Sierra Leone trip 2025
As this year’s annual Sierra Leone trip came to an end, Mr Ashton penned the following summary:
We leave Sierra Leone with so much to remember and to be grateful for. The balance of this trip is so rewarding. We have been given the opportunity to fully absorb this West African culture; it’s people, way of life, cuisine and crazy roads. We have been welcomed with open arms by everyone we have met. Sierra Leoneans are warm, appreciative and open minded. Our 16 Sixth Form pupils have found themselves in and out of their comfort zone fluidly throughout the week and have taken the opportunity to benefit from every experience.
Teaching in the Freetown primary school, J T Reffel, and also in the Ballanta Music Academy in Freetown has provided focus, purpose and the very best kinds of learning, character and perspective forming life experience. Our pupils have taught French, German, Maths and English (and even South Korean thanks to Alvin) to a variety of keen local children in small, packed but well ordered classes with nothing more than desks, chairs, chalk and blackboards. Being on the other side of the desk has given them a healthy challenge and brought the very best out of their own educational experiences: rule no. 1 – every child loves a story! On the surface, an educational environment in Freetown is heavily contrasting to their own, although within minutes they were all remarking on how similar children are everywhere and how keen they are to absorb knowledge and please. In a developing country with significantly fewer resources, the priorities change or certainly sharpen in focus and we will all carry this home with us.
The dozen or so who worked with musicians of all standards in tight, hot spaces in the music academy felt humbled and equally inspired by their experience. We know that music is a universal language and this has been underlined this week. We have joined in with gospel singing in a Freetown church (which our pupils want to add to our Cathedral services from now on, including the dancing), we have formed our own travelling choir thanks to the talented Mr Brink (whose magic tricks fill every spare moment with wonder and awe) and found ourselves singing together informally at every given opportunity. The truly moving afternoon spent at a school for blind children will be etched in our minds forever. Our band and talented soloists once again played a variety of foot tapping numbers to entertain a captive audience. Yet the power of the human spirit was demonstrated in ways that words can’t fully do justice to when their blind choir sang their school song to us, ‘We can’t see but we will conquer’. After the thank yous had been delivered and the bus pulled away we were left pondering for the umpteenth time that week that we had been more served than serving.
A thoroughly rewarding and fulfilling trip for all of us. Thank you to all those members of staff who made it possible this year and to those who have laid the groundwork in the past in order to keep this extraordinary partnership alive. This is a trip that has been running since 2009 and it is very easy to understand why it remains so prized.
To find out more about our Sixth Form, click here.
Download the FREE Wells Cathedral School app to easily keep up with the parts of Wells that interest you, interact with our social media feeds, access useful links more! We highly recommend enabling notifications to stay informed about the many wonderful things happening at our School
We leave Sierra Leone with so much to remember and to be grateful for. The balance of this trip is so rewarding. We have been given the opportunity to fully absorb this West African culture; it’s people, way of life, cuisine and crazy roads. We have been welcomed with open arms by everyone we have met. Sierra Leoneans are warm, appreciative and open minded. Our 16 Sixth Form pupils have found themselves in and out of their comfort zone fluidly throughout the week and have taken the opportunity to benefit from every experience.
Teaching in the Freetown primary school, J T Reffel, and also in the Ballanta Music Academy in Freetown has provided focus, purpose and the very best kinds of learning, character and perspective forming life experience. Our pupils have taught French, German, Maths and English (and even South Korean thanks to Alvin) to a variety of keen local children in small, packed but well ordered classes with nothing more than desks, chairs, chalk and blackboards. Being on the other side of the desk has given them a healthy challenge and brought the very best out of their own educational experiences: rule no. 1 – every child loves a story! On the surface, an educational environment in Freetown is heavily contrasting to their own, although within minutes they were all remarking on how similar children are everywhere and how keen they are to absorb knowledge and please. In a developing country with significantly fewer resources, the priorities change or certainly sharpen in focus and we will all carry this home with us.
The dozen or so who worked with musicians of all standards in tight, hot spaces in the music academy felt humbled and equally inspired by their experience. We know that music is a universal language and this has been underlined this week. We have joined in with gospel singing in a Freetown church (which our pupils want to add to our Cathedral services from now on, including the dancing), we have formed our own travelling choir thanks to the talented Mr Brink (whose magic tricks fill every spare moment with wonder and awe) and found ourselves singing together informally at every given opportunity. The truly moving afternoon spent at a school for blind children will be etched in our minds forever. Our band and talented soloists once again played a variety of foot tapping numbers to entertain a captive audience. Yet the power of the human spirit was demonstrated in ways that words can’t fully do justice to when their blind choir sang their school song to us, ‘We can’t see but we will conquer’. After the thank yous had been delivered and the bus pulled away we were left pondering for the umpteenth time that week that we had been more served than serving.
A thoroughly rewarding and fulfilling trip for all of us. Thank you to all those members of staff who made it possible this year and to those who have laid the groundwork in the past in order to keep this extraordinary partnership alive. This is a trip that has been running since 2009 and it is very easy to understand why it remains so prized.
To find out more about our Sixth Form, click here.
Download the FREE Wells Cathedral School app to easily keep up with the parts of Wells that interest you, interact with our social media feeds, access useful links more! We highly recommend enabling notifications to stay informed about the many wonderful things happening at our School
