Postal exchange
Air mail can become very expensive when sending group packages. Try and split parcels to take advantage of 'printed paper' and 'small packet' rates. Sea mail is much cheaper, but can take 6 weeks or longer to arrive.
Almost anything can be sent by post: letters, paintings and posters, cartoons, photographs, maps, audio tapes, video tapes, CDs, stories and poems, newsletters, surveys, postcards etc - the possibilities are endless.
With younger children and where language is an obstacle, the emphasis will be on photos, pictures, tapes etc rather than on written materials. It is possible to carry out a colourful and informative exchange without written materials.
Many items which are normally text heavy, can be re-created with illustrations: maps, school timetables, introductions to the locality, surveys, family trees and so on, can all be made comprehensible with a minimum of language.
Caution Japanese and UK videos are not compatible. The Japanese video standard is NTSC, while the British system is PAL. Multi system video players are becoming more common in the UK, but are still not universal. In order for partners to view each others tapes, it may be necessary to have them converted. If you are having difficulties, the British Council in Tokyo is willing to convert tapes and post them on to link schools.
Send the tape, with your partner school's address, to the School Links Co-ordinator, British Council, 1-2 Kagurazaka, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo 162-0825, Japan.
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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