Youngsters in Nantwich are learning about life at a school in Kenya through a film made by the pupils themselves.
Children at Millfields Primary School and Nursery watched a film created by pupils at Lions Hill Primary near Nakuru town during a recent exchange visit.
Andrew Ross, headteacher at Millfields, and Year 5 teacher Jane Worrall visited Lions Hill after Kenyan headteacher Geoffrey Murali visited Nantwich in June.
They brought the film, which was made on a tablet they took, back home with them.
Mr Ross said: “Class sizes of 45 and up to 70 are not unusual in Lions Hill and there is little opportunity for independent learning.
“We thought the film project may be difficult but once they had mastered the technology the pupils needed very little help.
“They are talented and confident youngsters with most of them speaking three languages – their tribal language, Swahili and English.”
Millfields, on Marsh Lane, has been twinned with Lions Hill Primary through the Connecting Classrooms scheme.
It was set up by the UK government and the British Council and has funded the exchange visits between Nantwich and Kenya.
In the film, Lions Hill pupils show their kitchen, the field where they play football and perform traditional song and dance.
“I found the experience of visiting Lions Hill and the children very humbling just in terms of how little they have and how much we take what we have for granted,” said Mr Ross.
“What is really hard for me to justify is the lack of resources and funding put into the school.
“From a building with a magnificent view the children and staff have basic toilets, two taps for over 1,200 children and staff and unsuitable desks and chairs.
“Then there are everyday school resources – pencils only 2cm long, damaged text books, fountain pens with bent nibs and even some children without pens and pencils at all.
“One child I talked to was just sitting there because he didn’t have anything to write with. I gave him my biro.”
The two schools have developed a five-year plan focusing on how they can learn from each other.
Mr Ross says they are also looking at ways to support Lions Hill with new technology so pupils in the two countries can keep in touch through Skype.
Millfields Primary School and Nursery has 248 pupils on role and caters for children aged three to 11.
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