African visit seals school bond
PUPILS from Prestbury CE Primary School had some visitors from South Africa when two members of staff from their partner school joined them for the week.
The partnership with Maxonia Primer school was established in 2004 to bridge the social and cultural divide between the two schools.
Since then the Prestbury teachers, pupils and parents have raised funds to help pay the £20 a year per child school fees which many of the South African children’s parents cannot afford.
They have also helped fund clean drinking water, hot school meals, books, stationery and shoes so the children do not have to walk to school barefoot.
David Capener, headteacher, said: “We are all very passionate about the partnership. It is one of the longest lasting partnerships between schools I know of and the benefits to all the children are enormous.
“We share the songs we sing in assemblies and have just started a shared recipe book based on food from our joint allotment project, run by our teaching assistant Holly Holliday.
“It all helps to make our children very outwardlooking and they are always keen to learn about people in different situations and raise funds for good causes, such as refugees.”
He added that Maxonia Primer’s principal Fraser Baard and teacher Ellie Klassen had very much enjoyed their visit and presented the school with a ‘beautiful’ cut glass vase.
Mr Capener added: “The children enjoyed meeting them too and made them feel very welcome, which can only help to further strengthen our relationship.”
The schools visit each other twice a year, with two Prestbury staff members planning a visit to South Africa later this year.
Continuing their work for good causes, Prestbury CE Primary pupils visited St Peter’s church for a Harvest Festival service.
Mr Capener said: “The amount of food parcels brought by the children was truly amazing and the effort put in to decorate them was fantastic.
“The vicar, Rev Patrick Angier, said he was overwhelmed.
“The service was excellent and the children were in great voice!”