School looks very different for all of us right now. Wherever you are with your school, we hope this finds you well. As you know, School Stream is committed to supporting schools and their broader communities, so we want to alert you to a grant opportunity you might be interested in. Together for Humanity are awarding successful schools funding of up to $15,000 to help address intercultural challenges. Read on to learn about previous successful applications and see if your school is eligible.
What is an ‘intercultural challenge’?
First things first. What exactly is an intercultural challenge? You may well know it by other names, like cross-cultural challenges or inter-faith challenges. Intercultural challenges manifest in different ways in different school environments, but examples can include things like:
- Schools needing support to deal with the arrival of large numbers of refugee-background students.
- A large percentage of ESL students across the school population.
- Lack of awareness from the families of newly arrived communities about how school works in Australia.
- Gaps in knowledge for newly arrived families around the expectations and opportunities of the Australian education system.
The Intercultural Understanding Partnership Grants
The Intercultural Understanding Partnership (ICUP) is an initiative created by Together for Humanity (TFH) and is funded by the Australian Government. Examples of projects from ICUP schools who have worked with Together for Humanity include building a garden to explore cultural identity through a connection to nature, and developing a practical adjunct to a history course to explore multi-faceted identity in secondary aged boys. In all cases, schools who receive the funding are closely supported by a Together for Humanity facilitator to develop and execute any plans.
The Fine Print
- The Expression of Interest form is due by May 22, 2020. The form consists of three questions to enable schools to tell the story of their intercultural challenge. Shortlisting will be in June and the grant recipients will be announced in Term 3.
- All Australian schools in metropolitan or regional areas with an intercultural challenge can apply.
- The ICUP plan will have links to the ACER National School Improvement Tool, the Australian Wellbeing Framework, ACARA Intercultural capabilities and other strategic planning frameworks used by schools.
- Please feel free to contact Together for Humanity’s Education Coordinator, Mark van Ommen mark@togetherforhumanity.org.au or visit Together for Humanity for more information.
Good luck with your applications!
We are committed to keeping schools and communities connected and want to remind schools that we support unlimited messaging. We want to help you keep your school community updated. Learn more about School Stream and how we can support you.
