Life-changing visit for Mayville High School pupils

PUPILS had a summer with a difference after taking part in a life changing trip to Kenya.
Year 11 pupils from Mayville High School get to work on helping to rebuild a school in Kenya.Year 11 pupils from Mayville High School get to work on helping to rebuild a school in Kenya.
Year 11 pupils from Mayville High School get to work on helping to rebuild a school in Kenya.

Waiting for GCSE results were put on the back-burner as eight Year 11 from Mayville High School pupils took on turtle conservation, learning to scuba-dive, rebuilding a school, and de-worming goats.

After landing in Nairobi, students got to work on planting trees, clearing plastic and setting up wildlife cameras in Nairobi National Park.

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The pupil’s cameras were the first ever to capture images of a Hippopotamus in the park.

Students completed their PADI Open Water Diver qualification whilst helping to restore coral reefs.Students completed their PADI Open Water Diver qualification whilst helping to restore coral reefs.
Students completed their PADI Open Water Diver qualification whilst helping to restore coral reefs.

Students then turned their attention to Diani Beach where they took their Professional Association of Diving Instructors open water diving qualification and helped with a conservation project to restore coral reefs.

Emily Bottomley, 16, said: ‘It was an amazing experience and taught me how much I have taken for granted.

‘It has also shown me how many new opportunities are out there and possible to achieve.’

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In the final week of their month-long adventure, pupils helped to rebuild a school at Camp Tsavo and de-wormed 473 goats in four hours.

As news of the pupil’s work spread, shepherds from miles around arrived with their herds of goats.

Head of ccience, Kate Jones, said: ‘All of my students were phenomenal.

‘It was a totally life-changing trip for them.

‘It was a lesson in the harsh realities of life in a country like Kenya and they just got on with it. I’m very proud of them all.’

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