A SCHOOL has won a prestigious national award for an e-twinning project based on the Second World War.

Eastburn Junior & Infant School teamed-up with a school in Poland for the initiative, called The Battle of Britain.

Now pupils and staff at Eastburn are celebrating after receiving the British Council National eTwinning Award.

The presentation was made at a gala dinner held during the British Council’s 14th annual national conference in Nottingham.

Teachers from across the UK attended the event, at which 12 awards were handed out over several categories in recognition of outstanding international projects.

Pupils at Eastburn Junior & Infant School worked in partnership with their counterparts at Szkoła Podstawowa nr 9 im. M. Kopernika w Dzierżoniowie, to research the Battle of Britain and other events during the Second World War and then share their findings.

The Eastburn youngsters composed and performed a suite of music based around key moments in the book and film, Goodnight Mr Tom.

A collaborative video was then compiled, using the music plus artwork produced by the Polish students.

The children also exchanged letters and took part in two video calls.

A project logo designed by one of the Polish students was chosen, following a vote featuring four contenders.

Awards judges said the project scored highly against a number of criteria, including the collaboration between the schools, use of technology, curricular integration and impact.

They said: “This project has been approached in a very commendable way, using class members’ own backgrounds to help focus the context and make their contribution central to the scheme.

“Clearly displayed within the project is creativity, collaboration and the celebration of a common historical time.

“A very well constructed TwinSpace and website provides a resource and legacy for this highly proficient e-twinning project.”

Diana Linford, the project co-ordinator at Eastburn Junior & Infant School, said the award was “a real honour” for all the staff and pupils who had taken part in the venture.

“We are delighted to have received the award,” she added.

“Pupils have enjoyed working with our friends at Szkoła Podstawowa nr 9 im. M. Kopernika w Dzierżoniowie.

“It has enabled our pupils to work on an international collaborative project, including having the opportunity to perform their own music live in a video call with our partner school.

“We showed the video of the collaborative English and Polish work during our end-of-school-year concert for parents.”

The e-twinning project was the latest in a series that Mrs Linford has worked on over the past five years with Anna Szczepaniak, a teacher at the partner school.

E-twinning – a digital community for schools – has seen over 700,000 teachers, from 44 countries across Europe and beyond, register since 2005.

In the UK, there have been more than 28,000 registrations and over 11,500 projects have been carried out.

The programme is funded by the European Commission as part of the Erasmus+ scheme and is managed in the UK by the British Council, which promotes cultural relations and educational opportunities internationally.

The charity, founded in 1934, works with over 100 countries.

“Last year we reached more than 75 million people directly and 758 million people overall – including online and through broadcasts and publications,” said a spokesman.

“We make a positive contribution to the countries we work with – changing lives by creating opportunities, building connections and engendering trust.

“The theme of this year’s annual conference was aligned with the European Year of Democratic Participation and as well as the awards, there were speakers and workshops.”