Sponsored by
Pupils forge friendships with children at Carl Nefdt memorial school
SETON School children are forging lasting friendships with youngsters on the other side of the world thanks to the legacy of one of its parents.
Staithes dad-of-three, Carl Nefdt was trying to rescue his colleagues from a boat when he was killed by Congolese soldiers while carrying out work for the Heritage Oil Company in Uganda in August 2007.
A memorial school funded by the company was set up in the 31-year-old's memory in the village of Buhuka.
And in March last year, headteacher of Seton, Ros Barningham, flew out to the country with Mr Nefdt's family for its offical opening and to take a huge pile of letters and photos from each of her 79 pupils.
Now they are over the moon to have received replies from the Ugandan students, telling them what life is like for them, including pictures.
The whole of Seton studied Africa last year but the link with Uganda has sparked a real interest in African life in class four.
Class teacher Jodie Hill has decided to lead by the children's enthusiasm and made Africa their cross-curricular study this term.
They have learnt about the Zambezi river in Geography, studied African art, written descriptive adventure stories set in Africa and have learned about the history of slavery in Personal Social Health and Citizenship Education.
Mrs Barningham said she announced the letters arrived during a recent assembly and the children – including Mr Nefdt's son – were delighted.
"I'm surprised at the quality of the letters from the children as English isn't their first language," she said.
"It's very moving, especially now I know these kids and I've seen them all, I know what they are all like.
"There's a lot of them who say they have lost a parent, not through divorce but through death.
"It will make our children realise the difference there is overseas but it would also make those children aware of what the rest of the world has to offer.
"Despite having no electricity and no IT comminications, some of the boys refer to their favourite English football teams in their letters."
The children are now busy working on their replies.
Staithes has also forged links with other schools – two in London and another in China and it is hoped pupils will be able to email their counterparts more than 5,000 miles away with their news.
Email to a friend
Print this page
Looking for...
Featured advertisers
Jobs
Search for a job
Motors
Search for a car
Property
Search for a house
Weather for Whitby
Saturday 11 February 2012
Today
Cloudy
Temperature: -0 C to 1 C
Wind Speed: 13 mph
Wind direction: South west
Tomorrow
Cloudy
Temperature: 3 C to 5 C
Wind Speed: 12 mph
Wind direction: North west
