VIP from the USA

YOUNGSTERS at Parish Church Junior School welcomed a very special guest — all the way from America.

Students in one of the Year 4 classes at the Horsedge Street school have been busy writing to their penpals at Riverside Preparatory School in California since the start of the school year.

But they had a chance to meet their penpals’ teacher when she made a special visit to the school.

Julie O’Dwyer was over in England visiting her husband’s family in Warrington, and she took the opportunity to drop in on her Oldham friends.

It gave the inquisitive youngsters, aged eight to nine, the chance to quiz her about what school is like in America, what an earthquake feels like, and how hot the weather is in Oro Grande, where the school is based.

The idea of creating links with fellow students across the Atlantic came from Year 4 teacher Tami Wylie, who hails from Texas but moved to Oldham eight years ago.

She said: “I put our class on a website where children can find penpals from abroad and since then they’ve been writing to this class in California.

“It’s a great way of improving their writing and increasing their understanding of other cultures. They were really excited to meet Julie and asked her lots of questions.

“They found out all about what life is like in Oro Grande, which is near the Mexican border, and that the children at Riverside have a very large programme of extra-curricular activities, even from a young age, including American football and band practice.”

The other Year 4 class is writing to a class in Washington and other classes at the school are also keen to join in.