THE headmaster at the Dell Primary School, Chepstow, has just returned from a trip to visit its twinned school in Malawi.

Steve King visited Yankho School to support teachers by demonstrating various methods and teaching strategies used at The Dell.

Mr King has been involved with the headmaster of Yankho School, Austin Assan, since 2009.

He said: "I've seen a huge improvement in the standards of learning and teaching at the school, which Mr Assan attributes squarely to his links with The Dell. He was inspired by the way teachers taught and children learned. His number one priority for Yankho School is for pupils to acquire high standards of literacy in English.

"Although the main language across Malawi is Chichewa, English is a must if you want to get on in life and parents recognise the value of English and are keen to send their children to the school."

Nationally, state sector primary schools often have class sizes in excess of 120 which significantly affects the quality of learning. Many pupils drop out of education before the age of 11 so external support for schools is important.

"During my trip last week, my main focus was supporting teachers in teaching phonics and reading in English. I did some demonstration lessons with each class and showed them how we teach at The Dell, suggesting strategies which might further improve their teaching styles and approaches.

"One 'lightbulb' moment was when I suggested they switch from chanting the 'ABC' alphabet to doing the same but using the sounds the letters make. That way, simple words like 'dog' are so much easier to spell."

Pupils at The Dell raised money to pay for windows and doors for the school in the past and continue to fundraise for necessary equipment.

This year, as well as paying £400 for a new toilet block to replace the pit latrine that was washed away in 2013, The Dell's recent 'Malawi Day' raised £572 which Mr Assan is using to extend a classroom, build a new classroom, replace tables, chairs, windows and install new classroom doors.

"When you consider that extending a classroom by two metres costs around £40, you can see just how much you can do with the £572 that pupils at The Dell raised on their recent 'Malawi Day'" said Mr King.