PUPILS in Prudhoe are planting one foot in southern Africa to link up their learning with schoolchildren in Zambia.

Highfield Middle School has been linked with Rokana Primary School in Kitwe for the last eight years.

Children in both schools gain a valuable insight into learning in a different culture.

The pupils take part in joint learning, completing the same lessons at the same time as schoolchildren at Rokana Primary School.

The Prudhoe pupils also have pen friends in Zambia.

And the school has recently set up email accounts, which allow children from each school to keep in touch more easily.

With funding from the British Council, teachers from each school regularly visit their international counterpart.

And recently, Highfield Middle School teachers, Stuart Rutherford and Jen Bird travelled to Kitwe.

They spent four days teaching at Rokana Primary School and then travelled to Lusaka, Zambia’s capital, where they were invited to speak at a British Council conference.

The Prudhoe teachers gave a presentation on the partnership between Rokana Primary School and Highfield Middle School.

And representatives of the British Council described the schools’ partnership as exemplary in its motivation and delivery of projects.

Recently, both schools celebrated International Women’s Day and communicated via a web link to share what they had done to mark the day.

Mr Rutherford said: “Our pupils are predominantly white British, we don’t have a very multi-cultural intake.

“Having a link with a school in a different social and cultural context is important for them to understand how other places can be both different and the same.

“We are beyond learning what it’s like in a different culture.”

“We are learning about global issues that affect both communities.

“We want the children to explore and understand current issues from a different global perspective.”

kathleen.moore@hexham-courant.co.uk