LISS Junior School chiefs are celebrating after gaining the British Council’s International Schools Award.

The full accreditation lasts for three years and was awarded in recognition of the village school’s work on embedding global themes into the curriculum over the past academic year.

The successful bid comes on the back of six years’ work in developing the relationship between Liss Junior School and its twin school, Kafuro Primary School in Uganda.

Both schools are members of the Queen Elizabeth Parks’ twinning project, enables schools in the vicinity of the beauty spot south of Petersfield and Queen Elizabeth National Park in south-west Uganda to forge closer links.

After an initial exchange visit, the relationship between the two schools has gone from strength to strength with a shared blog (which has had visitors from more than 80 countries) and co-operation over areas of curricular study, in particular conservation and sustainable living.

Liss Junior School bosses decided to make a formal application for the International Schools Award in the summer of 2014 and assistant headteacher Adam Stanley drew up a list of activities for the children to experience during the academic year.

This included Ugandan-themed assemblies, storytelling, sharing experiences in beekeeping (both schools have their own hives), keeping and comparing water diaries, learning Runyankore Rukiga (the local bantu language of south-west Uganda), developing the school grounds along sustainable lines, and studying the lifestyles of mongooses, an animal that is prevalent in that part of Uganda.

These activities helped the children learn more about Uganda as well as developing a tolerance and respect for another culture and questioning the way in which we waste natural resources.

Mr Stanley said: “Getting the children to keep water diaries was one of the most powerful things we have ever done. We asked the children to keep the diaries for a week and write down all of the water they used.

“At the same time, the children at Kafuro were doing exactly the same thing. When the results were collated, we discovered that children in Liss use 20 times more water on average per day than their peers in Uganda.

“When I revealed the results to the children in an assembly, they were absolutely shocked. You could have heard a pin drop as the assembly hall fell silent. It really made the children question their lifestyles and how they use a finite natural resource.”

The British Council was impressed by the impact evaluation submitted by Liss Junior School.

A statement to the Hill Brow Road school read: “This is an outstanding impact evaluation and you have shown how focused collaboration based on good communication can build a strong foundation for the establishment of an effective and well-structured international curriculum.

“Your application clearly outlines your international learning journey as well as showing the imaginative work that has gone into producing such an interesting curriculum. Your submission also maps out a clear vision of your future plans and aspirations for your school.”

The report went on: “You have fulfilled the success criteria for the International School’s Award and it is our pleasure, therefore, to recommend Liss Junior School for the accreditation level of the International School Award.

“Your relationship with your Ugandan partner school works very well (especially in the context of looking at sustainable living) and provides a great opportunity for your students to be exposed to the life and culture of Uganda.”

Mr Stanley insisted the collaboration between the two schools would continue to go from strength to strength thanks to their strong relationship and the support of the Queen Elizabeth Parks’ twinning project,

“We are very fortunate in that we are able to share and evaluate ideas with like-minded schools under the umbrella of the twinning project, which is totally supportive and has all sorts of expertise. This year we will be swapping and comparing weather data with Kafuro, which should make science and maths lessons even more exciting.

“We will also be comparing forms of fuel-efficient cooking – we have a cob oven while Kafuro have a clean cook stove – and trying out some Ugandan recipes. Additionally, we will be tasting and comparing honey from both schools, and sharing items that have been entered into both schools’ cultural museums. We are tremendously excited about this as well as looking forward to a visit from a Kafuro teacher in early December.”

Liss Junior School headteacher Andy Burford said: “To be awarded full International School accreditation is a fantastic achievement, one which recognises the school’s commitment to a truly dynamic and meaningful partnership with Kafuro Primary in Uganda. The award is further acknowledgement of the impact our partnership work has had on the lives and the learning in both Liss and Kafuro’s whole school communities.

“Through his drive and enthusiasm, Mr Stanley has helped both schools establish valuable curriculum and cultural links and we look forward to continuing to work with more schools in the future.”

School bosses expect to be invited to a ceremony in London in the autumn to pick up the honour.