Gainsborough's Queen Elizabeth’s High School recognised for its work to bring the world into the classroom

The school has been given the Intermediate level of the British Council’s prestigious International School Award which celebrates the achievements of schools that do exceptional work in international education.

Queen Elizabeth’s High School (QEHS) has forged links with schools all over the world and groups of students have visited partner schools in China, Tanzania, Germany, France and Spain, participated in joint activities with partner schools in Australia, France, Morocco, Poland and Romania and welcomed teacher visits.

As well as the school’s Camps International programme, which allows students to work on development schemes for a five-week period during the summer.

So far, students from QEHS have assisted with projects in Cambodia, Tanzania, Ecuador and The Galapagos Islands and next year students will be travelling to Borneo.

John Kingdom, deputy headteacher, said: “We are delighted to achieve this award.

“We work extremely hard to provide our students with an education that allows them to grow into responsible, worldly adults and our work with schools in Australia, Tanzania and China really contributes to that.

“Furthermore, our plethora of international trips, including to Costa Rica and the Galapagos, Borneo, Tanzania, China, Iceland, Spain, France and Germany allow our students to experience different cultures and environments and to grow and thrive."

Around 6,000 International School Awards have been presented in the UK since 1999, when the scheme began.

John Rolfe MBE, schools outreach manager at the British Council, said: “We are proud and delighted to work with this great school. Many thanks to everyone for all their commitment to developing international work and sharing excellent classroom practice and resources.

“This is enriching education for its pupils; and their excellent collaborative projects with partner schools overseas are bringing the world into their classrooms.

“International work is key support for the development of skills young people need to be the globally aware citizens of the future.”