EGERTON Primary School will be heading to its sister school in the Njoro district of Kenya in the Rift Valley, for a 10-day visit next month, alongside fellow teachers from Cheshire.

This will be the latest visit to the area by staff from Egerton as part of their global learning partnership.

The school is leading on supporting 35 Cheshire schools in the new Connecting Classrooms through Global Learning Programme, which is funded by the British Council and Department for International Development.

It will be joined on the trip by Knutsford Academy and primary schools Wincham, Gawsworth, Weaverham Forest and Little Leigh. Representatives from each school will be joining the teaching teams in their respective partner schools in Njoro.

The programme is designed to embed a strong approach to global learning in schools.

Within the 35 schools taking part in the programme, there are six local working hubs.

All schools in the Knutsford area were invited to join the programme, and this year the Knutsford hub includes Egerton Primary School, Knutsford Academy and primary schools St Vincent’s Catholic, Mobberley CE, High Legh and Lindow Community.

The schools in each hub will spend the next year engaging with their community to support businesses and adults to learn and consider their lifestyle behaviours to make the world more sustainable.

The visit to Kenya next month will focus on supporting pupils in the UK and in Kenya in learning about sustainable development goals, specifically on this visit quality education and gender equality.

These topics form part of the children’s learning in all the participating schools in the UK, and these lesson plans will be repeated with children in Njoro on the visit to Kenya.

Later this year Kenyan teachers from the partner schools will return the visit.

The Cheshire cluster of schools is the largest in the programme, and as a result the British Council has asked the group to develop a case study of its work that can be shared among other working groups on a national scale.

Each UK and Kenyan school participating in the programme must collect evidence of their work as it develops.

Alison Hooper, head teacher at Egerton Primary School, said: “The staff and the children at Egerton are excited and passionately engaged in developing the incredible existing relationship we have with our sister school of the same name in Njoro.

“To be able to lead other schools in the programme is a great honour, and we are delighted to be able to help others discover the joy and importance of learning globally and discovering and loving other cultures as we love our own.

“This trip is particularly special, as we are collaborating for the first time in our global learning history with Knutsford Academy, cementing an important bond between the two schools with our shared vision for a more sustainable future.”

Mike Cladingbowl at Knutsford Academy said: “This is a wonderful opportunity for the Academy, and we are delighted to be able to join forces with Egerton Primary School in delivering the key sustainable development goals.”

The school continues to explore the special relationship with Egerton Primary School Njoro, and has founded The Egerton Schools’ Foundation, a registered charity that aims to promote

an equitable, enriched and sustainable approach to the high-quality global education of children in both schools.