A teacher and two students in UK talk online with a teacher and two students in Uganda
Portsmouth Grammar School and Kikaaya College School together tells us about their partnership in an online call ©

British Council, 2024

Portsmouth Grammar School has been working with Kikaaya College School in Uganda as Partners in Learning for more than 15 years. We spoke to the lead teachers at the two schools to find out why the partnership is so successful and what they are planning for the future.

My name is Fiona Titheridge. I'm a teacher of geography at the Portsmouth Grammar School in the UK. I set up the link with Kikaaya [pronounced Chikaya] College School through the British Council back in 2007. 

Hello, I'm Mubiru Charles. Previously I was the Headmaster of Kikaaya College School and currently I'm the Director of the school. 

Where do you see the future of your partnership?

Fiona Titheridge: I want to have more video conferencing, especially for the Pupils Uganda Group. The pupils and the staff respond so positively when we meet on video. It really brightens everybody up, it brings a lot of joy and it's very motivating. 

We'd like to develop a debate about sustainability and conservation between the two schools. We’d do it before our Year 7 pupils visit a wildlife animal sanctuary that houses many animals that are wild in Uganda. We would really appreciate talking to our Ugandan friends about the animals that are their native species and about conservation work before we go to see some of them in captivity. 

Mr Mubiru: I’m looking at our past achievements and we want to strengthen what we achieved. 

In the past, we had a project of planting trees. We are going to plant more trees and I hope Portsmouth will reciprocate in planting trees in the UK because the environment is a very sensitive issue globally and through this link we are going to continue protecting our environment. 

We also want to link up more subjects across the curriculum, so that we have more connection, both schools share experiences, share knowledge, because we've seen it helping a lot in the past. I know it's going to help in improving our curriculum. 

Then again we are looking at a possibility of CPD whereby we are going to have sharing experiences among other teachers, so that it could improve the process of learning and teaching.

The culture part, we are going to strengthen more. Whenever there is an event at Portsmouth, we shall be participating online. And whenever there is an event here, we want Portsmouth also to be participating online. 

Photo of giraffe in the wild in Uganda
A giraffe in the wild in Uganda ©

Portsmouth Grammar School

How has the partnership connection changed over that time?

Fiona Titheridge: The digital element has changed the link greatly. Being able to video conference has really opened up opportunities for us. 

Mr Mubiru: It becomes much easier to organise any project because of that possibility. So really, it has been very, very helpful.

Fiona Titheridge: I used to absolutely love receiving paper copies of things from Kikaaya because I could smell the wood smoke from the fire when I received the papers and so could my pupils, they would be smelling them. And we loved seeing the beautiful stamps from the country on the packages. It was very exciting to receive such lovely things. 

Now, because we're able to digitally communicate more, that side of things has reduced. Maybe we can relook at that because it’s very valued getting a letter, getting a description, getting a drawing. 

Mr Mubiru: So we are trying to explore more opportunities of collaboration between our two schools across different departments. 

We've learned a lot at the school. And it's what we want to build on for the future.

We want our partnership to continue beyond us. We are one school because of the link. And we've benefited a lot in this exchange. So many lessons, so many experiences. It's what we want to see in the future.

 

You can learn more about the partnership and what it means to the students in chapter 3