Tanzania

Our link with Uru primary school in Tanzania continues to go from strength to strength. We have been linked with Uru school since 2004 and although the town of Uru is thousands of miles away, in a different country, located on a different continent to us here in Penrith, our link continues to thrive.

Penrith pupils in Y3/4 received letters this week from Tanzanian pupils. This is part of our link with Uru School, which now enters its tenth year. The children at North Lakes continue to benefit from exploring life in a contrasting locality. The Y3/4 pupils have received correspondence from a pen friend at the school. Hopefully these will arrive home shortly so you can share this joy too.

The Y3/4 children have just taken part in a ten week topic called, Chanukula, food and farming, looking at similarities and differences between these two locations. We have been exploring the ways of life and using many artefacts the school has managed to collect over the years. During this time, Mrs Greenwood has visited the school twice, once to set the link up and then again in 2011 with Mrs Clark and Miss Hayes to visit the school and develop the link further.

Amazingly, Alex Novak a former pupil of the school arrived in Uru just last week where he will volunteer for two months in the school, helping children to improve their English. So, watch this space - in another ten years time it may just be one of our current pupils visiting. We look forward to receiving updated communications and photographs as Alex spends his time with headteacher Mr Shayo and his staff over the next few months.

Maintaining the link is a challenge, but so important for the children at NLS as well as those at Uru. There is a national post system in Tanzania. however our experience has shown delivery by hand is the quickest and safest method! We have recently received replies from our friends in Uru and these have been distributed to the children this week. Many of the letters were addressed to specific pupils at our school, but others were general friend letters, so no one is left out!

I feel it is important to explain that English is a child’s third language in Uru. All children have a tribal language such as Chagga and speak Swahili from birth. Then, when they start school, all their lessons are taught in English and so they have to learn a third language very quickly. I’m sure you will be impressed by their English when you read the letters. However, this might explain why some of their writing is basic and not perfect.