Discover what 2016’s Year of the Monkey symbolises using our new pack filled with fun activities based on Chinese culture and traditions. Start preparing for Chinese New Year, explore the mythology behind the Chinese zodiac and uncover what the Year of the Monkey actually means in 2016. Take your students along on a journey with the Monkey King as he steals the pills of invisibility and then sets out to the west with his magical companions. Or, using the pack, teach them how to make traditional opera masks, draw monkeys using Chinese brush strokes, create decorative DIY kites and even learn some basic Chinese. There are plenty of creative and fun ideas for you and your students to learn about the rich history and culture of China. Note: To listen to embedded sound clips, please download the education pack and open with Adobe Reader.

From 16-27 March 2016, Five short films from BFI Flare, the British Film Institute’s Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) Film Festival, was available to audiences around the world through the BFI player. The festival has now closed, however you can find out more about this year’s films here. Films and resources Although the main festival has closed, you can still use our resource and watch our film ‘London Loves You’ to stimulate discussion in the classroom. The film was made in a London secondary school and shows students discussing how they and their school community feel about LGBT issues. You can watch it here (https://vimeo.com/158625035) and it can also be found in the resource pack. Please note, in some countries you may prefer to use this material with older students.

We have developed a series of resources, in partnership with The Royal Society, to enhance science learning in schools. This second resource in the Commonwealth Science Class series is centred on how the prevent the spread of infectious diseases and is packed with activity ideas to help your students investigate and explore the subject in more depth. Before downloading the resource, and to help you get started, we recommend you watch the accompanying video with your class.

Use our ‘Welcome to Malta’ resource and PowerPoint presentation to learn about the country, its history, culture and language. Read letters from Maltese children describing their daily life and the Maltese story ‘Do you believe in magic?’ to develop your pupils’ creative thinking, tolerance, respect and understanding.

We have developed a series of resources, in partnership with The Royal Society, to enhance science learning in schools. The first in the Commonwealth Science Class series focuses on the topic of renewable energy and is filled with activity ideas to help students discuss and explore the subject in more depth. Before delving into this resource, we recommend that teachers show students the accompanying video.

According to the Chinese Lunar Calendar, we enter the Year of the Rooster on January 28, 2017. This education pack for UK primary schools contains information and activities to help teachers and pupils learn more about this important spring festival and explore Chinese culture and language. Your pupils can learn about the story of The Rooster, the Dragon and the Centipede, how to play a traditional Chinese playground game, find out how to say what foods you like and dislike in Chinese and cook some delicious Chinese food. You can also get creative making rooster paper cuts and painting traditional plate designs, find out some facts and hear from children across China about their favourite meals. Age suitability: 4-7 years, 7-11 years Curriculum links: Art, PSHE/Citizenship, Design and Technology, Geography, History, Modern Languages.

We have developed a series of resources, in partnership with The Royal Society, to enhance science learning in schools. This third resource in the Commonwealth Science Class series focuses on the topic of rising sea levels and is filled with activity ideas to help your students investigate and explore the subject in more depth. Before downloading the resource, and to help you get started, we recommend you watch the accompanying video with your class.

What is Queens of Syria? The Syrian crisis is now in its fifth year and the violence that has forced so many to leave their homes shows no sign of abating. Queens of Syria is the story of fifty women refugees now living in Jordan who came together to create and perform their own version of The Trojan Women, the timeless Greek tragedy about the plight of women in war. Queens of Syria teaching resource In 2016 the Queens of Syria cast and crew will travel to the UK for a series of performances. To mark this occasion, the British Council have developed an education pack to provide teachers with resources that will help them explore the human impact of the conflict in Syria and the realities of life as a refugee.

Keep your students up to date with the latest news from across the Commonwealth using the First News monthly newspaper. First News is one of the leading newspapers aimed at students from ages seven to fourteen, investigating and delving into stories affecting the wider world. Each month, the newspaper will explore themes related to the environment, politics and citizenship within the Commonwealth states. The newspaper serves as an excellent source of debate within your classroom to get children engaged in the diverse world around them.

We have developed a series of resources, in partnership with The Royal Society, to enhance science learning in schools. This fourth resource in the Commonwealth Science Class series is centred on the topic of global food security and is packed with activity ideas to help your students investigate and explore the subject in more depth. Before downloading the resource, and to help you get started, we recommend you watch the accompanying video with your class: https://schoolsonline.britishcouncil.org/classroom-resources/list/global-food-security-how-can-we-feed-growing-population

The Arab world is a fascinating, diverse geographical region with a rich culture and history. Arabic is spoken by more than 300 million people. The education pack is designed to help primary school teachers introduce aspects of both Arabic language and Arab culture to your pupils, including: well known Arabic fables, teaching students moral lessons. counting to 10 in Arabic perfecting your pronunciation of Arabic greetings exploring the intricate geometric patterns of Arabic mosaics The Arabic Language and Culture pack is an excellent way to introduce young learners to the Arab world while also challenging their preconceptions of Arab culture. This education pack has been created as part of the British Council’s Arabic Language and Culture Programme in partnership with Qatar Foundation.

These lesson plans have been produced in partnership with First News to introduce your class to the important work of the Commonwealth and its values. The lesson plans aim to encourage schools around the world to celebrate the Commonwealth and its inclusive values and principles that unite the 53 member states. You can explore the social similarities and differences between countries through their flags and stories from children. The lesson plans also introduces the Commonwealth Charter, helping to contextualise the work of the Commonwealth across the world to your students.

This Shakespeare Lives schools’ pack has been created by the British Council in partnership with the Royal Shakespeare Company to mark the 400th anniversary of Shakespeare’s death in 2016. Specially designed to encourage learning across the curriculum, the resource is split into five key themes; Leadership and Power, Family and Relationships, Identity and Equality, Fate and Destiny, Justice and Rules. Throughout the pack you will find a variety of participative activities for pupils aged 7-14. These activities can be used as starting points in individual lessons, as elements of a cross-curricular project which could be carried out with a partner school overseas, or as standalone activities.

Explore conflicts across the world through this innovative teaching resource. The Nerve Centre has put together five lessons that describe and summarise conflicts that have taken place in Northern Ireland, India, Lebanon, Sierra Leone and South Africa. In each lesson, students will be provided with information about the country and a background to the issues which fuelled conflict within that country. Each lesson provides students with opportunities to learn through questioning and investigation based active learning methodologies and links to a series of archive images, audio and video. The digital tasks provided will enable students to form creative expressions of the learning that they have developed around international conflict. For the full suite of Teaching Divided Histories resources on conflict and to download individual lessons please see the Teaching Divided Histories website . (The resource has been uploaded with the permission of the Nerve Centre).

In China, young people hoping to go to university must excel in the Gaokao - a very tough entrance exam. This film follows Ma Li, 18, who is one of the 9.15 million Chinese high school students about to start studying for the exams. For Ma Li, and many like her, the exams will be the culmination of an exhausting year of cramming and revision. The pressure is high, with some schools going to increasingly extreme lengths to boost exam results.

Nada, 13, and Mina, 12, go to different schools with different head teachers in Keseljac, Bosnia Herzegovina. But the two schools are in the same building. This is known as ‘Two Schools Under One Roof’. After the Bosnian war ended in 1995, this kind of school was set up as the first step to bring people back together. But after so many years, it’s keeping them apart. Most of the Bosnian Muslim pupils here - like Nada - want the two schools to merge. But Croat pupils - like Mina – are concerned that they will lose their identity.

Inspired by a friendship, 12-year-old Oli from Bangladesh is campaigning against child marriage. Bangladesh has one of the highest rates of child marriage in the world. The issue is a huge problem in the country, with 20% of girls becoming wives before their 15th birthday, even though 18 is the minimum age allowed by law. Oli became fed-up of seeing his friends dropping out of school and decided to do something about it. He and his friends tour the slum where they live, looking for girls at risk and educating their elders.

Oli is a 12-year-old boy from Bangladesh who is campaigning against child marriage. Bangladesh has one of the highest rates of child marriage in the world. 20% of girls become wives before their 15th birthday, even though the law says that they should not get married before the age of 18. Oli became fed-up of seeing his friends dropping out of school and decided to do something about it. He and his friends tour the slum where they live, looking for girls at risk. They try to educate their elders by talking to them about why they shouldn’t marry off their daughters so young.

In China, young people hoping to go to university must do well in the notoriously difficult entrance exams, the ‘Gaokao’. Ma Li, age 18, is one of the 9.15 million Chinese high school students about to start studying for the exams. It’s a long, hard road, and both Ma Li and her family will have to make sacrifices if she is to do well. Follow Ma Li’s progress and find out why China’s university entrance exams, the ‘Gaokao’, are said to be the toughest in the world.

The Ragdoll Foundation is dedicated to developing the power of imaginative responses in children through the arts.‘What Makes Me Happy’ is a series of short, fun films showing that even where lives are difficult children can still find happiness. The films were produced in-country by working with the children themselves. These are their own stories about what makes them happy and we want to share them with you and as many children as possible around the world. There is so much you can learn about your own happiness and the happiness of others.