"Making news together makes the world smaller.  Creating a news bulletin with your partner school is one way of widening the window on the world."

Teachers from Africa and the UK are taking part in the BBC news-making project for students, School Report.

Schools from the British Council's Connecting Classrooms programme met at a training event for teachers in London in October. 

Supported by five African journalists, the staff from schools in Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria, South Africa, Tanzania and the UK tried their hand at doing what their students will eventually do - making news for a real audience.

Teacher Olivia Oppong Fosu, from Headlines Educational Centre in Kumasi, Ghana, said: "The news project makes it possible for a student in my classroom in Ghana to be able to achieve the same as a student in the UK: to be able to make news, to be able to know what is happening around them in their community, what is happening in Europe, what is happening in the whole world.  It makes the world smaller."

She added: "Working with partner schools gives a different dimension on life and culture in other places in this world.  We are working with schools in the Shetlands and their weather and their lifestyle is so different from our lifestyle in Ghana, but the children have the same behaviours notwithstanding."

Teacher Davy Cummings, who works with students from Anderson High School, Mid Yell Junior High School and Baltasound Junior High School in the Shetland Islands, is linking up with clusters of schools in Ghana and Kenya to take part in the initiative.

He said: "It will be quite a fun way for students to be able to learn a little bit more about international news and give them a perspective on how people in other countries actually see the news - and what is of interest to them."

He added: "The project will give the kids a little bit more control. At the moment, most of the planning and communication tales places between staff and kids do the work while staff facilitate the swap over of any work. Whereas this gives the students a more direct leadership role in what they are actually creating."

The African and UK schools involved in the pilot project, organised by the BBC and the British Council, will join hundreds of other UK schools taking part in School Report.

The project culminates on 11 March 2010 when all participating schools work to a strict deadline to make and broadcast their news reports via the BBC.

How did they do that?

Listen to the bulletin made by African and UK teachers, and find out more about the training on the BBC News School Report website.

All the schools taking part in this event are linked through the British Council's Connecting Classrooms programme.

BBC World Class and BBC News School Report have worked together to create a downloadable resource which helps students make an international news report with the help of their partner school.

Join BBC World Class and our partners will help your school twin with a school in another country.

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