At St Helen’s Primary School, we don’t just learn about the world—we connect with it. Having successfully achieved the Intermediate Level International School Award, we are currently working towards the full Accreditation for 2026.

Our recent action plan was described by British Council reviewers as "Exceptional," noting our strong student leadership and our unique approach to using our diverse parent community to build global links.

🚀 What’s Happening This Year (2025-2026)

This academic year, we are embarking on five flagship projects designed to embed internationalism into every corner of our curriculum.

🎨 The Creative Process: Italy-UK Sculpture Link

In collaboration with IC D'Aosta Cervelli in Naples, our Upper Key Stage 2 pupils are exploring art without borders.

• The Exchange: Our pupils created 2D sketches and shared them digitally with their Italian partners.

• The Challenge: Each student then interpreted a peer's design from the other country to create a 3D clay sculpture.

Look out for photos below of our finished sculptures being "interpreted" across the miles!

🌱 Sustainability: Connecting for the Future

Working with Primăria Berești Bistrița in Romania, our Year 1 and Year 3 pupils are tackling the UN Sustainable Development Goals.

• Student Voice: Year 1 pupils staged a "Greta Thunberg style" protest to learn about activism.

• Cultural Experts: Our Romanian-heritage pupils have taken the lead as classroom experts, sharing insights into life and sustainability in Romania.

✉️ Language Exchange: Collège Jean Vilar, France

Our Year 5 and 6 pupils are breathing life into their French lessons through a high-tech pen-pal system.

• To ensure no letter is lost, pupils hand-write their letters in French, which we then scan and email to our partner school in Angers.

• Impact: Our Year 6 French curriculum has been entirely rewritten to match the topics our pupils actually want to discuss with their French friends!

📬 Postcrossing: The World in a Mailbox

Our whole school, from Nursery to Year 6, participates in a global postcard exchange.

• Every class sends postcards to random locations across the globe.

• Geography in Action: We plot every reply we receive on a massive world map in the hall, tracking our global reach.

💃 Dance Across the World

A vibrant celebration of movement! Pupils are currently learning traditional dances, including the Tarantella from Naples, which will be performed for the community during our International Week.

🏛️ Our International Heritage

Our journey to Accreditation is built on years of successful global work:

• The Onatti Theatre: We regularly host French-language theatre productions, giving pupils a chance to hear native speakers in a fun, live environment.

• Language Ambassadors: Our dedicated student team meets weekly to plan assemblies, teach the school sign language (BSL), and lead celebrations for the European Day of Languages.

• Community Links: From celebrating St Nicholas Day by placing shoes outside our classroom doors to our multicultural Year 6 productions, we celebrate the 400+ voices that make St Helen’s unique.

🤝 Partner With Us

We are a strategic, community-embedded school always looking for new international partners for collaborative projects, inclusion activities, and sharing best practices.

Are you a school abroad? We would love to hear from you! 📧 Email: international@sthelensprimary.net

"It is great to see that you have student language ambassadors who take the lead... St Helen's Primary is clearly a school where internationalism is a priority." — British Council Feedback, 2025

📸 Gallery: Global Learning in Action

Watch this space for photos of our clay sculptures, the Year 1 placards, the World Map with our Postcrossing postcards, and the Onatti Theatre visit.)