Councillor Roz Blades (left) with Wallarano Primary School principal David Duff, assistant principal Gail Doney and students George, Courtney, Shaq and Maddi who are off to China for a 10day exchange program.By Nathan Johnston
FOUR children from Wallarano Primary School in Noble Park will be part of the first Greater Dandenong primary school exchange visit to China.
The four will be joined by their principal David Duff and assistant principal Gail Doney on the 10day visit which departs tomorrow (Friday).
The exchange visit comes after a fouryear relationship between Wallarano Primary School and Min Zhu Road Primary School, born out of the sistercity relationship, formed in 1996 between Greater Dandenong and Xuzhou, a major city in the Jiangsu province of northwest China.
Xuzhou is a historical city with a civilisation dating back 5000 years.
Mr Duff said, until now, the relationship between the schools had consisted of letter writing, emails, and the exchange of gifts and artwork.
“We recently received an invitation from the school to visit them,” Mr Duff said.
“We put the proposal through the school council, and then put out expressions of interest to families who were interested.”
He said there were 40 students from grades five and six who wanted to go. These were narrowed to four after a series of projects and presentations.
“They are all extremely excited.”
The school council is funding the visit with the help of a grant from the City of Greater Dandenong and a small contribution from the families involved.
“It will help develop the crosscultural friendships between the schools and the leadership skills of the children.
“They’ll be billeted out with families for five days and attend school. We’ll also be teaching, so it will be a great learning experience for all of us,” Mr Duff said.
Councillor Roz Blades, who coordinates the council’s sister schools program, said the greatest benefits from the sister city relationship were coming from the school visits.
“We have several schools now involved and these are reaping huge benefits for the children and the schools, and it’s at no cost to ratepayers,” she said.
