Cardiff School Strengthens Indonesian Links
Whitchurch High School in Cardiff has welcomed a delegation from the Far East to further strengthen the school’s relationship with partners in Indonesia through their work on the International Inspiration programme, the official international sports legacy programme of London 2012.
A party of officials from Indonesia, including Indonesian Ambassador Mr Yuri Octavian Thamrin, Mr Haris Nugroho the Minister Counsellor for Political Affairs; Mr Billy Wibisono, Third Secretary for Information, Socio-Cultural and Education Affairs; and Ms Dewi Mukti, Embassy Staff for Education Affairs, visited the school this week (Tuesday) and was treated to a tour of the facilities and a presentation on Whitchurch’s links with Indonesia which includes a partnership with a secondary school in Jakarta as part of their participation in International Inspiration.
International Inspiration is a programme delivered as a partnership between UK Sport, the British Council and UNICEF and developed from the London 2012 bid team’s promise to reach young people all around the world through sport and connect them to the inspirational power of the Games so they are inspired to choose sport. The Indonesian visitors, who had visited the Welsh Assembly Government prior to arriving in Whitchurch, also took part in a discussion with some of the school’s student representatives.
This week’s visit is the latest chapter in Whitchurch’s developing links with Indonesia. Over the summer, the school hosted an Indonesian Education Ministerial delegation that focused on finding out more about primary to secondary transition and community-focused schools. And in October, Whitchurch High School and their primary partner schools were selected as one of ten Welsh representative school clusters linking to schools in Indonesia, under the International Inspiration programme as part of the run up to the 2012 Olympics and Paralympics.
Teachers from Whitchurch High School and their primary partner schools have also visited Indonesia as part of the Welsh Schools delegation and spent a busy week in Jakarata visiting their partner schools.
Staff and pupils from Eglwys Newydd Primary school in Whitchurch, who are linked with a primary school in Jakarta, also attended Tuesday’s event together with representatives from Blackwood Comprehensive, who form part of the South East Wales Indonesian International Inspiration Group, as well as members of the British Council.
Executive Member for Education and Lifelong Learning, Cllr Freda Salway, said: “There is a great deal of international partnership work going on throughout schools in Cardiff and I am a firm believer that this collaboration between schools across the globe is a fantastic way of sharing best practice and finding out about other countries’ cultures.
“I’m sure the Indonesian delegation will have found their visit to Whitchurch High to be very interesting and useful.”
Whitchurch High Head teacher, Huw Jones-Williams said: “It was tremendous to meet our Indonesian guests and I’d like to thank them for the wonderful welcome we received from their people when we visited Indonesia a couple of months ago. We were delighted to be able to discuss our exciting future plans under the International Inspirations Project linking Wales and Indonesia.”
“We’re so grateful for all the work the British Council has done in facilitating this International Inspiration project which allows us to further develop our international links. As the London 2012 Olympic Games and Paralympic Games draw nearer, our school community will know that the legacy impact of the Games reaches out to other side of the world where we have many friends in Indonesia.”
The above text is extracted from the Official Cardiff County Press Release.