The British Council’s Year of the Horse education pack contains classroom resources focusing on China and designed to help introduce primary school children to some of the differences and similarities between the lives and culture of people in the UK and China. The pack was produced by the British Council in connection with the IOE Confucius Institute for Schools. It is also available in Welsh. For more information, to access supporting materials and to download individual chapters, please visit http://schoolsonline.britishcouncil.org/projects-and-resources/year-of-the-horse

The Commonwealth Class education pack is a dynamic, exciting resource for teachers who want to teach young people about Commonwealth values like rights and responsibilities, protecting the environment and what people need to lead healthy lives. The pack contains cross-curricular activities, short films and discussion guides with learning outcomes that link to key skills, curriculum subjects and Commonwealth values. The activities can be used to support lesson planning and teaching across your curriculum. The flexible and wide ranging materials are mainly targeted at 7-14 year olds.

The Chinese Mid-Autumn Festival, also known as the Moon Festival, is the second most important festival in the Chinese lunar calendar after Chinese New Year. In 2019 the festival will fall on 13 September. Each education pack contains lesson plans, an assembly plan, activities and supporting materials to introduce Chinese culture to the classroom, keep your young people engaged and look forward to next year when, according to the Chinese Lunar Calendar, we enter the Year of the Horse.

Focusing on China, the materials which were prepared in connection with the IOE Confucius Institute for Schools will help introduce primary school children to some of the differences and similarities between the lives and culture of people in the UK and China. Each education pack contains an array of resources for the classroom including; lesson plans, Chinese poems, assembly plans, posters and activities to keep your young people engaged throughout.

Our primary languages downloadable pack is designed for Language Assistants and other native speakers who are new to teaching languages at primary level as well as giving advice to the host schools. The pack includes guidance on how to get started, examples of best practice, specific teaching ideas and resources for use in the classroom.

British Council has joined forces with The FA, Premier League + Football League to commemorate the 1914 Christmas Truce. The pack includes photos, eye-witness accounts + letters from soldiers. Perspectives from British, French, Belgian, German + Indian witnesses are included with activities for English, language, drama, art, sport, history + moral education. Schools are invited to design a memorial with the winner chosen by The Duke of Cambridge + Arsenal/ England forward Theo Walcott to be built at the National Memorial Arboretum. http://schoolsonline.britishcouncil.org/football-remembers

The armistice to end the First World War was signed between France, Britain, and Germany on 11 November 1918 in a railway carriage in the Forest of Compiegne, about 60 km north of Paris. It ended a global conflict in which millions of soldiers and civilians lost their lives. This terrible war touched the lives of men, women and children across the globe and continues to have lasting implications in the world today. You can use the pack to teach your pupils more about the Armistice, to reflect on peace and to plan a commemoration of the centenary of the First World War.

These education resources are packed full of exciting ideas and activities from across the curriculum, helping your pupils celebrate Chinese New Year 2021 and the Year of the Ox while home learning. These resources contain information and activities to help teachers and pupils learn more about this important spring festival and explore Chinese culture. Your pupils can read a version of the traditional story of the New Year Race, create shadow puppets of the main characters and make a traditional Chinese lantern. The resources are suitable for primary years and adaptable for early secondary years and older.

Life on Land - Understanding Ecological Interconnectivity Take your class outdoors and find out about minibeasts in your local area as part of this brilliant series of activities exploring ecosystems and the natural world. What can your pupils do to improve biodiversity and safeguard species? This fascinating resource includes a full lesson plan, projects and worksheets suitable for KS1, KS2 and KS3 with differentiated activities and a planning template to assist in delivering the unit, enabling you to easily adapt the unit to suit different age groups and contexts. The resource promotes the importance of life on land and encourages its protection. With a focus on ecology and sustainability, it can be used to teach English, science, geography, maths, citizenship and other subjects. The materials can be used either with or without an overseas partner school. You can share your resource work with us on British Council Schools twitter using hashtag #ConnectingClassrooms This resource has been developed in collaboration with Manchester Museum, a proud part of The University of Manchester. The Connecting Classrooms through Global Learning programme offers fantastic opportunities to work with an international partner school on global topics of climate change, plastic pollution, pandemics, gender equality and many more. Our Local Advisors can help you get your collaboration started with free support, online training and resource packs to make your projects world class. For schools wishing to go the extra mile, there is even partnership funding to make your ideas a reality.

This education resource is packed full of exciting ideas and activities from across the curriculum, helping you and your pupils celebrate Chinese New Year 2020 and the Year of the Rat. Play the sound files and practice saying the names of different Chinese festivals and greetings in Mandarin. Read a traditional story about a pair of ambitious rat parents trying to find a husband for their daughter. Get creative making rat finger puppets, Tangram puzzles and steamed rice dumplings. Learn together about Tomb Sweeping Day, the Spring, Moon and Dragon Boat Festivals and read letters from Chinese children about how they celebrate with their friends and families. This resource is suitable for primary years and adaptable for early secondary years and older. We’re always thrilled to see photos and videos of you using resources in your school. Share and tag us on our new British Council Schools facebook and twitter social channels using hashtag #YearOfTheRat Instructions to use the PDF and activate the sound files: download and save the PDF to your computer. Open the PDF and select ‘Preferences’ from the ‘Edit’ menu. Select ‘3D and MultiMedia Options’ and tick the box ‘Enable playing of 3D content’ followed by ‘OK’. In some browsers a yellow bar at the top of the PDF page will also display providing two options: select option ‘Trust this document always’.**

Support a green classroom and Sustainable Development Goal 13 (SDG) with 20 climate change challenges: Global warming, pollution, sustainability, environmental issues. This free interactive resource is designed for teachers of / and pupils aged between 7 to 19. Challenges are designed to support the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal number 13 (SDG 13), to take urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts. By clicking on each of the challenge icons, pupils will access further instructions and free online supporting materials, such as PowerPoint templates and websites with pre-prepared content including video and interactive online tools to support learning. Teachers and/or students can decide to undertake as many challenges as they feel able to and we encourage sharing these activities across the world via #TheClimateConnection . The climate connection challenges can be undertaken without an international partner school, however the pedagogical benefits of collaborating on school projects across different countries are immense, and we highly recommend that using the resource has an international element, as is the global challenge that we are all facing. If you’d like to find an international partner school to work with on these activities, [here’s some information on how the British Council can help you find your match]https://connecting-classrooms.britishcouncil.org/partner-with-schools/before-find-partner Share your classroom actions with schools from across the world via: #TheClimateConnection

193 world leaders have committed to The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to help make the world safer, fairer and more just for everyone. There 17 Sustainable Development Goals aim to accomplish three things by 2030: tackle extreme poverty fight inequality and injustice protect the planet. The resource challenges you and your students to discuss the 17 goals and think of practical solutions to contribute to a more sustainable world. Exploring the themes of the SDGs is an excellent way to get your students thinking about their wider community and environment, while also delving into the life obstacles faced by others.

The Battle of the Somme was one of the bloodiest battles in history. It took place in Northern France around the River Somme from 1 July to 18 November 1916. Now, a century later, our education pack is designed to help teachers introduce aspects of the Battle of the Somme and the ways in which it is being remembered. The pack contains resources to help students develop a deeper knowledge and understanding of the conflict. It covers topics including experiences of the Somme from around the Commonwealth, Pals Battalions, conscription, recruitment and remembrance today. The materials are designed to be flexible and adaptable. They can be used as starting points for individual lessons or activities, or form part of a larger cross- curricular project with a partner school overseas. This resource pack has been developed by the British Council in partnership with the Commonwealth War Graves Commission, First World War Centenary Battlefield Tours Programme, UCL Institute of Education and Big Ideas Company.

Over the course of six lessons, pupils will have opportunities to develop an understanding of: Covid-19 in the context of some of the world’s most common communicable diseases and pandemics from the past how communicable diseases like Covid-19 may start and spread, and how this is investigated relevant prevention strategies to foster positive physical and mental health and well-being. In doing so, pupils will have the opportunity to develop core skills in critical thinking and problem solving, citizenship, student leadership, creativity and imagination and aspects of digital literacy. This resource will help you make a contribution to a recovery curriculum in schools, and beyond this, by providing interesting, engaging and relevant content that encourages pupils to recall, discuss and process some of their thoughts, feelings and memories. It is designed to support the United Nations’ Global Goals for Sustainable Development (SDGs), in particular Goal 3: Good health and well-being

Life Below Water is fourteenth in the United Nations Global Goals for Sustainable Development, focusing on conserving and using the oceans, seas and marine resources for sustainable development. This template project will help you to support your pupils in tackling plastic pollution while developing their core skills, such as critical thinking and creative collaboration. These materials can be used either with or without a partner school, and instructions are provided on how best to use the resources. NEW! BITE-SIZED ACTIVITIES FOR HOME LEARNING We also offer this resource in bite-sized activity format, perfect for home learning! Investigate how you use plastic in your daily life, make a marine food web and come up with your own ideas by designing an inventive method or machine to tackle the plastic pollution in the ocean. Download now!

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.

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. The pack celebrates Shakespeare as a writer who still speaks for all people and nations, addressing big questions and themes about the human experience and what it means to be a citizen in the twenty-first century. This pack encourages teachers and pupils to engage with some of the key issues, themes and ideas in Shakespeare’s plays, and to explore the ways they remain relevant and current in our lives today, wherever we are in the world. 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. Within each themed section you will find a wide range of activities for pupils aged 7-14. These can be used as starting points in individual lessons or as elements of a cross-curricular project, which could be carried out with a partner school overseas. Shakespeare’s plays have been staged many times since they were written over 400 years ago, and there are still so many different ways of interpreting his work. Each interpretation will draw out different themes and ideas. We hope you and your pupils will enjoy exploring the ones we have developed in this pack, which is available to download now.

This resource pack provides ideas for discussion, activities and a framework to help you use social entrepreneurship as an engaging project in your school. It is designed to encourage students to develop an awareness and understanding of how business can help to address social problems as well as gain practical experience in planning and setting up their own social enterprise. From projects on social responsibility, the impact social enterprises can make, and successful entrepreneurship, the pack allows students to increase their knowledge of social innovation whilst also develop core skills for learning, life, and work. It will also enable students to develop personal skills and attributes such as teamwork, confidence, and innovation.

Resources to help your school celebrate Chinese new year 2019.

The Polish Language and Culture pack helps primary teachers introduce aspects of Polish language and culture to their pupils. It contains lesson and assembly plans, factual information and resources to help pupils develop a deeper knowledge and understanding of the rich language, geography and culture of Poland. The materials are designed to be flexible and adaptable for use in a variety of settings. They can be used as starting points for individual lessons and assemblies or form part of larger cross-curricular joint projects involving collaboration over a number of subjects. Your pupils can learn how to greet a friend in Polish, get creative making paper cut-outs, and find out about many aspects of Polish culture. This education pack was produced by the British Council and the Polish Cultural Institute in London in partnership with Dwie Siostry Publishing and Templar Publishing.