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Linking Minds in Education Scholarships 2008
Summary:	Linking Minds is a prestigious international award for young teachers who identify themselves as emerging leaders. The award is sponsored by the NZ – UK Link Foundation, the British Council, the New Zealand Teachers Council and the Ministry of Education. The programme aims to recognise and promote effective teaching by providing international experience for teachers early in their careers. The award funds four New Zealand teachers to spend two weeks over the September holiday period attached to a Local Authority in the United Kingdom exploring best practice in a given area. Participants must be in their first five years as fully NZ registered teacher in the schools sector and must be under 35 years old. Last update: 01-Jul-2008

THE CLOSING DATE FOR APPLICATIONS HAS NOW PASSED.

CHECK BACK IN MARCH 2009 FOR LINKING MINDS 2009.

LINKING MINDS:

Travel Scholarships for Teachers to the United Kingdom

The focus area is professional leadership. Selected teachers will have opportunities to build on and develop new knowledge, skills and confidence in their leadership capacity both as classroom teachers and as leaders in their schools. Participants must be in their first five years as a fully NZ registered teacher in the schools sector and must be under 35 years old.

The costs of travel, accommodation and general living expenses including interview and selection costs will be met.

For 2008, the likely departure date is Friday 26 September for the UK based programme which will commence on 29 September and finish on 9 October. The departure date from the UK is Friday 10 October for arrival back in New Zealand on Sunday 12 October.

These dates coincide with the New Zealand third term holiday break. It is recommended that leave is taken before and after the travel (up to five days) to enable teachers to prepare for the trip and take some time to record their experiences on their return.

The selected teachers must gain approval from their employing board to take up to eight days of leave with pay during 2008. The eight days of paid leave includes days to allow for attendance at a two day seminar at a later date and an additional day to prepare the report.

The costs of the teacher relief will be met by the Ministry of Education and a charge code authorisation will be given to the employing school.

The employing school should also assist the teacher to share the experiences gained with their colleagues and other teacher groups. With support from their principals, successful teachers may apply to the ministry for support to attend national conferences to present and share their experiences and the resulting changes to their practice. This may occur during the 2009 school year.

The selection procedures will include

• The short listing of applicants (to about six)
• An interview in Wellington, with each of the short-listed candidates. Travel for the interview will be arranged through the Ministry of Education. Where a day's leave is required to attend the interview, the school will have the relief costs met through the teacher payroll with an approval code. This is in addition to the eight days' leave allowed for the selected candidates.

The closing date for applications is Monday 30 June 2008.

Notification of successful applicants will be completed by 31 July 2008.