Applications Open for WorldWise Global Schools Grants – Republic of Ireland

Deadline: 15 May 2020

WorldWise Global Schools (WWGS) provides grant funding to Schools and Organizations (NGOs and School Networks) working in the post-primary sector in the Republic of Ireland (ROI).

Funding Information

• Schools
  • Starter (NEW) Schools: Schools that are new to WWGS (i.e. that have not been in receipt of an individual WWGS grant before) can apply for an ‘emerging’ school grant of €600.
  • Established (Repeat) Schools: Schools that have previously been in receipt of WWGS grant funding (in any previous year) may apply for an ‘established’ school grant of up to €1,200.
• School Cluster
  • WWGS will support and fund groups of schools that wish to come together in a GCE collaboration – known as School Clusters. A School Cluster may apply for a grant up to a maximum value of €6,000.

Eligible Activities

The eligible activities for which schools can apply for funding, under Grant Call 2020, are based around these Global Passport entry points:

• Curricular: WWGS seeks to promote schools’ understanding of the relevance of GCE to the school curriculum (Stamp One in the WWGS Global Passport), in terms of acquiring Key Skills at both Junior Cycle and Senior Cycle level, and also in relation to meeting a considerable number of the Junior Cycle Statements of Learning.
• Extra Curricular: Stamp Two moves GCE outside of the curriculum solely, and specific subject areas, into wider learning opportunities for students and teachers. This can include supporting engagement with events and initiatives outside of the school itself such as, for example, the BT Young Scientists Exhibition that is held in January every year, as well as a whole range of other events organised and coordinated by various NGOs and Networks that are working on Global Citizenship Education.
• Teacher Capacity & Engagement: WWGS seeks to build teachers’ confidence in their own ability to deliver GCE, as well as helping teachers to consolidate learning as facilitated by external providers, such as NGOs. WWGS aims to equip teachers with the necessary information, skills and tools to impact student knowledge, understanding, skills, values, attitudes and actions.
• Student Capacity & Engagement: Building the GCE/DE capacity and engagement of students, Stamp Four of the Global Passport, is also promoted and supported through this programme. Initiatives under this stamp are required to be student-focused and student-led.
• School Leadership: This Global Passport stamp is particularly focused on the role that school management can play in supporting and encouraging GCE to develop and deepen within schools. It may include supporting school boards to, for example, develop a GCE policy for the school, or to include it regularly in school planning meetings.
• Community Engagement: This Global Passport stamp moves beyond the direct school environment and into the wider community that is impacted on and may be influenced by the local post-primary school.

Eligibility Criteria

Schools

• WWGS will support schools who have never before received grant funding from WWGS (Starter NEW Schools), in addition to continuing to support those who have received grant funding in previous years (Established Repeat School).
• A School Cluster is comprised of a minimum of three schools that wish to jointly apply for WWGS funding (with one as the lead school). This is in order to enable joint GCE activities and peer learning to take place between the schools in that cluster.
• The features that define a School Cluster may be that the participating schools have GCE issues or topics of interest in common, have partner schools in the same partner country, work with a particular NGO, share geographical proximity, or be of the same type of school. A school cluster may include schools from Northern Ireland but only where the lead school is based in the Republic of Ireland.

Eligible Organizations

Any NGO or established education network engaged in GCE at post-primary level that meets the specific eligibility criteria outlined below is invited to consider applying for a WWGS GCE grant.

• Organizational Status: Applicant organizations must have a charitable tax exemption from the Irish Office of the Revenue Commissioners i.e. be the holder of a charity reference number (CHY), or hold a current Tax Clearance Certificate.
• Governance: Applicant organizations must have a formal decision-making structure that can take legal responsibility for the administration and use of Irish Aid WorldWise Global Schools funds.
• Dependency on Irish Aid: Income received from Irish Aid, either directly or indirectly, must not exceed 90% of the applicant’s overall organizational income. This dependency must not exceed 60% in cases where an organization is a recipient of income under Irish Aid’s Civil Society Funding (CSF) Programme. Applications requesting in excess of this amount will be deemed ineligible
• Funding Status: Organizations in receipt of a Programme Grant from Irish Aid are not eligible to apply for a WWGS Grant.
• Financial Accountability: Applicants must have annual accounts for the two most recent financial years available and, where possible, on their organization’s website. In cases where the annual organizational income exceeds €100,000, these must be independently audited accounts.
• Record of Compliance: Applicant organizations previously in receipt of WWGS/Irish Aid funds must have a record of compliance in terms of the administration and use of such funds (i.e. have submitted financial and narrative reports as per agreed schedules in previous contracts). Applicants who have a previous record of non-compliance with the terms of a WWGS/Irish Aid contract may not be considered for further funding.
• Child Protection: Organizations that work with children and young adults under the age of 18 must have child protection policies in place that are dated and in compliance with policy guideline Children First National Guidance for the Protection and Welfare of Children 2017, launched by the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs.

Appraisal Process

Schools

• Relevance – this relates to whether the proposed actions are in line with good practice Global Citizenship Education (GCE), with options for good practice GCE provided for in the online application form, in these guidelines, and via the WWGS website.
• Finance/Value for Money – this relates to the cost of the project, in terms of whether there are clear and realistic costs associated with the project; and whether it represents good value for money relative to the number of teachers and students that will benefit from the project, and the quality/depth of GCE engagement it seeks to achieve.
• Creativity/Coherence – this relates to the extent to which the application demonstrates creativity and initiative, as well as a clear logic between project activities.
• Capacity – this relates to the applicant’s capacity to deliver on the proposed project and the level of risk, if any, in grant allocation.
• Sustainability/Impact – this relates to the extent to which the application aims to embed and build GCE capacity in each school, and have maximum impact on students/teachers/whole-school communities, and indeed the wider community beyond the school.

Organizations

• Strategy, Governance and Financial Oversight: Appraisers will assess the effectiveness of governance and financial oversight systems of the applicant. Special attention will be paid to governance and management structures, self-regulation initiatives and decision-making processes. Appraisers will assess whether organizational strategy is coherent with the proposed project and whether the organization has adequate capacity to deliver on the proposed project.
• Quality of the Project Proposal: Appraisers will assess the overall quality of each proposal. The design of the project will be assessed alongside the number of students/teachers the project seeks to engage, as well as the quality/depth of that engagement. The proposed GCE methodologies and learning outcomes will also be assessed. Projected budgets will be analysed against efficiency and value for money principles. The extent to which risks associated with project delivery are taken into consideration will also be assessed.
• Impact and Sustainability: Appraisers will assess the extent to which proposed projects embed GCE in schools on a sustainable basis and demonstrate elements of a Whole School Approach. Appraisers will assess how the project will contribute to building the capacity of schools to do GCE themselves, with particular emphasis on teachers’ capacity, as well as the quality/depth of GCE engagement that the project seeks to achieve.
• Delivering on Results: Appraisers will assess the logic underpinning the proposed project by checking how well the programme outputs and objectives fit together to achieve the expected outcomes/results. Appraisers will also assess how project results/outcomes will be measured and how the WWGS Self Assessment Tool will be integrated into doing so. Evidence of change from past GCE initiatives, if any, will also be considered.

For more information, visit http://www.worldwiseschools.ie/grants/