Ghanian Headmistress

Ghanaian headmistress visits Newcastle Sixth Form College on her second trip overseas

30 January

Geordie students, the Tyne Bridge, Angel of the North and the Metro Centre will be etched in the memory of Ghanaian headmistress Margaret Mensah forever.

Margaret has left her native home of Ghana for the second time to visit Newcastle Sixth Form College students as part of an exchange programme that began six years ago and has developed into a friendship. This year the two schools have been working on a project about gender differences in both Ghana and the UK.

She is staying with the sixth form’s Head of Earth Studies, Deborah Johnson, during a two-week trip that will see her visit a wealth of Tyneside hot spots,

As the Domestic Headmistress of the Tweneboa Kodua Secondary High School in Kumawu, where life is a lot different to here, Margaret is responsible for the boarding side of the school.

Margaret said: “I am very excited to be here and I am pleased to present the project that my students in Ghana have been working on.

“We have been friends for six years now, so it is wonderful for me to be able to come again to Newcastle Sixth Form College and study the teaching and learning methods, and look at how students answer questions and use different resources and textbooks.

“It is interesting for me to see how lessons are blocked and how the college uses different pieces of equipment to teach.”

British Council Connecting Classrooms 

Since the relationship was first formed, Deborah has visited Ghana four times that last two trips by Margaret has been funded through a grant from the British Council, which helps to share British expertise and talent with over 100 countries worldwide.

Deborah said: “I have been to Ghana a few times, so it is wonderful that Margaret here in Newcastle to see how we do things. I know she has been incredibly excited and my students have learnt a lot about the culture of Ghana

“While here, she is observing in college and helping with classes and she will also deliver lessons on life in Ghana and how it differs from here. Margaret is learning from us, but there is also so much we can learn from her.”