We first heard from Tim Shanker a year ago, when he took the plunge and started a partnership El Goshen School in Ghana via the DCSF Global Gateway. 

A year on, we catch up with Audenshaw Grammar School in Manchester.

Not all roses

Audenshaw Grammar and El Goshen have relied on email to stay in contact in their first year.

The two schools have exchanged photographs and general information.  "We have talked about football, school life, important cultural events, more football... ," explains Tim.  "Maintaining links has not been all roses.  The internet has not been functioning at their end from time to time and my pupils have had to wait for long periods of time to receive replies from Ghana."  

As well as hands on experience of communications between the UK and West Africa, pupils at Audenshaw are challenging their stereotypes of Ghana, and coming face to face with stereotypes of life in the UK. 

"We have found and discussed their perceptions of us," says Tim. "Regularly, my pupils are asked for computer games, watches and other luxury items which has surprised them."

A surreal experience

As an ICT teacher, Tim was keen to make more use of the internet to communicate.
 
Last week, he set up their first video conference with a Ghanaian school via Rafi.ki.  St Paul's Roman Catholic School in Kumasi also has a webcam and Tim arranged to go live with his counterpart Ernest Opoku Agyemang during Period 5 on a Wednesday afternoon.

When Ernest appeared on the Smartboard in the Audenshaw classroom, not all the class were paying attention.  "It was surreal," says Tim. "There was a guy from Ghana in front of us on the smart board.  Initially people thought it was a video on YouTube.  They they realised we were interacting.  It all went very quiet...!"
 
Ernest established a rapport with Tim's class, and the boys returned to their favourite conversation - football.

Tim and Ernest are keen to hook up again.  Word of the live link up with Ghana has spread round Audenshaw's classrooms and other kids want to get involved. 

"It's pushing the boundaries," says Tim.  "Kids are excited.  They think there's a person on the screen in West Africa.  And he's having a conversation with me!"  The schools plan a regular link up.
 
The partnership with El Goshen is still going; and Audenshaw have just got in touch with school in Hawaii. 

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.

Audenshaw contacted St Paul's in Kumasi via Rafi.ki who helped them set up their video link.

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