TWO TEACHERS from Callington Community College have returned from visiting a school in Nigeria as part of an Olympic initiative to promote international sport development.

The purpose of the visit to Government Secondary School Jibi on the outskirts of Nigeria's capital city Abuja was to support the development of PE and sport in both schools in the lead up to the 2012 Olympic Games. GSS Jibi has limited facilities and equipment with large class sizes, some with more than 50 pupils in a class.

Michelle Roberts, Callington College's assistant headteacher who visited the school along with Keith Hubbard, head of construction, said: 'We arrived at the school not really knowing what challenges we would face, however, we were made to feel very welcome and we were guests of honour at the schools' sports day. The sports day opened with a cultural dance and a parade of students in their house colours. The athletics events were run on a sand/gravel track with many students running in bare feet, the standards were high and the prizes for the athletes were buckets, which really brought home to me the purpose and values of competition, and how much we can learn and the importance of music and dance to a sporting event.'

Michelle and Keith introduced tag rugby and ultimate frisbee to the school and discussed ways of engaging girls in PE and school sports and discussed sports leadership which is an area for development in the Nigerian school.

GSS Jibi has now started to introduce the new sports and is currently developing sports leadership. A return visit for the Nigerian teachers is planned for June 2010 where they will have the opportunity to work with some sports leaders and Callington students helping them develop a cultural element to sports festivals.

This is the first time that an Olympic and Paralympic Organising Committee has launched a programme like this with the London games as the catalyst for this ambitious engagement through sport programme. Launched by Prime Minister Gordon Brown in India last year, 'International Inspiration' uses the power of sport to change the lives of children and young people around the world and school partnerships are an integral part of that.

Callington Community College is one of 150 schools in the UK linked to a school overseas through the project.