Children at South Darley C.E. Primary School had an amazing experience when they were able to be part of a live video link with impoverished children living in the Hastings slum area of Kolkata, India. The school has had a link with Hastings School through the Cathedral Relief Service in Kolkata and South Darley teachers have made several visits in recent years to support the teachers and children at the school. Hastings School is essentially a bamboo and tarpaulin structure which only stays dry to it being directly underneath a flyover. However it is the only education these children can access and it is an essential feature of a community that has no electricity or running water.
This year headteacher, Paul Wilde, taught in Hastings for a week and due to improved technology, for the first time in 8 years of the link, children from Hastings and South Darley were able to talk to each other. He said, “It was emotional for everyone at South Darley to speak directly with the children they have been thinking about for many years. It was the highlight of a week of live links back to South Darley where the children were able to see markets, countryside, roads and people at the same time I was experiencing them”.
Charlie, Y4, commented that “it was exciting to see the Hastings children. Even though they don’t have as much as us, it feels like we have friends on the other side of the world. The world is bigger than you’d expect.”