Teaching pupils about the world around them is awe-inspiring. We live in a globalized world and have access to more information than ever before, but it can be tough for pupils to make personal connections with others.

“Friends from around the world” project is a social enterprise connecting our pupils with students around the world through collaborative online projects. Many of our learners create amazing friendships with children from abroad. While they are learning about their pen pals’ culture, this also gives them the opportunity to examine their own. Many pupils have not had the chance to travel abroad, so having to communicate about their culture provides a way to view it a bit differently. They can truly see the differences, but communicating with an international pen pal offers a taste of this.

Through our experiences, we have been able to pair up our children with pen pals from several countries. Our groups of pen pals use monthly/termly sessions to connect and collaborate on a selected topic. Doing this allows our students to form one-on-one connections with pupils from around the globe and learn about their similarities and differences. Our pupils grow to be more understanding, open-minded individuals. Having pen pals can be a way to break down those barriers and allow students to gain connections they otherwise might not have thought possible.

Pupils get very excited when the envelopes that contain handwritten notes and cards from their pen pals from abroad arrive.

Although the project blossoms into real relationships and honest conversations between students with different backgrounds and culture, it respects the safety and privacy of all pupils.

“Friends from around the world” project topics are designed for students ages 8-11 and are aligned to a wide variety of educational fun based activities. Apart from developing our conception on the wide world, we aim to improve our language skills as well.

Access to their international peers is an opportunity to learn about other cultures and ways of life and to begin to think globally and we are very proud to have the chance to do so.