Torbay teachers to Cusco

Three teachers from the Torbay cluster of schools returned in June this year from their trip to see how life in their link schools compares to that in their own schools. This was the first leg of exchanges between the schools, established after preparatory visits made in 2008.

The teachers from Collaton St Mary Primary School, White Rock Primary School and Churston Ferrers Grammar School had an action packed, fun and at times emotional time whilst staying in Peru. As time was limited as many activities had to be packed in and all the time there was those uncertainties so typical of Peruvian life that always had to be considered.

With only six working days available it should have been a disaster for the plan when on the Wednesday the whole of working Cusco came to a halt with a transport strike. Seeing the impact and the spectacle of the marches and enjoying the increased availability of the whole delicious range of cooked street food was in  fact a remarkable opportunity for our Torbay teachers to be witness to the reality of the hard life in the Andes.

For any link programme to be successful and relevant there has to be deep understanding of the ways of life and how they differ in each of the partner communities. The Torbay teachers were able to see that Peru has its formal structures just like the UK but these can be disrupted totally at the drop of a hat. One of the benefits of experiencing this first hand is that we can actually manipulate our programmes to consider these unforeseen situations.

Perhaps the biggest impression brought back to the UK by our teachers was the level of hospitality given by their Cusco hosts. Where ever the Torbay teachers went they were received with 100% ‘cariño’. And plenty of ideas for the UK classrooms have been noted.

The Torbay teachers were able to see briefly each of the schools within the programme of linking between Torbay and Cusco. We feel this is important that our teacher exchanges are representatives of the wider communities of both regions. Already ideas left by Jaimie from Churston are already being applied throughout the Cusco primaries for use in their exchange work with Torbay primaries. We look forward to seeing the results of the Video News programme.