Supported by the Pears Foundation and the Gulbenkian Foundation, the Rural-Urban School Exchange will link 15 students (age 13-14) from Sir James Smith school in Cornwall and 15 students from Tom Hood School in East London.

The programme of activities will be developed in conjunction with the input of the students, and will include assignments that meet the requirements of the Citizenship curriculum.

The aim of this pilot project is to develop and facilitate: (a) an experience for the students and the schools that broadens their horizons, deepens their understanding of rural-urban issues and the diversity of life in the UK, and builds trust between youth from a broad spectrum of backgrounds; (b) an ongoing and fruitful partnership between the 2 partner schools and CF during and after the exchange; and (c) a written case study (including video components) informed by the experiences from the exchange, which will offer guidance and advise to other schools in the UK interested in undertaking a similar exchange.

In April and May, the two groups of students will prepare for the exchanges by getting to know each other by communicating through email and letting each other know about their respective schools, local communities and specific interests. As part of the preparation, the students and staff will also be working with a company specialising in video production and youth-work to produce short video diaries of themselves to share with their exchange peers.

The exchanges themselves (4-5 days each in length) will then take place in June and July 2008. During this time they will attend 1-2 days of school and during the other time they will participate in an organised programme of activities that will explore the social, cultural and physical landscape of the local environment in which they are located. This is an opportunity for the host students to act as local guides, to welcome their visitors to their community, to share with them what they both like and dislike about their communities and to explore together particular sites of cultural interest. The programme will include visits to local places of historical and contemporary importance and meetings with local community leaders and residents.