Laneshaw Bridge Primary School has been linked with Atse Bekafa Elementary, an urban primary school in Gondar, Ethiopia since 2009. The past year has seen a real growth in their partnership. The two schools initially exchanged drawings about their local environments, allowing children at both schools to see how similar, in many cases, their surroundings were. Children at Laneshaw Bridge then made illustrated booklets of stories and their favourite play time games. These were sent over along with worksheets for children at Atse Bekafa to fill out and send back. Atse Bekafa sent back their own story books and lots of ideas for playtime games as well as information about local historical sites, Ethiopian saints and Ethiopian culture.
Both schools have really enjoyed the exchanges and the simplicity of the work has allowed younger children to participate. Work has been used in both schools for discussions around similarities and differences. The two schools are now applying for funding for exchange visits to work on a project looking at electricity usage in their communities.
For support in carrying out a similar exchange, please contact [email protected]