Schools in the UK, Zimbabwe and Nigeria have been getting together to share traditional stories from all three countries.
St Patricks, St Hughes and St Cleopas Primary Schools in Liverpool were visited by their partner schools from Zimbabwe and Nigeria.
The schools faced some challenges in organising the visit. Because of unrest in Zimbabwe and difficulties getting visas, the first visit was cancelled.
Ruth Frain, teacher at St Cleopas, was inspired by her Zimbabwean partners’ attitudes. “At such a difficult time for Zimbabwe, they thought schools wouldn’t want to link with them,” she explained.
“Their understanding and accepting attitude made us keen.” The schools overcame these hurdles this year and met in Liverpool.
Billy Goats Gruff
The highlight of the visit was an assembly where the schools told traditional stories from their countries.
Children from the UK schools worked on a project to share their stories through different mediums. One class presented the story of 'The Billy Goats Gruff' in stop-frame animation.
“Each class re-told and improvised traditional British stories,” explained teacher Katie Bushell. “My class focused on theatre. We re-told the story of 'The Gingerbread Man' through a performance.”
The Baobab Tree
Children in Liverpool learned about the landscape and wildlife in Zimbabwe through their partner’s choice of traditional story.
Springvale House School (Zimbabwe) shared two stories that reflected their country and culture; 'How the tortoise got so many cracks in his shell' and 'How the Baobab tree came to look like an upside-down tree.'
Building Connections
Teachers in Liverpool felt that the visit had been a success for all the schools involved. Ruth Frain felt her pupils had leant from the African pupils’ high standard of English and literacy.
“We have also learnt about recycling from the amazing example set by our Nigerian partner school,” she said. “They re-use everything. It has encouraged our school to start composting.”
“Meeting pupils from our partner schools in Africa was great for us, it really challenged the children’s expectations,” said Katie Bushell. “We hope that children from our UK schools can visit Africa in future.”
The schools plan to stay connected, teachers and pupils from Liverpool hope they will be able to arrange to visit their twin schools in Nigeria and Zimbabwe next year.
How did they do that?
St Cleopas Primary School, St Patrick's Primary School, St Hugh's Primary School, SpringVale House School, Ruzalwi Primary School, Highveld Primary School, Ansar-Ud-Deen Primary School, Al-Inajud Primary School and Randle Avenue Primary School are taking part in the British Council's Connecting Classrooms programme.
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