What it is ...

Winifred Holtby School Technology College has joined partners with Albert Academy in Freetown, Sierra Leone. This partnership was established in 2007 and is supported by the British Council’s Global Schools Partnership programme.

The aim of our partnership is for students and staff in both schools to work together, sharing resources, ideas, strategies and – most importantly – experiences and student voice. We are also hoping that this will help to strengthen the relationship and understanding between Hull and our twin city Freetown.

 
The Story So Far ...

Over recent months, we have worked with Dorchester Primary School and Sutton Park Primary School to form a cluster partnership with three schools in Freetown, Sierra Leone (Albert Academy Senior School, Cathedral Primary and Conforti Primary). This has included us exchanging students’ work, videos and developing communication between the schools. In 2008, we were successful with our bid for funding from the British Council. This meant that we could extend our partnership work and plan for the first of two reciprocal visits. The first of these took place in August 2008 and staff from the three Hull schools; alongside the Head Teacher from St. Richards Primary) travelled to Freetown.

During our visit we were welcomed warmly by everyone we met. We were able to experience the wealth of culture that Freetown has to offer and spend some time with the students and staff at Albert Academy. We were particularly impressed by the dedication to learning shown by the students; their debating skills and their commitment to their future lives and those of their families. There is certainly a lot that we can learn from our Freetown partners, as well as a lot we too can share with them.
About The Albert Academy

The Albert Academy (AA) is a secondary school in Freetown, Sierra Leone. It was founded on 4 October 1904 and named after American missionary Rev. Ira E. Albert. The school's motto is Esse Quam Vederi (Rather To Be Than To Seem). It is situated at Berry Street in Freetown. Among its famous alumni are Sierra Leone's first Prime Minister, Sir Milton Margai and Sierra Leone's first president, Siaka Stevens. Although the school has a Christian tradition, the United Methodist Church, students from all religious background can attend (a common phenomenon in Sierra Leone). AA is one of the most successful institutions of learning in Sierra Leone. It has alumni associations in the UK, USA and Freetown.

The school is organised into two cohorts: Junior School and Senior School. WHSTC is partnered with the Senior School, in which there are some 1500 students. The Senior School is led by Principle Albert Kawa.

 
Current Events

March 2009

We bid farewell to our Freetown partners who visited us for two weeks in the middle of March, 2009. The visit was a huge success and involved WHSTC, Dorchester Primary School, Sutton Park Primary School and St. Richards Primary School.

Six Freetown colleagues spent time with us in school; meeting students and staff, sharing the experiences of life in Sierra Leone and their education system. We also took them on visits to various places in and around Hull. This included meeting the Lord Mayor of Hull and the Mayor of Filey, as well as colleagues from Hull City LA and other schools in the city.

Our students and staff gained a great deal from the visit and we are currently putting together a report in the hope that we can secure further funding for developing the partnership over coming years