing twice yearly inset and guidance
• Teachers and pupils will have the opportunity to have some management experience
• OFSTED Criteria of global dimension and ‘every child matters’
• Endorsements and evaluation by the Institute of Education
• Makes your school eligible for applying for the International Schools award

Why Plan?

Plan has been working in communities around the world for 70 years and is working with 64,000 communities. We have experience of working with children around the world and there are already 65 schools from Malawi, Kenya and Sierra Leone who are ready and keen to link.

What are the costs involved?

For all of the above benefits the cost is just £600:£400 of goes towards the benefits described above & £200 goes to your link school’s development fund. As Plan International is a registered retailer of Curriculum Online this means until August 2008 you can use your allocated e - learning credits to pay for all the benefits this programme provides, and you would then only be required to make the small contribution of £200 to you partner school's development fund.

Technologies used:
XHTML, CSS, Drupal, PHP, MySQL, Javascript,