Tees Valley Collaborative Trust have recently been awarded £173,442.50 from the Turing Scheme, which is the UK’s government programme that provides funding for international opportunities in education and training across the world. It is a chance for students to study and work abroad, making memories that will last a lifetime. This supports the new International Strategy for the Trust, which will be led by Alexis Jackson, our new International Partnership Strategy Developer.
Alexis commented, “I believe that travel can enrich people’s lives in so many ways, it allows us to have a greater understanding of culture and communities, experience new places and explore the world. This funding will give students the opportunities to visit places that they may only dream about and create memories that will last a lifetime. I feel privileged to be involved in developing our international strategy and look forward to the many opportunities we can bring to our students.”
The new academic year will start with some exciting opportunities for the students at Stockton Sixth form and Prior Pursglove College. In January a group of students will be offered the chance to travel to Sri Lanka, volunteering for 2 weeks on a Childcare and Community Programme. Students joining this trip will discover a new world of culture and tradition as they get involved with the community and take part in social and cultural activities. Students will work alongside staff in care centres and special needs schools to provide support and promote learning and early childhood development through play. There will be another opportunity later in the academic year for a different group of students to visit Sri Lanka for the 2nd project, which is the Medicine and Community Programme, here students, will shadow medical staff during ward rounds, in clinics and theatres.
The funding will also allow students at the college the opportunity to live and work in Lisbon, Portugal. Students will travel to Lisbon in June 2025 for a 4-week Internship in which they will be able to gain valuable work experience in their chosen field, allowing them to use the knowledge they have learnt in the classroom for their studies and transfer this to the world of work. The students who take part in the internships will be able to develop lifelong transferable and employability skills.
Errington Primary School will use the Turing Funding to take 20 primary school students for 6 days, in Years 5 and 6 to their partner school in Bonne, Germany. To understand what it is like to live in a different country, their customs, schooling and to compare this to where they live. Both schools in Germany and the UK have similar aims and ambitions for their pupils. Errington’s aim is to accompany and support each individual child with their individual requirements on their learning path so that they can achieve the best possible learning success in their personal and school life. The aim of this project and trip will be to learn from one another about how each culture moulds and inspires learners to prepare them for their next learning steps.
All of these projects across the Trust aim to support social mobility and widen participation, promoting equal access and opportunities to participants regardless of their background. Over the last decade the Northeast is one of the slowest growing regions of the UK and levels of prosperity are now the lowest in the country. Exposing our students to as many vocationally relevant practical experiences as possible, whether this be in the UK or internationally, prepares them to take a flexible approach to their working life and the development of a set of transferable soft skills which will enable them to adapt to new situations and opportunities, ultimately benefiting the locality and the region.