A VALE school has been awarded a three-year grant from the Department for International Development to forge links with a school in Africa.

The award, which was made through the British Council, will help foster links between St Nicholas School in Pinvin and Goodnews and Kansenshi Basic in the Zambian copperbelt town of Ndola.

Sian Smith, a Year 6 teacher at St Nicholas Middle School, who co-ordinated the successful funding bid, said: "Initially funding of £4,800 has been awarded to each link for reciprocal visits of two teachers who will work with their partners to develop classroom resources such as big books, photo packs and videos.

"These will be used in the respective schools to help them develop the childrens' sense of place and citizenship, challenging them to think about their own lifestyles and celebrate culture and diversity.

"It will also provide an appreciation of the interconnectedness of our global society, developing values and perceptions, and challenging sterotypes."

Sian and Joan Humphreys of Inkberrow First School, which won a similar award, developed their links with the schools in Ndola with the support of parents, governors and pupils and through group visits to Zambia with the Pershore-Ndola Community Partnership and four of their colleagues will travel with the group at Easter next year.

Four Zambian teachers will then visit their partner schools in the UK next summer.

Steve Curtis, chairman of the Pershore-Ndola Community Partnership, said the schools had already exchanged letters and curriculum work.

"It is very pleasing and timely that the efforts of these teachers has been rewarded, as the resources created by this project will be shared by other schools locally at a time when they all have a need to embed the 'global dimension' into the curriculum."