A CHESTER school is celebrating a successful bid to the British Council to fund an exchange of teachers with a school in Pakistan.

Queen's Park High School is looking to develop links with The Lyceum School in Lahore through the Connecting Classrooms Programme.

On November 6, assistant headteacher Matt Yeoman travelled to the school to share best practice and discover what education in a developing country looks like.

He said the experience was unforgettable and the reception he received was incredibly warm.

Over the course of six days he visited four different schools and spent time with the principals of each, watching lessons, sports events and delivering teacher training to teaching staff in all schools.

He spent time working with a group of Year 11 students sharing with them how drama can be used to understand Shakespeare’s Macbeth which they were already studying.

The purpose of the visit was also to understand the culture of the country and he had the opportunity to visit The Lahore Fort, a 16th Century Fort built by the Moghuls and used by the British during their occupation in the 19th and 20th Centuries.

The history of the UK and Pakistan are intertwined; the British ruled over the area of the subcontinent for nearly 100 years before dividing it up into India, Pakistan and Bangladesh.

Mr Yeoman said: “With such a shared history, the links between our two nations are obvious and moving forwards, we are looking to develop a range of international projects to share our learning and allow our students to see themselves as members of a global society.

"For students at Queen’s Park High School the opportunities are certainly growing and as a forward thinking school, we are progressing to become culturally rich too.”

The visit culminated in Mr Yeoman becoming a guest of honour at the International Schools’ Awards Ceremony in the capital city, Islamabad. Here he met the minister of education and the Head of Schools to discuss potential partnerships moving ahead.

Queen’s Park High School reciprocated the visit with the arrival of the Lyceum School's Principal, Bushra Anis Naqvi who spent a week at their school from December 9-13.

Her visit afforded both students and staff to discuss education in Pakistan and talk to her about Queen’s Park high School as a community. The Student Leadership Team played an important part in welcoming her with a continental breakfast following with a presentation from head boy and girl Dan Kefford and Charlotte Carswell about their school.

A visit from David Owens of the University of Sheffield initiated discussions on the development of a core skill curriculum with the support of the Pakistani Government.

Year 12 House Captain, Ioan Gwenter, presented Bushra with a glass sculpture celebrating the international partnership. This was matched with the planting of a tree with A-level Geography students to symbolise the responsibility of us all to play a key role in climate action.

Mr Yeoman added: “We hope our partnership will grow and enable us all to learn and develop our understanding of what it is to be a global partner.”