Starting to plan your link
When you have found a partner school and know the name of your counterpart there, what should your next step be? Both schools should have some idea of what the
other is like and what your respective objectives are. However, it is safest not to take anything for granted.
Use this checklist to plan your first steps:
- Don't procrastinate! - get in touch with your counterpart immediately, preferably by email.
It does not have to be long or include a detailed plan for the exchange, but simply a message saying who you are. The longer you wait to get in touch, the more difficult it becomes.
- begin to set the paramaters for the link - in particular the type and timetable
This may involve just you and your counterpart(s), but could equally be something that pupils could be responsible for
- agree on the link type
The most common variants are whole school, class (or club) or individual pupil. A combination of two or more types is often the most successful.
- draw up a rough timetable for the first year's exchange
An email exchange is likely to be more frequent than postal exchanges. If this is a club or class activity, make sure your partner school knows when pupils are likely to be online, so
they do not worry if they don't get immediate replies to their messages.
If you are planning a joint investigation or are preparing resources to send by post, agree when you will each do this.
- in the course of the exchange, make sure you let your counterpart know about any school events, holidays, exams etc which may interrupt the link.
- if, despite all this, you run into problems with your link, please let Japan 21 (or the person who introduced your partner school) know as soon as possible. The longer you wait, the
harder it is to resolve difficulties.
As well as a general structured online exchange, Japan UK LIVE! can offer you a private area in which to work with your partner school. In the
Project Pages area, you will be given your own talkboard to use to plan your link. You can set up a collaboration with your link school on any subject you
choose and pupils can work with their partners to create a joint website showing what they have found out. Where necessary, Japan 21 can provide language support for
schools using Project Pages talkboards. Please contact Heidi Potter for more information about this.
If you have questions about setting up a school link, please contact Katherine Donaghy. We also welcome your comments or suggestions concerning these guidelines,
so please email us with them.
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