School links with Rwanda
The building work continues
Mike Ullman, national winner of the 2005 Guardian Award for Teacher of the Year in a Secondary School, and an assistant headteacher at Hockerill Anglo European College in Bishop's Stortford, Hertfordshire, visited a partner school in Rwanda last term and met the country's first lady.
At the school in Gisenyi he saw building work in progress, to improve its refectory and sports pitches, met 55 sponsored students and established a British Council bid for bilateral work. Hockerill has raised £7000 for Gisenyi in the past eight months.
Hockerill is also setting up three-way teacher-training links through distance learning with the Kigali Institute of Education and the Nottingham University School of Education. In its capacity as a training school it will help pay for videoconferencing cameras so quality interaction can take place between all three institutions.
Hockerill is renowned for outstanding results in the international baccalaureate (IB) and Mike visited Greenhills Academy in Kigali, which offers the IB to sixth formers as well as the middle years programme of the IB to younger students.
The Rwandan ambassador, Mr Claver Gatete, had suggested a new link be set up and there was a productive meeting with the principal and Mrs Jeannette Kagame, wife of President Paul Kagame and founder of Greenhills.
