Department of Education and Early Childhood Development
Sister Schools Grants Program
The Sister Schools Grants program has been established to support the strengthening of the Sister
School Program. The grants program, which commenced in 2011, will be funded for four years, with
a different group of schools funded each year.
Round 1: 2011-12 grants recipients (10 schools receiving $7,000 each)
Victorian school
Alkira Secondary
College
Sister school
The sister school program with Nanjing Baijiahu Secondary
School aims to have alternate year exchanges with homestay
accommodation of about 10-15 students from year 9/10. The
emphasis is on cultural exchange for the students and
accompanying teachers with an appreciation of language –
English and Mandarin.
In its infancy, the teacher exchange program with the
Changzhou Foreign Languages School aims to support language
and EAL teachers in a 6 week (aiming to become year-long)
teacher to teacher exchange. Accommodation is homestay in
Australia and boarding-house quarters in China aiming to
observe, use and research language teaching pedagogy for
Mandarin (in China) and English (in China and Australia).
Country
China
Belmont High School
Belmont High School has a well-established sister school
partnership with an Italian school Liceo Classico Banfi and is
leveraging this to assist Daylesford Secondary College to
establish a similar relationship. Belmont is also connecting with
Highton Primary School for Year 9 students to visit and act as
expert learners in the primary Italian classroom. Teachers work
collaboratively to plan these ventures, sharing pedagogical
practices, resources and experiences.
Italy
Bright P-12 College
After nearly 10 years and declining interest with a school in
Japan, Bright P-12 has established a new relationship with a
cluster of schools in the Gamagori district of Japan who
annually and alternately visit Bright P-12 and Wodonga Middle
Years Colleges. About 10 Australian students reciprocate the
visit biennially for 3 weeks with a 2 week homestay. Japanese
students stay about a week. A further arrangement with an
English Club at Kita Kyushu University sees one student cover
their own costs to come to Bright for about 7 months. They
improve their own language and cultural understanding as a
language assistant teacher and stay in homestay.
Japan
Essendon Keilor College
This fledgling sister school partnership with Tran Dai Nghia
Gifted High School involves Year 11 students and teachers. The
first 2 years involved visits to Vietnam to build relationships,
some housing and establish an MOU. Teachers provided some
curriculum assistance and whilst they stayed in hotels, the
intention for future visits is to include homestays and greater
time in the school. The Vietnamese visit scheduled for 2013 will
see students spend a week in the school and a week
researching the possibilities of studying in Victoria (attending
pre-curriculum preparation here first) including visits to the
space science centre, sport research centre and universities.
Vietnam
Frankston High School
The over 10 year partnership with Lycee Jean Zay, France has a
France
small number of students visit Australia each year for 3 weeks
without a teacher and are accommodated by the school in all
aspects. The Australian students visiting France on alternate
years use homestay accommodation and have a 3 week tour
with a one week homestay and one day in the school.
Additionally in the ‘off’ years, a couple of students will stay in
France for term 4 and attend school to improve their language
skills.
Gladstone Park
Secondary College
Established in 1999, this secondary school reciprocal exchange
with Blaise Pascal comprises a 3 week exchange with
sightseeing, a 10-14 day homestay and school attendance for
10-15 students in alternate years. Students deliver
presentations about their home culture and take part in
conversation classes.
Italy
Neerim District
Secondary College
Although only beginning in 2012, this partnership with No.11
Juijian School has established strong educative frameworks.
Year 9/10 students have a 9 day homestay within a 3 week tour
of China, attending classes in English about China and having
their own project ‘How do lives and futures differ between
Chinese and Australian students’ to investigate. Staff teach
mainly conversational English in classes with some focus on
pedagogy and Australian culture.
China
Northcote High School
The partnership with Huaibei High School has been established
since 1998 and involves the whole school across all areas.
Annual visits occur between the two schools including visitors
from the City of Huaibei. Between 25 and 45 students (years 812) have a 3 day homestay and attend school then have a
further week of touring. Each visit often has a different focus –
Music (played in 4 cities), Science, language etc – with this top
100 school in China. The relationship is rich, vibrant and
celebrates each other’s successes – each school is like a second
home to the other. Every year, two teachers visit for a month in
November - December to support English teachers in China as a
form of professional learning.
China
Red Cliffs Secondary
College
Three secondary schools in the Mildura area partner for
exchanges with three senior secondary schools in China for an
annual reciprocal exchange of about 48 students to attend
classes, visit local attractions and work with students in classes
for question and answer sessions and language learning.
Mandarin is taught at years 7/8 and to those attending the
exchange and a further involvement of 3 other primary schools
and another secondary college in Mandarin has also developed.
The recent use of Polycom will allow face to face language
practice for both cultures. Dali Prefecture Middle School
China
Taylors Lakes
Secondary College
This fairly new relationship with Mito Junior High School has
alternate year visits by students who spend 5-6 days in a
homestay over a 3 week tour. Strong personal connections of
individual staff and students are encouraged to link family
members in Italy and provide real diversity in cultural
understanding and experiences. Visiting and staying in a local
village is a real highlight. For the Italians, their week visit in
Melbourne and a few days in Sydney is about cultural
immersion with local students assisting as language guides.
Italy
Round 2: 2012-13 grants recipients (9 schools receiving $10,000 each)
Victorian school
Bentleigh West Primary
School
Brunswick Secondary
College
Corryong College
Lismore Primary School
McKinnon Secondary
College
Sister school
Establish a relationship with a remote indigenous school
and an Indonesian school focusing on educating for
sustainability for the schools and their communities,
gaining knowledge, skills and understandings of how
different cultures and communities address local and
global sustainability issues. Curricula resources and
teaching practices will be shared and documented for use
as a resource for other Australian and Indonesian
schools. The relationship will be based on the AusVels
Curricula of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander histories
and cultures, Asia and Australia’s engagement with Asia
and Sustainability.
The proposed sister school relationship aims to
strengthen Chinese language and culture by building a
direct relationship with a Chinese school and will actively
support the school’s ‘Chinese Specialisation Project’ and
link to the University of Melbourne ‘Languages
Experience Project’. The relationship will facilitate a
professional learning team of teachers from the school
including the Chinese language teacher and a team up of
teachers in China. The school is seeking to expand its
offering of Mandarin including supporting nonbackground students to study Chinese to Year 12 and
beyond.
The school is proposing to set up a sister school
relationship with Al Falah Deltasari Junior High School in
Indonesia. Collaborative learning and teaching programs
involving the sister school will be reflected across all
areas of the curriculum, including the language program.
The school plans to share and document its experience
for use as a resource for the Tallangatta cluster, of which
it is a member. The school will explicitly involve its parent
community in activities emanating out of the sister
school relationship i.e. developing links using ICT and as a
resource for language and culture classes for parents and
other members of the local community.
The proposed sister school relationship aims to promote
the teaching of Japanese and ensure that students are
prepared to participate globally. It will build on a
languages start up grant. Its focus is to provide
opportunities for predominantly Anglo Saxon students to
find interest and purpose in studying Japanese as an
entry point for their promotion of multiculturalism,
intercultural knowledge and linguistic competence. Once
the proposed sister school relationship is developed, it
will be expanded to include Derrinallum P-12 school
where technologies can be shared. The sister schools will
work collaboratively on curriculum programs to develop
shared understandings, an appreciation of cultural
similarities and differences and appreciation of differing
ways of life, weekly video conferences for real life/time
experiences and teacher professional learning.
The proposed sister school relationship plans to engage
with Spain and has received an endorsement from the
Country
Inter-state,
Indonesia
China
Indonesia
Japan
Spain
Neerim South Primary
School
Skene Street Specialist
School
Worawa Aboriginal College
Covenant College
Spanish Education Consul. The relationships will be used
as a foundation from which the College will set up a
second language study in Spanish, whilst enhancing their
humanities, languages, sports and arts programs and
creating opportunities for teacher professional learning
through collaborative curriculum planning with their
counterparts in Spain.
The proposed sister school relationship is committed to
eLearning and to sustainable Chinese language provision.
The school is an active participant in the Tarago
Education Community which is a network of local primary
schools and Neerim District Secondary College that are
working together in a commitment to being Asia literate.
Initial discussions regarding a collaborative learning
relationship with Changshu Taquian Primary school,
Jiangsu province have occurred. The school seeks to
consolidate and extend on these positive discussions. The
proposed sister school relationship aims to further
develop students’ skills in literacy, numeracy, science,
ICT, personal and interpersonal learning in both schools.
The proposed partnership with Yiwu Xingguang
Experimental school (also a specialist school setting) in
China aims to develop a working relationship which will
enhance the lives of the school community; students,
teachers and parents alike. It aims to broaden the
knowledge and experiences of teachers, students and
families, in this specialist educational setting, by
incorporating study of language and culture into the
curriculum.
The proposed partnership with a First Nation school in
Hawaii is multi-layered, with student leadership playing
an active role, as well as the staff and leadership and
community exchanges. It is also well connected to the
whole school strategic direction.
The student learning and staff learning have been well
articulated, and a parent and community engagement
strategy has been developed. The proposed evaluation
strategy includes the evaluation of the health of the sister
school partnership as well as the impact on student,
teacher and community learning. The school has also
proposed to commit significant funding to the
partnership.
The proposed sister school partnership with Grace
Christian Community School demonstrated strong
alignment of the proposed partnership with school
strategic plan. A strong commitment to the partnership is
also evident through the identification of a champion
who will work with a team that made up of key leaders in
the school. The goals are well articulated, linking to
student and teacher learning. The broader community
including local business will work together to contribute
to the partnership. Evaluation plan includes the
assessment of impact on the college and the growth of
their sister school.
China
China
USA
The
Philippines
Round 3: 2013-14 grants recipients (14 schools receiving $5000 each)
School name
Malvern Primary School
Bendigo Team China (14
schools)
Princes Hill PS
Christian College Geelong
Delacombe Primary School
Commentary
A very strong sister school partnership with Nanjing
Youfu West Street Primary School in China (est. 2010).
The sister school partnership covers a wide range of
focus, involves the whole community, and has had a
significant impact on all aspects of the school life.
Chinese language has been introduced. Reciprocal visits
have taken place. Teacher shadowing and pedagogical
discussion is a part of the sister school partnership. A
whole school Studies of Asia program has been
implemented.
A unique networked sister school arrangement, with 14
Bendigo primary schools partnering with Suzhou
Industrial Park (SIP) Sister Schools in China (est. 2010).
This partnership allows the small and low SES rural
Victorian schools with limited cultural diversity to
experience another culture. Most Team China schools
have introduced Chinese language and are sharing and
maximising the local resources including the Confucius
Classroom to support the language programs. Led by
the principals of each school, the partnership has
provided impetus to embed Asia literacy in curriculum
and teacher professional learning and has impacted on
the whole school community. Reciprocal student visits
have taken place, teacher exchanges are being planned.
Work with the local secondary schools is also in
progress to support student language transition.
Dual partnerships with a school in Hong Kong (est.
2007) and a school in mainland China. The unique
feature of the partnerships lies in the planned
professional learning for teachers and research tasks for
students who undertake the reciprocal visits. Reciprocal
teaching via Polycom video facility to model and learn
from each other is another feature. The sister school
partnerships are aligned with and reflected in the
school ethos.
A long standing language-based sister school
partnership with Naga High School in Japan (est. 1993).
The partnership encompasses reciprocal visits and longterm student exchanges. Graduates from both schools
can participate in a language assistant exchange
program where they gain work experience and further
develop language skills assisting in classes. School
board/council members also undertook special visits to
the sister school.
A relatively new partnership with Xing Zhi Primary
School in Nanjing China (est. 2010). Due to the strong
commitment from leadership in both schools, the
partnership ("real friendship") has blossomed quickly.
Activities to date include student and teacher reciprocal
visits and school council president visit. The partnership
is aligned with school mission and goals and is
embedded across the curriculum.
Country
China
China
Hong Kong
China
Japan
China
Loyola College
St Kilda Primary School
Werribee Secondary
College
Leongatha Primary School
Camberwell Grammar
School
Mount Waverley
Secondary College
Penleigh and Essendon
Grammar School
Rowville Secondary College
Multi sister school partnerships with France, Italy and
Indonesia (est. 2010), all with reciprocal exchanges. The
partnerships have depth and are reflected in the school
curriculum. The proposed case study includes the
identification of obstacles of sister school partnership,
which can be valuable for other schools.
A long standing language-based sister school program
with Ishigase Elementary School in Japan (since 1996).
Apart from the reciprocal visits and collaboration
between language teachers in both schools, the school
stages an annual Matsuri Day Celebration that involves
the local preschool and high school. The school sees a
strong mentor role and has a 0-18 vision when
promoting and sharing their sister school experience.
A multi sister school partnerships with both Asian and
European countries (the longest partnership with
Mihara High School in Japan since 1995), reflecting a
range of program models, covering a range of focuses.
The school has a strong whole school commitment to
internationalising education being an accredited
member of the Council of International Schools and an
International Baccalaureate provider.
Both partnerships with Indonesia (est. 2010) and China
started as teacher exchange, now extending to student
and community exchanges. Strong ICT support (1:1 iPad
program) is a key feature of the partnership. The
partnership has enabled a whole school Asian Literacy
program. The sister school partnership has had a
profound impact on language learning in the school,
"from a least popular to most popular program, and has
given a purpose not only for language program but for
all areas of curriculum".
A long standing language-based sister school
partnership with Nanjing Foreign Language School in
China (since 2003), that has impacted significantly on
whole school and community. The partnership
encompasses annual reciprocal visits from students and
teachers with home stay arrangement.
A multi sister school partnerships with Japan (since
1998) and Germany (since 2000), mainly languagebased and focussing on exchange visits. Their digital
story will focus on hosting visits from a sister school,
and exploring what factors prevent a student wanting
to participate in an exchange program.
A long standing solid partnership with Datong High
School in China (est. 1989). The partnership features
reciprocal study tours, themed visits eg, musical and
sporting tours and long-term teacher exchange (two
terms). A unique example of a sister school partnership
that has breadth and depth.
A non language-based sister school partnership with
Motoyama Junior High School in Japan (est. 2004), that
has endured three changes of leadership in the
Japanese sister school. The partnership includes
reciprocal visits with home stay arrangements.
France, Italy,
Indonesia
Japan
Japan, China,
Italy, Spain,
Singapore
Indonesia
China
China
Japan, Germany
China
Japan
St Monica's College Epping
A long standing sister school partnership with Takada
Japan
Junior and Senior High School in Japan (since 1994), tied
in with the school mission of developing comprehensive
and global perspectives of all students. Activities
include reciprocal visits with home stay component. The
proposal has identified home stay as a key success
factor, which can be a focus of the case study.
Round 4: 2014-15 grants recipients
- Reservoir HS
- Keysborough HS
- McClelland College
- Silverton PS
- St John Vianney Catholic School
- Oberon HS
- Sandringham PS
- Glen Eira College
- Albany Rise PS
- Bacchus Marsh PS
- Boneo PS
- Camberwell HS
- Korrumburra SC
- Thornbury HS