Pupils become pen pal experts (From The Wiltshire Gazette and Herald)

Pupils become pen pal experts

15916/1Pupils at St Bartholomew's Church of England School have been keeping the postman busy as they rush to get the news from pen pals in a Zambian school.

Over Easter deputy headteacher Sue Lear and teachers Sally Fulling, Chris German and Charlotte Payne spent a week at the Zambian school forging friendships and exchanging teaching strategies and they returned with a bundle of letters for their pupils in Wootton Bassett.

Mrs Lear said: "We were given such an incredible welcome. There were about 20 people waiting for us at the airport and they'd made a banner, they sang a song and there were flags and flowers it was just fantastic."

The teachers have since shown their pupils video footage of the trip as they learn about the different cultures all of which has led to pen pal mania as the inquisitive youngsters from the two schools bombard each other with endless questions. Mrs Lear said: "The whole school is buzzing with it at the moment and we've been encouraging them to ask questions as a way of understanding.

"We had a fantastic time and a lot of friendships have been made both personally and professionally," said Mrs Lear who hopes the trip can be repeated next year.