Tag: UK

Young Carers work at Liss

The final unit of the Connecting Classrooms work was carried out at Liss just before we finished for the end of the academic year. Our theme was young carers and we started off by examining who the people who care for us are and what they do.

We drew a heart shape and inside we wrote down all the people who care for us and outside the types of thngs they did.

After this, we discussed what the definition of a young carer might be before unveiling the following definition:

You’re a young carer if you’re under 18 and help to look after a relative with a disability, illness, mental health condition, or drug or alcohol problem. If you’re a young carer, you probably look after one of your parents or care for a brother or sister.

Our next step was to play a game of charades where the children mimed some household tasks and we had to say whether they were a job for a parent, a child or should be shared.

After this we considered how the jobs might change if a parent became seriously ill

This is the list we came up with:

We then considered how much free time they nmight have when they go to secondary school in September. Most of the class came to the conclusion that it would be around two hours. When asked to consider how they might fit in all the jobs that needed doing, the children became quite agitated. There wasn’t enough time to do all the chores.

At this point the children compared their lives with pupils in Kafuro who alreday do far more jobs around the house and in the fields. We tried to imagine what it would be like if the pupils lived in Uganda and had to look after a parent as well. It was then that the children really realised how lucky they are to have the free time that they do and understood what amazing work young carers do both in the UK and Uganda.

Summarising our learning from the Fairtrade unit

This week, pupils from Liss had their final lesson on Fairtrade. We looked to summarise our learning over the unit, therefore the pupils carried out the same activity as the first lesson of putting beans in pots according to what they thought causes poverty. The children were given 3 beans each and were asked to investigate nine statements. When they found a statement that they felt was most accurate they could place one of their beans in a cup next to the statement. If they wished, they could place all their beans in a particular cup. 

The results were as follows:

A quick analysis of the results shows that the children’s thinking had changed dramatically over the course of the unit. There was a strong recognition that while climate change and war were causes of poverty, international trade was a massive factor in ensuring that people stayed in poverty, and that people in richer countries help ensure this is the case by wanting to pay less for goods from poorer countries. The pupils were also angered by the fact that many big companies avoid paying tax to countries in the developing world. They saw this as fundamentally unfair.

Over the course of the unit, the teachers at Liss were really pleased at how our pupils developed their understanding of Fairtrade and how important it is to people living in the developing world. Ultimately, it is down to us to ensure that we buy Fairtrade products when we have a choice. We can choose to be part of the problem or do something about it.

My initial impressions of the UK

The trip was first impressing when I was on the plane. It was my first flight ever. It took long hours on the plane. It was interesting to view many things below the clouds.among which was the Sahara Desert, the Mediterranean Sea and many other features across. Another big impression was picked from the airport which is very beautiful where Mr Adam and Heather had come to receive me and my colleague. I had some hot coffee at home after driving through a cold environment. Dinner was served and then after I rested in my bedroom.

The following morning, we had a gentle tour around Queen Elizabeth Country Park guided by Ashlea and Jan. The weather was generally cool. Everything here looks unique and generally good. Their environment especially buildings are smart. Classrooms are well arranged and manageable numbers of learners not exceeding 25 children.

People are very welcoming,and hospitable. They look good because everybody is committed to their work. Life can change in Africa if we adopt to the working style like in UK. So far, everything that I look at now looks a wonder, the exposure is looking very different ranging from the type of soil, trees, grass, and the general vegetation. Some trees have shaded off their leaves due to winter and they all look in a uniform structure.

I took some hours out to look at horse riding. Farm animals like sheep and horses look good in their fields and feel nothing about the cold weather.

I still have many more days round which I believe will expose me to many more beautiful things that I will share with you soon

Mr Thembo & Madam Shakilah in the car after being picked up from Heathrow

Uganda 2019: Day 8 – Similarities and Differences


Up early for the hour drive to Rihamu Junior School.  This morning’s lesson was on the United Kingdom in general and Hambledon Primary School specifically.  I was particularly excited to find out what the children knew about my country and what their impressions of it were.


The class explored various pictures of life in Britain that I’d prepared and then used their skills to deduce what the photos said about life in Britain.  A few images exposed the differences in the UK between rich and poor.  The children were really surprised to understand that we have homelessness and begging and they could see the differences between wealthier housing and poorer estates.  We also talked about how Food Banks help people in our country.


The British weather always generates much discussion and today was no exception.  The children enjoyed looking at images of snowy landscapes and laughed when I described the disruption that a little snow causes.  We also had a conversation about out seasons.  At first they didn’t understand that the sun can shine in Britain, yet it can still be very cold.  We talked about how trees changed across our seasons.  They loved hearing about Robins Class weekly ‘Wellie Walks’ to the ‘Changing Tree’ to photograph these differences across the year.


The children have received their pen-pal letters and are writing back to their friends at Hambledon.  They enjoyed viewing pictures of our school and I was able to help match a face to the name of their pen-pal.


I have to say that I was again impressed with the pupils of Rihamu. Their enthusiasm for learning and ability to infer understanding from the information I provided was superb.  They were surprised to hear that education is free in our country and that pupils progress through classes at the end of every year, rather than when they pass the exam, like in Uganda.


Shakila very kindly continued my tour of Kasese.  This allowed me to collect more photos to teach Hambledon pupils about Uganda next term.  We visited the new airport from which a single engine plane was about to fly 12 passengers to Kampala.  There are plans to expand the airport to support the economy in Kasese.


We then visited the new market which is under construction and due to be completed in Feb 2020.  At the moment The market stalls are in temporary accommodation and it was a delight to browse the bustling stalls and hunt for bargains.  I purchased a ‘Jug’ fruit that I want to share with the school children tomorrow – another new experience.  Shakilah made my day by buying me a gift – a Ugandan Football shirt!  I shall wear it with pride.


On Friday Rihamu will participate in the Conversation Cup, a rugby, football and poetry competition between all the schools in the QE Parks Project.  After another lovely lunch I was able to sit in on a rehearsal of their poem.  Shakilah wrote the poem at the weekend and the children have already memorised it and were polishing their performance.  I don’t want to give too much away before Friday, other than it’s excellent and stands a great chance.  Maybe Rihamu can help our performance in Eurovision?!?

Year 6 SATs

Next week is examination week for Year 6 pupils across the UK and including all of the Queen Elizabeth Parks Project schools. These SATs (Standard Attainment Tests) in English and Mathematics are the final examinations that they will take before they move onto secondary school. Like the PLE in Uganda, the children spend a lot of time revising for them. We are all hoping that the pupils perform to their best on the examination days Monday – Thursday and we know that our friends in Uganda will be sensing their best wishes.

Harvest Festival & Food Waste

Greetings to all of our friends in Uganda. Last Friday, Liss Junior School held its annual Harvest Festival at St Mary’s Church in Liss. One of the constant themes of the assembly was the amount of food waste that takes place in the world. Here are some facts and figures.

  •  1.3 billion tons of food are wasted every year. This amounts to US$1 trillion dollars of wasted or lost food
  • Imagine that all the food waste is a country., it would be the third largest producer of carbon dioxide in the world, after the United States and China. What’s even worse is that just one quarter of all wasted food could feed the 795 million undernourished people around the world who suffer from hunger.
  • Food waste in rich countries (222 million tons) is approximately equal to all of the food produced in Sub-Saharan Africa (230 million tons).
  • If you’re a European or North American consumer, on average you will waste almost 100 kilograms of food annually, which is more than most people weigh. You will also waste 15 times more food than a typical African.
  • African food waste is due to a lack of technology and infrastructure whereas in the developed world most of the food waste comes from households. Food waste in Europe alone could feed 200 million hungry people.
  • Even worse, food waste generates 3.3 billion tons of carbon dioxide, which accelerates global climate change.

We would like to ask all of our friends in Ugandan schools to let us know what tips they would give children in the UK to avoid food waste.

Food waste

It’s cold at Liss update

Last night and this morning snow fell in Liss so today the school is closed. As the photos show, the temperature is even colder (-4°C) and there is a good covering of snow on the ground.

It’s cold in Liss

Warm greetings to all our friends in Uganda. Here in the UK, we have been experiencing a very cold spell of weather with heavy snowfall all over the country.  It is unsual for it to be so cold at the end of February/beginning of March, but the prevailing winds are coming from the east and bringing cold weather from Russia. The snow hasn’t really affected Hampshire…….yet! Snowfall is forecast for our area tomorrow (Thursday) and Friday. I will look to post photos of the snow should it occur.

I have shown a photo of our weather station console which shows that the temperature in Liss was -2.6 Celcius at lunchtime. I’m sure Steve Peach, Jan Allnut and all the rangers, teachers and children are experiencing far warmer temperatures in Uganda