Four Hull schools have arrived back in the UK after an exciting visit to meet their partner schools in Freetown.

Staff from Winifred Holtby Secondary, Dorchester Primary, Sutton Park Primary and St Richard’s Primary were funded through the DfID British Council Global Schools Partnerships to develop partnerships with Albert Academy, Cathedral Primary, Conforti Community Primary and Children in Crisis Primary.

The partnerships have been developed by journalist Matt Stephenson, who first visited Freetown when working in collaboration with Hull based media collective Cafesociety.org.

“After listening to children and young people in Freetown and Hull, in getting the opportunity to experience something of their lives, I felt that developing educational links was possibly the most sustainable way of bringing long-term benefits to children in both cities. There is a huge amount that we can all learn from each other.” explained Matt.

It was an event-filled visit: a tropical storm on the ferry from Lunghi airport provided the visitors with an exciting introduction to life in Sierra Leone.

Other highlights included an appearance and feature about the visit on national TV news, meeting the Minister of Education, a trip up-country to Makeni, a visit to church, a beach barbecue and football at Kent, singing Krio hymns in the poda-poda, shopping at the Big Market and much more.

But it was the school visits which will make the most lasting impressions. All of the UK guests were moved an inspired by meeting the staff and teachers in their partner schools. “We had the most amazing welcome everywhere we went.” explained Dorchester Primary head-teacher Sue Liddle. “There were gifts, dancing and many moments when we got to speak to pupils and even visit their homes. But I think the most striking thing was the difficult conditions that everyone has to endure - derelict buildings, lack of power, no resources or books… it makes you wonder how people manage to teach or learn, and also makes you realise how much we have in the UK.”

This visit to Freetown is just the first stage of a newly developing programme of Hull schools linking with partners in Freetown. A visit to Hull by the freetown partners will take place next March, and following that another seven or eight schools in Hull are hoping to join the programme.

For more information email: matt@hullman.karoo.co.uk

Four schools from Hull have recently gained funding from the British Council DfID Global Schools Partnerships programme to develop partnerships with schools in Hull’s twin city, Freetown.

Staff and head teachers from Winifred Holtby Secondary, Sutton Park Primary, Dorchester Primary and St Richard’s Primary in Hull will be visiting Albert Academy Secondary, Conforti Community Aid Primary, Cathedral Primary and Children in Crisis Primary schools in Freetown on October 22, 2008.

The partnership project grew out of work initiated by Freetown Society members Matt Stephenson and Jon Robson during their trip to Freetown in March 2007.

Matt and Jon visited a number of schools in Freetown and were keen to develop links that would enable young people in both cities to learn more about each other’s lives:

“The conflict and poverty in Sierra Leone mean that the people often feel isolated and overlooked,” said Matt, “yet there is a very rich and vibrant culture there and a great deal that people in Hull can learn from the experience of Salonians.

“Similarly, Hull - and particularly the estates like Bransholme where three of our partner schools are based - is an isolated city that has had its own share of social challenges.

“We really hope that this new partnership will enable the schools to reach out into the wider world, learn about other cultures and make real, lasting relationships that will benefit children’s learning both in Hull and in Freetown.”

We’ll keep you up to date with the partnerships and how they progress, through regular postings on the Freetown Society’s blog and news pages.

For more information about this work contact Matt Stephenson: matt@hullman.karoo.co.uk