Trip cements Ukraine link-up

Greater ties with war-torn Ukraine are being forged by the Academy after a teacher attended the Polish launch of a British Council initiative.

The school was named earlier in the year by the organisation as one of 100 to take part in a programme to strengthen cultural relationships between the two countries.

English teacher Ms Barker travelled to Krakow alongside representatives from the other participating UK schools to meet up with Ukrainian colleagues.

She was chosen to lead the initiative because its focus is on literacy and reading for pleasure. Louth Academy has been partnered with Luhyny Lyceum №2 school, in the town of Luhyny in the Zhytomyr region.

Ms Barker’s three-day trip was funded by the British Council. Fifty UK schools have been linked up with 50 from Ukraine to mark a 100-year partnership between the two countries.

“It was a brilliant experience,” Ms Barker said.

“I met with Olga Vozniuk, a teacher of English at Luhyny Lyceum №2, and handed her letters written by the 30 children in class 9L1, chosen to take part in the programme.

“Since I’ve arrived back at Louth, I have already received scanned copies of response from Olga by email that I’m sharing with the class. They are really excited about the partnership.

“It was humbling listening to Olga talking about their experiences.

“School life consists of daily air raid sirens, sometimes twice a day, when children and staff are forced to take shelter in cellars beneath the school.

“She travelled to Poland by bus. Some of her colleagues had to wait for 10 hours on the border to get across to attend the conference.

“For Olga’s class, reading for pleasure is a struggle because of the constant disruptions because they are trying to keep up with the core curriculum.

“She and her Ukrainian colleagues were really excited to get away from their worries for a couple of days and learn about something that will benefit their children and be fun.”

As well as the letters, she took photographs of 9L1 and details of the Year 7 reading scheme which sees every student receiving a free book.

Ms Barker attended workshops over two days and speakers included representatives from the National Literacy Trust and Department for Education.

“The focus was on the importance of reading for pleasure. Just like in the UK, Ukraine is also seeing a decline in attitudes towards reading.

“We discussed that reading for pleasure might not mean completing a full book, though that would be ideal.

“We want to create a culture that encourages young people to enjoy reading. It could be they have read an article online that has been enjoyable.

“There are lots of different texts students from both countries can read from which they can build communication based on what they have been reading for pleasure.

“Harry Potter came up. When they saw the images of our students they likened our school to the books because of the children’s uniform. They don’t wear any in Ukraine.”

There were similarities between the schools and Louth and Luhyny.

“Theirs is a small town in a rural part of Western Ukraine. They have six periods a day, just like us, and the curriculum is reasonably similar.

“When you work with people that are struggling and you feel you can contribute to their lives in a positive way, it is really rewarding. We can have empathy for their plight and can try to understand,” said Ms Barker.

Principal Mr Hermiston was delighted her journey had been a success.

“The partnership will enable our children to experience a different culture,” he said.

“Many of them may not often consider life outside of Louth Academy or even Lincolnshire, but by interacting with a school overseas, they will be reminded of the wider world beyond their immediate community.

“It will open their eyes to new ideas, new ways of life and hopefully inspire them to think more globally about their own futures, all through the context of reading, which is at the heart of Louth Academy.

“We thank the British Council for its support and helping us connect and collaborate with our partner school.”

Class 9L1, with Ms Barker, who have linked up with a school in Luhyny, Ukraine.

Ms Barker (left) meets Ms Vozniuk in Poland at the British Council event.

In front of a map which linked the schools by ribbon, with Ms Barker holding the Ukrainian flag and Ms Vozniuk the UK’s.

The class in Ukraine with the letters from Louth students.