Forging the link

In February 2004, with a group of Wiltshire teachers, Miss Dickinson and Miss Briggs visited the small fishing town of Gunjur, The Gambia.  The trip was arranged with the help of the Marlborough Brandt Group, who encourage links between the UK and the Gambia.

In preparation for the visit, some of our children wrote letters, provided photographs of themselves and donated gifts for their new penpals.  Some of our staff prepared useful visual resources as gifts from our school to the schools in Gunjur. 

During the visit, our teachers stayed with local families and each day experienced many aspects of West African life.  Miss Dickinson and Miss Briggs visited several local schools and the village health centre.  The trip proved very successful in forging a link between Longleaze School and the Upper and Lower Basic schools of Gunjur.

The two teachers returned with local artefacts to support our teaching of multicultural issues and the Year 6 Scheme of Work for Geography. 

Many children now have a Gambian penpal and correspond regularly.  In June 2004, we welcomed members of the Gunjur community to our school.  During the visit, they led many activities which included dance and music workshops, and question and answer sessions  about life in the village.  In a special assembly we shared prayers, stories and songs and presented our visitors with a plaque to mark the link created between the two school communities.

The focus of our Harvest Festival in October 2004 was an alternative one.   Children were encouraged to donate pens and pencils for the children in our link schools and the LSA (Longleaze School Association) kindly funded the shipping of the donated items.

We look forward to building on the foundations of the Longleaze-Gunjur link as we strive to broaden our children's understanding of the wider world.