A group of teachers from Mary Elton Primary School have visited its partner school in Tanzania.

Cheryl Brown, Sharon Shepherd and Tanya Compton spent a week at Kikoboga School in Mikumi National Park where they found out about the differences between cultures, language and methods of teaching between the two countries.

Year two teacher Cheryl said: “It (Kikoboga) is a school where amazingly your paths can cross easily with a zebra, giraffe or lion rather than our comparative cat or pigeon.

“The staff and children at Kikoboga were most welcoming and our teachers were able to watch lessons as well as teach out there.

“The children had sent over questions for the Tanzanian children and teachers to answer in order to understand the differences – and perhaps some similarities – between our countries.

“Some interesting encounters were had with baboons and monkeys but thankfully we arrived back to share our experiences with children and parents at Mary Elton.”

While in Africa the teachers met Josef, a shop owner that Mary Elton Primary School raised £175 to enable him to purchase a specially-designed wheelchair to help improve his mobility. Mobility Care, a grass-roots wheelchair manufacturer in the country, used the money to create the chair for Josef.

Cheryl added: “He would move about in his shop and home on his hands and has done for his life so far which is not ideal. Our entrepreneurial club raised money for a specific wheelchair to help Josef and since meeting him he has finally had the chair arrive. He was truly thankful to Mary Elton and told us that this would change his life.”

The visit came after two teachers from Kikoboga visited Mary Elton Primary School in October when they taught pupils about their country and helped them create their very own model island of Zanzibar complete with animals, spices and a mosque.

Another exchange between the two schools is expected to take place in about 18 months.

The partnership between the two schools began in 2006 with the aim of promoting environmental issues, sharing learning and providing different curriculum opportunities.