Pupils and staff at All Saints Catholic Primary School in Anfield (pictured), in the Archdiocese of Liverpool, were overjoyed to welcome a number of illustrious visitors to the school on Thursday (16 January).
Children were amazed when the Prime Minister, Sir Keir Starmer, came in from All Saints’ partner school No 219, in Kyiv, Ukraine, where he joined them on a video call with pupils. Also in attendance was the Secretary of State for Education, Bridget Phillipson MP, along with the Permanent Secretary to the Department for Education, Susan Acland-Hood. War Horse author Sir Michael Morpurgo, and current Waterstones children’s laureate Frank Cottrell-Boyce, read beautifully to the children and answered questions about their careers and their love of reading.
They had gathered at the school to launch a new government initiative which will link schools in the UK and Ukraine to swap stories and run joint reading projects in order to strengthen the relationship between the countries and boost education standards.
The UK-Ukraine Schools Partnership programme, delivered by the British Council in partnership with the National Literacy Trust, will see 50 schools in the UK matched with 50 schools in Ukraine on a year-long project.
Schools will be chosen from across the four nations of the UK between now and the scheme’s launch in late spring. Each school group will share their favourite stories from their own culture and explore the benefits of reading.
All Saints’ executive headteacher Jeremy Barnes explained that the partnership is one of many curated by the school over the past fifteen years. He said: "Our children have developed links with children in Belgium, Spain, China and in Sierra Leone as well as Ukraine, working alongside fantastic partners such as the British Council.
"After Pope Francis wrote Laudato Si' in 2014, we made a commitment to put this at the heart of our curriculum, extending the hand of friendship across borders, learning about each other whilst always caring for this common home we share. The joy of reading is one expression of that common bond."
Staff and pupils are preparing for further work this year alongside School No 2019 in Kyiv, whilst also preparing for a Y5 and Y6 visit to Seville in May where they are working with a Colegio San Francisco de Paula on environmental challenges they can address together.
Find out more about Catholic education in the Archdiocese of Liverpool
Photograph by Getty Images, from the 10 Downing Street Flickr account