
Links with Ghana
As part of our Rights Respecting work and understanding other cultures, pupils across the school learnt all about Ghana.
Activities were designed to embed a sound knowledge of life in another culture. We based this round the term Ubuntu.
Ubuntu
The word Ubuntu is part of a Zulu (South African) phrase which means that “I am because we are”.
As such, the name of the project suggests the creation of a link between our school and learners across borders to help develop our pupils’ global awareness.
Unicef Rights Respecting has been the catalyst for this project.
Grange Academy has also developed a sensory garden which is based around this theme and pupils have developed the garden to promote community cohesion.
Old age homes and other schools had been invited to use the garden as a therapeutic space.
Unfortunately, due to Covid-19, these plans were put on hold but we plan to get people in as part of our Rights Respecting community initiative.
Introduction of Ubuntu
Global citizenship and environmental awareness have become critical in our pupils’ curriculum. (Article 29).
This is to ensure that our pupils have a sound understanding of the world and that they are global citizens (Article 30).
The speed of technology is bridging gaps, connecting distant communities, exposing our pupils to different cultures and making us more interconnected than ever.
It has become imperative to create a platform where we are able to liaise and share resources, content and experiences to help build a more responsible, caring, conducive and enabling environment where each party helps to build each other, deepening the spirit of collective responsibility.
Our Ubuntu programme at Grange connected our school to a school in Ghana – Rhema International Academy.
The focus is on equipping our young people with deep learning skills and attitudes, improving learning, expanding opportunities and global awareness.
Our Ghana project has been instrumental in our pupils’ understanding of an alternative culture, focusing on global citizenship and using the Unicef articles to understand the rights of others.
Our pupils have:
- Learnt facts about Ghana: Which continent, capital city, currency, the president, how many schools, languages, the flags colours.
- Understood where and how children in Ghana live – are their houses the same as ours? (Article 27)
- Compared a Ghanaian’s child’s school day to our school day
- Watched videos of a day in the life of a Ghanaian child
- Produced a video of the day in the life of a British school child and sending it to Ghana
- Wrote about similarities and differences to our students’ days
- Wrote a diary extract as a Ghanaian Child (Article 31)
- Understood different religions (Article 14)
- Learnt about Ghanaian health care– do they have the equivalent of a NHS? (Article 24)
- Learnt about Ghanaian food, fair trade, cocoa trade, finding a recipe to cook and taste
- Ate Ghanaian food from a local African restaurant
- Understood what conditions are like for children in Ghana and how they differ from ours (Article 27)
- Learnt about how children in Ghana find out information – do they use the internet? (Article 17)
Partner School in Ghana
We are excited to announce Rhema International Academy, in Sogakope, in the Volta Region, as our selected International school.
Rhema International Academy is determined to incorporate into their curriculum, best practices and globally related learning activities.
The relationship between our schools is to:
- Promote global citizenship awareness amongst pupils
- Resource the school’s library with additional educational resources
- Establish a relationship where pupils and teachers share a common interest to adopt best learning and teaching behaviours
The images below are work our pupils have completed on understanding life and education in Ghana and images we have received from the school in Ghana
The videos below are collaborative work our pupils have done with pupils in Ghana. They reflect the cultural diversity both our pupils and pupils in Ghana have explored:
Grange Academy is a Unicef Gold Rights Respecting School and Gold Artsmark School. Ofsted rated ‘Good’ (May 2022).
Telephone: 01234 407100 – Office Email: grange@biltt.org