‘Inspirational’ – local pupils meet virtually with Zambian school
Pupils from Sleights, Glaisdale and Castleton have enjoyed a meeting across the miles with Linda Community School in Zambia.
Whitby auctioneer Rob Smith has returned to Zambia as part of his work with Zambezi Sunrise Trust (ZST).
The trust supports education in Zambia, primarily through the construction of Linda Community School in the country’s former capital Livingstone.
Mr Smith, who is a trustee of ZST, has been a vocal supporter of the school in the Whitby area, forging strong ties between the pupils of Linda and several Whitby area schools, including Sleights, Castleton and Glaisdale.
During a visit earlier this year, the pupils of Sleights School met virtually online with their Linda counterparts, working together to create a poem which represented their individual landscapes and environments.
Sleights children spoke of the heather and the moors, while the Linda children wrote about the spectacular Victoria Falls and the Zambezi River.
Headteacher at Sleights School, Scott Grason-Taylor said: “The link with the Zambezi Sunrise Trust for us has been inspirational.
“Providing meaningful and real life updates from Zambia has really shaped our curriculum and some of the work we do in school.
“The children love the regular updates from the trustees, either in person or on Zoom and really enjoy hearing about the progress being made in Linda Community Primary School.
“We have planned activities to share the work from Sleights with pupils in Zambia and the children love seeing their friends from overseas share their work too.”
Pupils from Glaisdale and Castleton wrote to the students in Linda in letters that were delivered by Mr Smith during his visit, he then brought back replies on his return.
The work done by ZST at Linda has been transformative, with the building of a pre-school classroom and a computer room last year and two years ago, a new ablution block.
Mr Smith also took time to praise Linda’s ‘force of nature’ headteacher, Cathy Chilambe. He said: “98% of people in the school would not have an education if it wasn’t for her.”
ZST is now looking to forge links with another school, Njokamolomo, close to the Namibian border, and has invested heavily in books at a third school, Nekacheya.
A special black-tie fundraising dinner will be held to celebrate ZST’s tenth anniversary at Spanish City in Whitley Bay on May 9.
The evening will include a welcome drink on arrival, three course meal, live music from Rob Smith’s band Sons of Sheila, and Glaisdale musician Dave Crabtree and partner Hayley McKay, an auction, raffle, disco and crafts.
To find out more about ZST visit https://www.facebook.com/zambezisunrise or buy tickets for the dinner at tinyurl.com/4t2xfrph.