Alison Helm, assistant head teacher at Curwen Primary School in London, is currently in Ghana for a three month placement working with teachers and children across six schools in the remote north, which is acknowledged as one of the poorest regions of the country. She is documenting her experience through an informative and visual blog which can be viewed at http://alisonhelmcurwen.blogspot.com/
Randstad facilitated social media training for Alison prior to her departure which has enabled her to confidently blog her experience and most importantly engage the children in Ghana with the children at Curwen Primary School in London, enabling them to build meaningful relationships with both educational and personal benefits.
As part of a literary programme initiative led by Alison Helm, the children at Binaba Junior High School in Ghana are excitedly and enthusiastically using laptops for the very first time to send letters to the children at Curwen Primary, sharing the differences and similarities of life at school and at home in Ghana. Alison has also been sharing photos of the children’s lives in Ghana on her blog so that her pupils and colleagues here in the UK can understand and appreciate the challenges children in Ghana are facing every day.
At Curwen Primary the children have been learning about Ghana and its neighbouring countries in their geography lessons. They are also conscientiously collecting used books to send to school children in Ghana and the transportation will be generously funded by Randstad Education.
Crucially Alison has been supporting the teachers in Ghana too, sharing best practice and currently assisting them in their teaching and understanding of phonics. She has been appreciatively received and comments; “Head Teachers seem extremely enthusiastic and committed to improving the standards in their schools.”
Alison Helm’s experience is a shining example of the enormous benefits that a meaningful CSR initiative can have. Randstad Education’s commitment to the Global Skills Share programme is delivering tangible benefits at home in the UK and across the globe in Africa by improving the quality of education for all children.
Head of marketing services for Randstad Staffing, Caryn Cooper, comments; ‘The Global Skills Share programme is just one element of Randstad’s commitment to CSR, but our pledge is to continue this valuable sponsorship into 2012. The local Randstad Education branch worked closely with the head teacher at Curwen Primary to select a suitable supply teacher, ensuring someone was in place to take over from Alison Helm prior to her departure in September and the same service will also be provided to the two schools of the volunteers going to Ghana in January and May 2012.”
For more information visit www.randstadeducation.co.uk/vso
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