Leicestershire students and teachers want to hear from Mianyang in the earthquake region

“Our students ask how things are. I can’t answer.”

It is five years since Sue Mitchell first visited Nanshan Middle School in the Sichuan city of Mianyang.

She heard first news of the earthquake as she drove to work on Monday. She said she knew at once Mianyang would be badly affected.

Last summer, William Bradford Community College was the first Leicestershire School to take pupils to China to visit their partners; they were expecting pupils from Nanshan to come to Earl Shilton this July.

“We set up pupil to pupil email contacts to prepare for their visit,” Mitchell explains, “so of course our pupils have been trying to get in touch via email and via social networking sites. But we’ve had nothing back. Absolutely nothing.”

Over the years of collaboration, friendships have grown up between staff and pupils. “We are very concerned,” says Mitchell, “it becomes personal.”

As yet, staff and pupils at William Bradford have been unable to make contact with Nanshan Middle School.

Lutterworth College, also part of the Leicestershire cluster, is twinned with Chengdu Foreign Language School.

Head teacher Eddie De Middelaer heard from the Chengdu head two days after the earthquake.   In a long and detailed email, his counterpart described tremours that shook the school as pupils moved to lessons - but did not damage the buildings.

Of five thousand pupils, one thousand slept that night in the school playground supervised by staff.

No one from the school is reported injured.

De Middelaer says the personal relationships which have developed through the school partnership make a big difference to the community.

"Our students have told us that they read about Burma, but they felt for Chengdu."

How did they do that?

Leicestershire has a district link with Sichuan province which includes 12 school partnerships co-ordinated by international links officer, Helen Trilling.

The partnerships are facilitated by the British Council.

To find out how you can twin your school email worldclass@bbc.co.uk

Read about the Chinese earthquake at the BBC News website.
 
Please let us know if you have a partner school in China email worldclass@bbc.co.uk

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