STAFF and pupils for Droitwich Spa High School have been forging international connections with a number of exchange visits to and from schools as far away as Kenya and New Delhi.

In May, two members of staff Kim Higham and Elizabeth Whitehouse travelled to Ngobit School in Kenya to continue a project which started in 2007.

The two schools have been regularly taking part in exchanges, as well as the Droitwich school offering its support to help with the fabric of the Kenyan buildings, support for the teaching staff, and financial bursaries for students, as well as donating old computer equipment to the school.

Mrs Whitehouse, said: “Kim and I had an amazing experience at Ngobit School. In addition to the sheer excitement of being somewhere so different and seeing the amazing wildlife, it offers a real eye opener to how different life is for Kenyan teenagers. They have precious few material possessions but they are passionate about their education and absolutely loved having us there.”

The two teachers spent time following the progress of three ongoing projects the school has been involved with, based around water conservation and use, children’s rights, and PE in the school.

Mrs Whitehouse added: “PE is not taught at Ngobit, so it was very pleasing to see them using sports leadership skills that we have developed at Droitwich to further their enjoyment and abilities as sportsmen and women.”

The exchange visits and collaboration are part of a British Council project ‘Connecting Classrooms’ which also sponsors a link between Droitwich High School and Ramjas R.K. Puram School in New Delhi, India, and two teachers are currently visiting from that school to work on similar collaborative projects.

A little closer to home, 30 students from year eight and 10 at Droitwich Spa High were in Le Touquet in France last week for a visit to help improve their language skills.

Mrs Kate Johns, head of modern foreign languages added: “We have been running this trip for a couple of years and it is always very successful. The students are so busy having a good time that they don’t always realise that they are learning new vocabulary all the time as well as being able to make links between what we teach them in the classroom and what actually happens in France.”