Two representatives of the Nancy-Metz regional department supporting European and international relations and collaboration for education (DAREIC) are visiting Newcastle this week – Caroline Remont and Deborah Keeton.
The main purpose of the visit is to meet schools who have new partnerships with schools in Nancy-Metz and those who wish to establish partnerships. They will discuss opportunities and ideas around building these new relationships, about Nancy and the region and help build ties with the individuals locally who will be responsible for developing the schools’ links and activities. They will also get to know Newcastle and meet key partners in the city to help strengthen relationships and deepen our ties with our twin city.
Over 3 days, our French colleagues will visit with Heads, teachers and pupils from 6 Newcastle Schools: Thomas Walling Primary (Blakelaw), St Paul’s Primary (Elswick), Bridgewater Primary (Scotswood), Wingrove Primary (Fenham), St Cuthbert’s High School (Benwell and Scotswood).
They will have opportunities to meet key partners, including Eric Donjon (Honorary French Consul) and Neil Barker (NE England Chamber of Commerce), who has longstanding ties with Nancy – both of whom are also International Newcastle Board members.
A civic welcome to the city will be given by Lord Mayor Cllr Habib Rahman in the Lord Mayor’s Office, when they will also meet Cllr Stella Postlethwaite, the City Council’s Cabinet Member for Policy Co-ordination and Communications and International portfolio holder and also a Board member of International Newcastle.
There is enough time in the programme to show our visitors the city, its heritage and culture.
Supporting international opportunities and connections for children and young people
International Newcastle leads on the international relations plan for the City, Our Newcastle Our World and is responsible for implementing the priority work programme on Newcastle as an international city for children and young people (0-30) as confident global citizens. There are three key work-strands: Connecting Internationally, Newcastle City of Languages and Internationalism in the City.
All three strands are interconnected. The importance of international connections, experiences, skills and opportunities for children and young people was highlighted in International Newcastle’s submission to the British Council All Party Parliamentary Group in May and reflected in their new report.
Nancy, as one of our twin cities, is a key target for support to deepen ties across sectors, organisations and communities, with a particular focus on educational links and schools.
An arrangement to support educational partnerships was agreed in September 2020 between DAREIC, International Newcastle and Newcastle City Council to make it simpler for schools and colleges to be matched with counterparts in Nancy and the region of Nancy-Metz and to build educational links between institutions, teachers and pupils, encourage exchange and joint projects
In Spring 2021, International Newcastle’s Director (Declan Baharini) and the City Council’s Schools Effectiveness lead for international (Sarah Edgar) supported schools to apply for funding from the UK Government’s new Turing Scheme for international visits. Despite the pandemic and schools being in lockdown, schools engaged and all were successful, with 10 schools securing £400,000 for visits to Europe and China in 2022. Five of the successful schools will visit Nancy and all are new partnerships. This success has encouraged other schools to seek links.
The Government has just announced a further three years of funding under the Turing Scheme and schools will be encouraged and supported to apply
Newcastle and Nancy – Twin Cities
Newcastle and Nancy have been twin cities since 1954. Relationships developed over time and in 2014 the two cities agreed to a closer union through a range of activities from culture to digital development and exchanges between citizens and universities.
The Leader of Newcastle City Council and the Mayor of Nancy signed a revised twinning agreement in 2019, with renewed commitments to promote civic engagement to collaborate on emerging challenges and to promote shared values of peace, friendship and equality. A range of new partnerships, collaborations and exchanges have developed between our universities, hospitals, Chambers of Commerce and business sectors since that time.
Find out more about Nancy and the surrounding region:
- Nancy information slides – location, culture, leisure, events and specialities
- Short film about the tourist highlights in the Lorraine region, arts and crafts, music and museums, creative skills, festivals, sports, architecture and historic places and landscapes
- Tourism information about Nancy