A HEAD teacher hoping to broaden the horizons of his students has this week welcomed two teachers from Nepal.

The teachers, from Nightingale International School in Patan, have spent a week visiting Ferryhill Business and Enterprise College (FBEC) as part of the Connecting Classrooms programme.

After being welcomed during a special assembly where FBEC students performed a dance, Ranjana Pradhan and Jeetendra Thakuri were taken on a tour of the North-East where they visited Durham Cathedral, Alnwick and enjoyed their first Sunday roast, albeit with Tabasco Sauce.

The visit follows a trip FBEC staff made to Nepal in February after being matched with Nightingale International School by the British Council, who organise the Connecting Classrooms programme.

Thomas Young, who teaches geography at FBEC, said: “This week has been amazing, we have brought teachers from the other side of the world to Ferryhill. It’s a great experience for our students who have been so eager to meet them.”

Emma Woodhall, who teaches languages, added: “The Connecting Classrooms programme is about sharing teaching practises and helping young people develop the knowledge, skills and attitudes needed to thrive. It is a very worthwhile project and we are so thankful for the support we have had to make it happen.”

Mrs Pradhan and Mr Thakuri also visited Beamish during their visit and watched live-action show Kynren in Bishop Auckland.

Mr Thakuri said: “Kynren was absolutely spectacular, we enjoyed that a lot.

“We have really enjoyed our time in the UK, it is the first time we have been here. The programme has helped us make links with other teachers and students and it makes us feel a part of something.

“We are global citizens.”

Plans are now underway to arrange a future visit to Nepal with FBEC students and potentially a visit to Kenya.

Head teacher Kevin Brennan said: “I would like to thank the teachers for coming over and Thomas and Emma for all of their hard work.

“We want to show our students that there is a whole world out there and encourage them to be brave and ambitious enough to seek it out.

“We’ve taken students on trips before but we want to do things differently.

“We’ve had the little adventures but now we want the big ones.”

For information about the project visit: connecting-classrooms.britishcouncil.org