"I thought - one day I will try that!"

Tim Shanker teaches ICT at Audenshaw Grammar School in Manchester.

This year he put setting up a partnership as one of his professional objectives.  Now he's taking his first steps...

"This is a global idea. We are doing global issues. It enhances that."

Teaching ICT, Tim Shanker has chosen to put email contact at the fore front of the school link.
 
He has set up a email link with El Goshen School, Techiman in Ghana.  

Tim was spurred into action when the teaching suite to was upgraded. 

"The children have great desks which are dual purpose so it makes emailing a lot simpler," he explains, "We registered with the Global Gateway and were given a list of schools which wanted similar contact.  It could have been anywhere in the world - but we chose Ghana because we are working with Year 8s and it fits with their development curriculum and text books for Year 9."

"This is all in its infancy at the moment," says Tim, "But already, my Year 8s have a much better appreciation of school life in Ghana."

For one thing, they've found out that the students they email from their dual purpose desks have to make a 50 minute bus journey to use an internet cafe.

How did they do that?

Audenshaw Grammar School in Manchester and El Goshen School in Techiman, Ghana have started linking via the  DCSF Global Gateway. 

They are going to see whether they can all listen to BBC World News for Children which is broadcast everyday in the Techiman region via BBC World Service partner station Space FM.  

BBC World News for Children is also available here on the World Class website.

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