A virtual city is to be created to develop cultural awareness and social interaction after King’s Ely secured funding from the European Commission and British Council.

The two-year Erasmus+ project, which is named ‘The Village’, is a collaborative scheme involving King’s Ely and two of its partner schools, IES Andrés Vandelvira in Albacete, Spain and College Chaloupe Saint-Leu in La Reunion, France.

‘The Village’ will involve dozens of students from each school and the aim is for participants to explore sustainable development goals (SDGs) set by the United Nations.

Its aim is to develop cultural awareness and social interaction in order to create a context to enhance students’ language skills.

A series of physical and online activities will be carried out in each school, where pupils will work with their partners on the production of ‘The Village’.

They will take into account the virtual village’s citizens, education and political systems, taking into consideration the SDGs that will make their city environmentally friendly, poverty free and granting education for everyone.

Once travel restrictions have been lifted, there will also be exchange trips, enabling participants to meet each other, work together and learn more about each other’s languages and cultures.

In 2019, King’s Ely won a British Council eTwinning National Award in recognition of its “outstanding contribution to international school collaboration”.

The award was for ‘united in diversity’- another Erasmus+ funded project involving King’s Ely and the schools in Albacete and La Reunion.