500 children celebrate the Day of the Africa Child, 2016
On Thursday 16th June St Anthony’s Primary School in Leamington Spa was host to 500 children celebrating the International Day of the African Child.
The participating children came from 15 primary schools in Leamington and Warwick, each of which has a partner linked school in Bo (Sierra Leone). The links are made possible through local charity One World Link (OWL) which has been promoting friendship and mutual learning between Bo District (Sierra Leone) and Warwick District for over 35 years. The school links are maintained through activities such as annual teacher exchanges, children sharing work and projects, pen friendships, school clubs, teacher and children’s friendships and teacher training delivered in Sierra Leone.
The Day of the African Child celebration saw children enjoying a joyous day of workshops to learn more about Africa and celebrate their links with schools in Sierra Leone. After a grand parade round the field in which the children processed with flags and banners proclaiming their school links, the children participated in a number of workshops – singing, dancing, music, sports, art and African storytelling. After a picnic lunch everyone gathered in the marquee for a Skype link with the Day of the African Child school celebrations in Bo. It was a special moment when 500 children here started waving and cheering as they saw children in Bo on the 40inch TV which had been set up specially for the video call. They heard a Bo school child delivering a speech about the value of the school partnerships, then sang a popular song in the Krio language called Tel am tenki.
As part of the Day of the African Child, schools had also participated in the ‘Send My Friend to School’ initiative which campaigns to give every child the education that is their right. At the end of the day everyone gathered in the marquee for the grand finale where all the children joined in the songs and dances they had learned during the day. MP Chris White received the pupils’ campaign messages, eloquently expressed by some Year 6 ambassadors from St Anthony’s.
