The SPICE Project is a partnership between inservice training institutions in the UK, Spain, Poland, the Slovak Republic, Denmark and Sweden.
Its aim is to set up a range of school partnerships and to investigate how these partnerships contribute to intercultural education.

All countries in Europe include people from other cultures and places. The project aims to promote respect for diversity and an interest in and tolerance for "other ways of doing things".

Our question is this - how can school partnerships contribute positively to a multicultural Europe? How can they increase awareness and understanding, and combat prejudice and stereotyping? What should partnerships consider if they are to contribute in this way?

For further information contact:
Jill Ritchie, Project Coordinator
Bristol Local Education Authority
Bristol Education Centre
Sheridan Road, Horfield, Bristol BS7 0PU
Tel: 0117 9031380; Fax: 0117 903125; email: jill_ritchie@bristol-city.gov.uk
www.bristol-lea.org.uk; www.sandviken.se/spice

Partner Institutions

Jill Ritchie (Project Coordinator) - Bristol Local Education Authority, UK
Lesley Wyrill (Project Administrator) - Bristol Local Education Authority, UK
Alica Petrasova - Presovska Universita, Presov, Slovak Republic
Stefania Misiarek - Osrodek Doskonalenia Nauczycieli, Poznan, Poland
Renata Ranus - Osrodek Doskonalenia Nauczycieli, Poznan, Poland
Alfonso Muñoz - CIEFP Torrelavega, Spain
Claudia Lázaro - Consejería de Educación de Cantabria, Spain
Mona Wiklander - Kunskapskontoret , Sandviken, Sweden
Agneta Bjork - Kunskapskontoret , Sandviken, Sweden
Per Holst Hansen - Ribe Statsseminarium, Ribe, Denmark
Bjarne Christensen - Ribe Statsseminarium, Ribe, Denmark
Jaap van Lakerveld (Evaluator) - PLATO, University of Leiden, Netherlands

Comenius 1.1 School Projects

As part of the project, a meeting was held in Presov, Slovakia in January 2005. Headteachers and teachers from seventeen schools developed Comenius 1.1 projects; funding was applied for in Febrary 2005.

The theme of the projects reflect the concerns of intercultural education and will allow the project team to collect materials, research and evaluate school partnerships. This information will be fed into the final European 2.2 course.

The project are as follows: (* = Coordinator)

Comenius 1.3 School Development Projects and Headteacher/teacher Theme Groups

A further meeting was held in Poznan, Poland in March 2005. Headteachers and teachers working groups were set up to consider the following questions:

* How do we tackle intercultural education in school?
* How do school partnerships support this?
* How can we devise inservice training to ensure school partnerships provide In-service training?

The second meeting will be held in Spain in November 2005. School will undertake research and development in the intervening period, and a series of case studies and materials will be produced, including a website.

Comenius 1.3 funding will be applied for in February 2006 to allow the six schools to continue work on the theme. Headteachers and teachers from the following schools are involved:

A meeting of all 23 project schools will be held in Sandviken, Sweden in November 2006 to share experience and produce and disseminate materials and ideas. This will coincide with an Arion visit and involve members of the comunity in Sweden.

Multinational course

In the final year of the project, (probably in April 2007) a multinational course on developing intercultural education through school partnerships will be run for headteachers and teachers. Once finalised, details will be posted on the website, http://www.sandviken.se/spice together with instructions on enrolling and applying for a grant.

The course will also appear on the Comenius course database http://comcdb.programkontoret.se

To book a place, contact Jill Ritchie (details on upper side) and apply for a grant through your national agency.

The project is funded by the European Commission through the Socrates Programme and is supported by all the participant institutions.