Tavistock College students build links with city teenagers

TAVISTOCK College students have teamed up with a London school to make new friends and learn about life in a multicultural city.

The Year 9s are linking with The Charter School in Dulwich, south east London to explore the similarities and differences between growing up in the countryside and the inner-city in a project dubbed Community Cohesion UK.

Lizzie Jones, one of the students building the link, said: “It’s great to have a chance to see people in a place which seems so different. It’s good for us to see different people with different cultures, not just those from Tavistock.”

The initiative is student-led, and Lizzie has filled in an application for a grant from phone company O2 in order to begin the project with the production of a video by each school. The films will answer questions the students have about one another and serve as an introduction to their lives.

Tavistock College enjoys links with schools as far afield as Japan and Uganda, but this is the first time a year group has established an exchange within the United Kingdom.

The students will produce a joint newspaper about their experiences, visit each other’s schools and play sports matches to help build a lasting relationship.

Sally Hubbard, head of Year 9, said: “We’re quite sheltered in some ways as it’s a rural environment and through this project we hope our students can learn about going to school in a multicultural city. They will also learn from us about what life is like in rural Devon.

“It’s about joint learning and getting to know people who have different backgrounds and different experiences and dreams. The students have formed a committee and want to learn all about the other school.

“Our students held a brainstorming session and were keen to find out about their hobbies, the diversity of religions and cultures, the famous people who may have been to their school and their favourite school dinner.”

The students are also organising a competition to design a logo for the project and gave an assembly to their year group to explain their plans.

“I think it is a good idea to get involved with another school and see what the differences are,” added Emily Quick. “I think they might have quite similar lifestyles but their area is very different.”