Connecting classrooms in Trinidad and Amersham

Oct 2 2008 Buckinghamshire Advertiser

Five headteachers from Trinidad and Tobago have spent the week in the Chilterns visiting schools as part of an educational familiarisation course in Britain.

The visitors spent Tuesday at Dr Challoner's Grammar School, in Amersham, where they learned how the school uses IT to monitor the progress of pupils.

Enjoying their sojourn in Amersham were Cheryll Uzoruo, from Goodwood High School in Tobago, Shariza Baksh, from St Augustine Senior School in Trinidad, Geraldine Gabriel, from Orange Valley Government Primary School in Trinidad, Karen Boatswain, from Patience Hill Government Primary School in Tobago, and Colin Alexander, from Eldorado Senior School in Trinidad. The teachers were accompanied by an official from the British Council, Jasbinder Birk, which arranged the visit.

Dr Mark Fenton, headmaster at Dr Challoner's, had visited the twin island nation of Trinidad and Tobago earlier this year and met the teachers.

He said: "This project is helping school leaders improve the education and life chances of students in Trinidad and Tobago.

"They have been learning a great deal from each other and from the insights we have been able to offer from our experience of innovation in the British system.

"I hope this visit will deepen links between Buckinghamshire schools and those in Trinidad and Tobago in ways which will give children in both countries a new perspective on the world."

The other Buckinghamshire schools involved were Chesham Park Community College, Great Marlow School, St Mary and All Saints Church of England Primary School in Beaconsfield, and St Paul's Church of England School in Woburn Green.

The visit is an integral part of the British Council's programme Connecting Classrooms in Latin America and the Caribbean.