BRIDGE DWIWARNA
Supported by DFAT (Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade) of Australian Government
Implemented by AEF (Asia Education Foundation) in University of Melbourne
SMA Dwiwarna Boarding School officially has joined Bridge School Partnership since May 2019, after two teachers of this school won the selection to gain a prestigious International grant from Australian Government. This competition was followed by 200 hundreds schools or 800 teachers in all Indonesia. In this competition, only 9 schools won or 18 teachers from all Indonesia.
Having joined Bridge School Partnership, Dwiwarna gets a lot of chances to join both national and International events which are organized by AEF both in Jakarta and Melbourne. The first event was Professional Development. In this event , the selected teachers learned SDG (Sustainable Development Goals), Intercultural Understanding, Global Competencies, Digital Technologies, Innovative Pedagogical Practices, Design Thinking, Global Collaboration and School Partnership Building.
Asides from that, they also learned About Australia, Diversity and Culture Shock, Education in Australia, Child Protection, Online Collaboration and School Partnership Building. The second event was teachers exchange program. Two teachers from Merici College, Canberra visited Dwiwarna, then two teachers from Dwiwarna visited to Merici College in Canberra. Both teachers learned Sustainability directly with Sustainability Officer.
From February 2020 to present, our school often participate the events which are held by AEF. For example , Educator Workshop – Learning, Leadership and Partnership in Digital Era, Developing Cyber Safety and Pedagogy and Partnership, Developing Intercultural Communication in Teaching and Learning and Partnership and many more. Besides that, students also join International Education Workshop namely “‘This Extraordinary Environment’ With National Gallery of Victoria”.
It was followed by 5 students from Dwiwarna. They joined virtually. It was also followed by students from other countries which are included in Bridge Schools. Another workshop which was followed by our students was “Developing Education Character by Introduction Self-Copping Mechanism”. In that workshop, our students namely Pijar and Annisa Dinda got an appreciation as “the most active participant” and received a merchandise from AEF.
In November 2020, the second award was gained by Dwiwarna and Merici. It was CGS or Competitive Grant Support from DAFT of Australian Governement. Through this award, students activities was funded by this Grant. Those were, School Touring, Cooking Class, Story telling and Video Conference with Merici College with a meaningful discussion namely Sustainability and Green Tips. In the last activity of CGS students had a chance to talk with Sustainability Officer and Sustainability Science Teacher. The aim of this activity was to increase students awareness of their own environment.
From May 2021 to present, both schools still have to finish “Shared Project” namely “Connecting Through Stories”. Students from Merici and Dwiwarna has shared stories through Padlet. Those had been edited by both teachers from those schools. It aims to boost students’ English reading and writing skill for Dwiwarna students. Through this project, some contributors of the stories also had a chance to have a small talk through You Tube Channel. Their work will be printed, then will be sent to Australian Embassy both in Canberra and Jakarta, as well as to AEF in Melbourne and in Jakarta.
All in all, Dwiwarna Boarding School has a meaningful collaboration through joining Bridge School Partnership, since this cooperation is not merely for students from both schools, but also for teachers. The area of collaboration consists of SDG, Cross Culture Understanding, and Digital Technology. This is our soft diplomacy as an educator. Hopefully, educational collaboration will strengthen the relation between Indonesia and the country in the south hemisphere.
By : Ari Rahayu
The Awardee of Bridge School Partnership 2019
The Awardee of CGS (Competitive Grant Support) 2020
From DFAT of Australian Government
