British Council - South Africa

For several years, teachers at Beaver Road have worked in partnership with the British Council to connect with classrooms in South Africa. On occassion, teachers from Beaver Road have visited South Africa to see how children learn and to work with their South African colleagues. Similarly, South African colleagues have visited Beaver Road and through the partnership, children have made global links and interaccted with friends in far places.

The British Council is the UK’s international organisation for cultural relations and educational opportunities. They are on the ground in six continents and over 100 countries, bringing international opportunity to life, every day. It is a prvilege for Beaver Road to be a lead school in the South African project and work with colleagues in other Manchester schools to make global links. 

In October 2019, during the most recent teacher visit, Mrs Mour and Mr How joined colleagues from Manchester schools to visit Constantia Primary School in Cape Town, South Africa. After a long journey across the globe, they met up with children from Constantia Primary School who were extremely excited to meet people from the UK. Along with the headteacher Mr Allaister Adams and colleagues, Mr How and Mrs Mour spent an incredible week gaining an insight into how a school works so very far away from Beaver Road. They shared stories with the children about schools in the UK and all the learning that takes place, although the most interesting and important thing for the South African children was often about Manchester City and Manchester United. They really love football! The children also loved hearing about their penpals at Beaver Road whom they had been writing to from a few months prior to the visit. It was an incredibly empowering experience for all involved. 

The main purpose of the South African project in 2019 was in line with Beaver Road's commitment to the Global Goals for education. Children in cluster schools in South Africa and Manchester alike had been focusing particularly on Global Goal 13 for Climate Change. Schools in Cape Town had committed to this issue by raising awareness for reusing plastic by working with local supermarkets to create Ecobricks. Mrs Mour and Mr How shared the work Year 6 children at Beaver Road did in Manchester by protesting against Climate Change and all the wonderful work in classes towards achieving the Global Goals for 2030. The children in Constantia Primary school had been hard at work collecting reusable waste from home to create Eco Bricks. On return to the UK, Mrs Mour was delighted that children in Year 4 were able to take part in a similar project by making Eco Bricks at the Christie Hospital. 

Over the course of the week, Mrs Mour and Mr How saw many sights which children at home were most eager to find out about - the most impressive of course was that they'd managed to see the tiny African penguins. Connecting with classrooms was a wonderful experience, one which is a rich part of Beaver Road's history as the list of Beaver Road teachers visiting grows all the time. Mrs Burrows and Mrs Myers are two teachers who have been to South Africa in the past. The partnership with Constantia Primary School is one which will keep going strong, especially when Mr Adams and colleagues visit our school in the near future! We hope the international bond between our schools will be strong for many years to come.