Twins is the path that opens the way for schools in Sri Lanka to build close and enduring relationships with schools in the UK.

Our Patrons

Geoffrey Dobbs–|–Sanath Jayasuriya–|–Bradman Weerakoon




Trustees

William Oswald–|–Ashley Gray–|–Sharron Ward

Twins was founded by William Oswald and Ashley Gray in January 2005, with the support of AdoptSriLanka and Children in Crisis. Twins operates in Sri Lanka under the umbrella of AdoptSriLanka, a multi-project organisation established by Geoffrey Dobbs and managed by Sharron Ward. In the United Kingdom, Twins is provided with financial management by the UK charity Children in Crisis. All involved with Twins are enormously grateful to both AdoptSriLanka and Children in Crisis.

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ASL Twins Vision

• Both schools will follow a program of educational exchange aimed to build a strong relationship. • Field Officers will make regular visits to the Sri Lankan school and send regular reports to overseas school. • Field Officers will carry out periodic needs assessments of the Sri Lankan school and spend any overseas fund made available to the school to meet these needs. • Field Officers aim to set up good framework and practice in both schools so that the relationship can be maintained independently by the twins co-ordinators.

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Twins Co-ordinator

A Twins co-ordinator needs to be appointed at each school, to oversee the Twins link. The Twins co-ordinator is a very important person as he/she is the driving forces behind a successful school link.

A Twins co-ordinator can be supported by other member of staff and students. The Twins co-ordinator does not have to oversee each project. Joint curriculum projects may sit in different subject departments at different stages of the relationship.

•	To be the main contact at the school to communicate with the overseas school and Adopt Sri Lanka.
•	To spread awareness of the overseas school link to other staff and students.
•	To assist in the spending of funds from overseas schools for their Sri Lankan Twin school to directly benefit the Sri Lankan students.
•	To collaborate with the respective twins co-ordinator at their overseas school and ASL Field Officer to devise a Programme Plan for educational project exchange.
•	Use resources on the internet to develop where possible to support project exchange work. Please visit our website www.twins-srilanka.org.

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Twins Noticeboard

Schools are encouraged to have a Twins notice board to display information about their Twin school, photos, example project work and details of overseas school visits.

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School Visits

Funding opportunities for school visits, teacher and student exchanges are available through DFID and the British Council. Meeting the Twins Co-ordinator from your overseas school is a great way to develop the school relationship. Schools from overseas have organised visits to spend time at their overseas Sri Lankan Twin school, for hands-on project work, English Language activities with Sri Lankan students, and Sporting events.

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Twins Programme Options

The Adopt Sri Lanka (ASL) Twins Programme works with many schools, each with their own unique qualities and educational focus. Therefore, the Twins Program can be adapted to suit individual schools ensuring the projects meet the needs of all parties involved. The information below provides details on three suggested programmes.

Programme 1

•	Suitable for schools where the coordinators of both the overseas and Sri Lankan (SL) school are very motivated and want to make the most out of the link from a cultural and educational point of view.
•	Suitable for motivated Sri Lankan English teachers who want different ideas/material for teaching.
•	Suitable for UK schools that are seeking to develop the Global dimension in their school and are working towards the International School Award (ISA).

Programme 1 provides the basic structure and can be adapted to suit specific twin relationships. Emphasis is put on joint-projects that aim to encourage students to learn with a global perspective. See our suggested project sheet. For further ideas visit The British Council's website www.britishcouncil.org/globalschools. Project work from Sri Lankan schools that have no internet facilities will be collected by the field officer and posted by Adopt Sri Lanka.

‘Our School / Our area’ is suggested as Project 1. Schools that have I.T. and internet facilities are urged to word process and e-mail project work.


Project 1

•	Twin co-ordinators at both schools, exchange letters of introduction.
•	School prospectus/scholarly calendars to be exchanged (copies of school calendar to be kept by field officer).
•	Postcards/pictures of the area exchanged.
•	Maps of respective countries exchanged with location of the school marked on.
•	Field Officer supports the Twins committee in setting up school notice board with Twins coordinator.

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Programme 2

Internet Links

• Schools that already have I.T. facilities and internet connection should be encouraged to develop their link through e-mail. This will avoid the problem of covering postal costs once Twin links continue independently of ASL. • Twins coordinators can communicate independently via e-mail copying in field officers. • Project work to be sent via e-mail. • Pictures of school events e-mailed to Twin school by Twins club. • Signing both schools up to think.com allows students to communicate easily, share projects and allows them to develop a school web page.

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Programme 3

Year-Long Projects

Year long projects are suitable for links where schools want to concentrate on fundraising and engage less in educational and cultural exchange or for schools that do not want to commit to a structured programme.

Year-Long Project : Communications & IT

•	SL school to design and produce its own school year book with support of the Field Officer. Ideal for SL schools that already have computer facilities and a computer club.
•	School to be supplied with a digital camera where committee will keep a photo record of any events at the school throughout the academic year.
•	Students given training in digital photography, manipulating images on the computer, compiling reports.
•	Communications team/Twins committee to produce reports with photos on school, schools events and activities to go on Twins website.
•	Ultimate aim to produce a school year book by the end of the academic year. SL school to keep one copy and to present one to their overseas twin school.
•	Cost can be subsidized by Twins but students to seek sponsorship from private companies to enable more copies to be printed.
•	Where computer facilities not available, hand-written accounts and hand-drawn pictures can be used to create a year book, managed by Twins Club.
•	Overseas school encouraged to produce a similar book or video diary on their school, its events and fundraising activities.

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Twins Club Sri Lanka

•	Twins Club is a time when a group of children, usually a group of 30, interested in English and widening their cultural knowledge get together for a one hour session held either every fortnight or every month. Twins Clubs are either held during school time or held after school.
•	The content of a Twins Club will be shaped by the coordinating teacher in conjunction with their Field Officer. Twins Coordinators in each school liaise with their Field Officer and Twin School to identify a topic for Twins Club each term. The topic is usually one that appears in each school’s curriculum.
•	The main objective of the Club is to prepare project work to send to their Twin school overseas and to analyse and enjoy the work received from their Twin.
•	Twins Club strengthens the Twins relationship between schools, makes English learning fun for the Sri Lankan students, and provides a unique insight into another culture.

Requirements of Twins Club

•	Comprising of approximately 25 - 30 pupils with some written and spoken English skills.
•	Hosted by the schools Twin’s teacher and supported by members of the English Department.
•	The focus of the club will be to plan projects to be sent to the oversees Twins and analyse projects received from oversees Twins.
•	Twins work will be planned and reviewed during the fortnightly sessions, members will be expected to complete project work in their own time.
•	Twin’s club members may also be asked to up-date the school’s Twins’ notice board.
•	The School’s Twins Field Officer will attend at least 1 in every four clubs.

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