Pen Friend - Pen Pal - Services for Students
Our Student Services have always been an important part of IPF. Many teachers join their classes year after year; each year also sees many new schools participating.
Writing to pen friends is a fun way for students to learn good writing techniques and gain a deeper understanding of subjects such as history, geography, music, languages, commerce, literature and art. Above all, students have the opportunity to discover the cultures of foreign lands.
As friendship develops between correspondents, the possibility of exchange visits can be explored, adding yet another dimension to the pen friend experience.
How to Join
To join, the teacher/group leader completes a Student Application Form and Form 700E (Student Details Form) and sends them to us with payment. Payment options are shown on the application form.
The Student Application Form and Form 700E are available in the following formats:
Online Application Form - Combined Student Application Form and Form 700E (Student Details)
Web - Student Application Form and From 700E (Student Details Form) Print from our website
PDF - Student Application Form and From 700E (Student Details Form) PDF file download that can be completed on a keyboard, saved and emailed back to us.
To help us provide an efficient and accurate pen friend service, we ask that the students' details are sent to us in a typed format rather than in handwriting. The details from all application forms are manually entered into our database and some handwriting can be challenging for us to read and to enter the details correctly into our database.
We can also accept all the required details typed in an email if that is more convenient for you.
Details - Pen Friend - Pen Pal - Services for Students
| • | S1 Service: for 10 students, aged 10-17 |
Each student receives an individual list of 4 names and addresses of IPF members in their age group. The name and address of each student in the school group will also be passed to 10 other IPF members during their 12 month membership. This provides the opportunity for each student to write to the people on their list and to receive surprise introductory letters from other IPF members in their age group. The membership period does not affect the length of time students can write to their pen friends. Many students join IPF once and write to their pen friends for many years. Other students like to make new friends each year and renew their IPF membership when it expires. The lists are sent to the teacher for distribution to the students. | |
| • | S2 Service: for 20 students, aged 10-17 |
This is the same as the S1 Service, except that TWO of the Form 700E need to be completed and sent to us. |
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| • | S3 Service: for 30 students, aged 10-17 |
| This is the same as the S1 Service, except THREE of the Form 700E need to be completed and sent to us. | |
| A minimum of 10 students are required for each application. Applications do not have to be exactly 10, 20 or 30 students; any number of students can join in each application, as long as the minimum number is 10. | |
| • | DM Service - **Highly Recommended for Each Class** |
IPF's full-colour digital magazine. 'People & Places'. The is a fun and informative way to stay in touch with the pen friend world and includes the latest news on IPF's activities and items submitted by members which can include member profiles, pen friend stories, letter writing adventures and advice, travel articles, photographs, etc. There are also competitions, giveaways and a prize of AUD$200 for the best article published each issue. Our magazine is only published in English. People & Places is only available for subscription by IPF members (including teachers who join a class). We send a link to the magazine and it can be read online or downloaded and printed. Teachers who have joined a school class into IPF can also can also submit articles and photos for the 'School Class Pen Friend Journeys' section of the magazine, with a cash prize of AUD$100 being awarded to the school of each published submission. The aim of the prize is to assist schools with their language, library and/or literary programme. An item can be submitted within 12 months of the class joining IPF. |
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| • | B1 Service - **Highly Recommended for All Members** |
| IPF's special booklet on letter writing and pen friend hints. The booklet has been written for members of all ages to help enhance their pen friend experience. The booklet is published in English as a pdf file and is sent by email. | |
Teachers can participate in our individual services. A teacher who enrols a school class with us is entitled to a 50% discount off adult admission rates if they join IPF at the same time as their school class.
