Last updated: 04 Feb 2009

Learners explore the similiarities and differences between people and places in West Africa, South Africa and the UK.

Slideshow

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Transcript

Hello! My name is Lizzie Mbakwe. I'm the Headteacher at Norma Road Primary School in Nigeria.

Although we live in Africa, our children don't have much opportunity to communicate with people from other African countries. We wanted to change that in our school. To broaden our children's outlook and create lasting friendships with neighbours from South Africa and further afield.

A new British Council scheme called Connecting Classrooms caught my eye. I applied to join and found myself, a few months later, at a Contact Seminar in England with teachers from all over the world!

We started by discussing 'What do we think about other places? What perceptions do we have of people from cultures we've never met?'

It was really surprising. We had to be honest about our views and to challenge each others assumptions.

For example some people think of places like Nigeria as exotic or full of wild animals. Nothing could be further from the truth! The nearest city to our school is Abuja. It's full of high rise buildings and said to be the fastest growing place in Africa.

After 4 days in England, I formed a partnership with Fareda - a Headteacher from Cape Town, South Africa, and Janet - a Headteacher from Newcastle, England. There are now nine schools in our partnership - three from each country.

Our initial aim was to develop pupils' communication skills through connecting with a real audience.

Our pupils wrote 'All about me' stories using digital cameras to record their day-to-day lives.

The photos were the starting point for developing literacy skills. Each child captioned their photos to tell their stories, and these were exchanged via email.

Children began experimenting with language and new ways of communicating. They decided to set up a news society. Some are now writing a magazine twice a year featuring stories about school life, local life and global issues.

Earlier this year I took 4 children to visit Newcastle. It was the first time they'd ever been to another country. They took part in assemblies, talked to the local media and even met the Lord Mayor!

Our children now have some lifelong friendships. Their written and oral communication skills have improved so much because the learning has a real purpose.

We've also been able to introduce ICT at school. This has given children the chance to connect easily with people far away. Most had never used a computer before the project started.

Connecting Communities has truly taken our school out of its tiny bubble into the wider world.

Credits

• Photographs by British Council (www.britishcouncil.org/learning)
• Music: 'African dawn' by Jojo Yates (http://www.amazingworldmusic.com/)