Life-changing trip to Africa for city teachers

TEACHERS from two Catholic secondary schools in Derbyshire spent two weeks helping to improve education for children in South Africa.

Joan McCarthy, headteacher at Saint John Houghton Catholic Voluntary Academy, returned to South Africa with Mellon Educate after her first trip with the charity last year.

She was joined by Fiona Molumby, religious studies teacher at Saint Benedict Catholic Voluntary Academy in Derby.

Mrs McCarthy and Mrs Molumby worked in Usasazo High School, supporting teachers and finding out more about the country’s education system.

Mrs Molumby said: “The whole trip is very hard to describe, it’s difficult to put into words.

“The teaching day was long, from 8am until 3pm but teachers are on their feet the whole time with only a 20-minute break and there are about 50 children in one class. The benches in the classrooms are so uncomfortable and there’s nothing on the walls, none of the children’s work. We gave them posters and pencils and they were so grateful.

“We tried to help by giving the teachers new strategies because when we were there the children would spend their lessons copying from a chalkboard. What struck me though was how the children wanted to do well, they were just so lovely and keen to learn. They took such pride in their appearance, their shirts were pristine and their shoes were so shiny. They have very little but they are so proud of what they do have.”

Mrs McCarthy said: “We worked with the staff and the leadership team at the school on lesson styles and how to manage 55 students in one class.

“We wanted to help them teach the children about resilience. In the townships there are big problems with gangs, it’s quite volatile although we didn’t experience any problems.

“We worked with seven head teachers looking at how they can work together, share resources and the sorts of issues that they face,” she added.